Symbolism in The Awakening

     Kate Chopin uses many different symbols in The Awakening, but the most prominent symbols is birds.Chopin uses symbolism to convey the feelings of some characters. Right at the beginning of the book we see symbolism with birds and more appear throughout the text as we read.

    Chopin continually uses the birds to represent the freedom that Edna wants. The bird symbolism shows up in the first chapter of the book and is used in many chapters after showing how trapped and constricted Edna feels. She feels trapped because she is unhappy in marriage with Mr. Pontellier and she doesn't like her role as a "mother-woman" in the Creole society.

     The bird symbolism is prominent throughout the book and provides a great amount of insight into Edna Pontellier's feelings. The birds symbolize Edna wants of freedom from her marriage and responsibilities  On the first page of the book Mr. Pontellier is harassed by a parrot saying, "Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi! That's all right!" The parrot is telling Mr. Pontellier to "Go away! Go away! For heaven's sake!" The bird symbolizes how Mrs. Pontellier wants to be away from her husband even though she, her husband, or the reader don't know it yet.

     As the book progresses the bird symbolism makes more appearances especially in chapter nine when Mademoiselle Reisz plays piano at the party Madame Leburn holds a party for the guests. As Mademoiselle Reisz plays Edna sees "the figure of a man standing beside a desolate rock on the seashore. He was naked. His altitude was one of hopeless resignation as he looked toward a distant bird winging its flight away from him." Edna's bird in this scene shows how she wants her freedom as a woman in the strict society that she lives. She hasn't really fit into her "mother-woman" role in the Creole society which intensifies her cry for freedom in the book.

     The bird symbolism emerges again in the middle of the book when Edna decides to move out of their massive house on Esplanade Street to the small house around the block. Many of her friends called it her "pigeon-house." The name of the house symbolizes Edna breaking free from the typical Creole woman and living on her own. This is Edna's big moment where she gets most of her freedom in the book. She has her freedom for awhile until Robert denies their love and Mr. Pontellier writes of his return in early March. She uses her freedom to its full advantage by returning to the Grand Isle.

     Edna is at the Grand Isle again returning only for a little while before Mr. Pontellier returns home. She decides to go for a swim in the Gulf when she gets there and as she is entering the water sees "a bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down to the water." This bird symbolizes how Edna feels right now. She has lost her only love, Robert, and can't go back to her broken marriage with Mr. Pontellier. The bird she sees is like her; broken and falling down. So as Edna goes for her swim she becomes the bird she sees.

   The birds in this book symbolized freedom at the beginning and conformity at the end. Chopin changes the symbol the bird represent to show that things are broken as easily as they are made. The birds with the light wings break easily like the women in the Creole society who were fragile and submissive. Not only do the birds portray symbolism in the book they also foreshadow some events that are going to happen. The first and last symbolism examples told us how Edna was feeling at that point and what her possible motives were. Chopin uses her symbolism and foreshadowing to help to reader to relate and connect better with characters.