... 's shoulder blades to make sure they are strong: "The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings."" (Chopin 110) Another very popular symbol in The Awakening is the idea of water. There are many different accounts in the book when water is significant, from the Gulf which Edna learned to swim to her final demise in the Sea. The use of water in the book is said to symbolize both freedom and escape ... . As a child she used her imagination to visualize the ocean. "The hot wind beating in my face made me think "without any ... ...

• Word Count: 946
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... always accepted her life, never really enjoying it, but not hating it either. Suddenly, she begins to feel for the first time in her life, partly due to her experience in the ocean. Each time she is in the presence of water, the freedom it offers beckons her. In The Awakening, the sea is a symbol of freedom and release for Edna when she takes her first swim, leaves Grande Isle for Cheniere Caminada, and when ... she walks to the beach for the final time. Edna's emotions begin to stir the first time she is able to swim. Following a particularly moving ... ...

• Word Count: 734
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... The Awakening, Kate Chopin conveys her ideas by using carefully crafted symbols that reflect her characters' thoughts and futures. One of the most important of these symbols, the bird, appears constantly, interwoven into the story to provide an insight to the condition of Edna and her struggle. At each of the three stages of her transformation, birds foreshadow her actions and emphasize the actions' importance while the birds' physical state provides an accurate measure of ... her feeling of freedom by using a rising bird. She speaks of two lovers who could feel "the beating of the birds...

• Word Count: 1017
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School