Edna Pontellier's Transformation In The Awakening

As one can see, many mothers in today 's society would not be nearly as picky and constructive as the mother within "Girl" written by Jamaica Kincaid. Young girls almost always look up first to their mother for guidance and instruction on how to be a woman. Although the advice used in this story was used to help the young girl, it was also used to scold her as well. The mother 's strong belief in a woman having domestic knowledge is what drives her to preach the life lessons of a good woman to her daughter. It is through these lessons that she hopes for her daughter to be respected within her own home and by her community as well.

I can’t make it more clear; it’s only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me” (52). By calling her own life “unessential”, Edna recognizes that her roles in society as a wife and mother have never been characterized by any more than superficial behaviors and activities. After having an “epiphany” about her identity, Edna still understands her obligation to protect and care for her children, but now refuses to sacrifice her true, individual identity in the process. Edna’s awakening is evident in her desire to be her own person. She does not wish to be identified in relationship to other people, but rather to be valued for her own unique thoughts and

She lacks enthusiasm in life and seems like she is living life because she just so happens to be alive. Unfortunately she fails to see that she is a good example to her sons by attending school, working, seeking therapy and taking the initiative of changing her outlook on life. My goal is to understand why Diana can’t seem to shake off the disappointments she has encountered. Why has she allowed these unfortunate events to determine the way she sees life. I plan to achieve this goal by applying the 3 Phases of existential therapy.

The author accomplishes to transform Gilly into a real girl who cares about people; people who became her family and who had unconditional love for her. But at the end she got what she wanted since the early beginning, she shaped her destiny and met her mom and went to live somewhere closer to her. Paterson made the plot of this story in such a particular way so Gilly could change her point of view about the people around her and see that her actions would always bring

She wants woman to realize herself through self analysis. Such a quest for one’s own identity forms the theme of her novels. Purple hibiscus reflects the theme of identity. In the home culture each female is exposed to a fixed identity, but when she moves outside her home life. She is able to develop her own values from the world views of his parents.

From leaving her family to leaving Mariah, her path to becoming an independent woman has forced herself to sacrifice a sense of security that comes with belonging. The lack of strong feminine role models to look up to forces her to define herself as a woman independently. Lucy’s own paradigm of what a women should be so heavily stresses independence that she forgets how important interdependence really

She has no choice but to accept this, otherwise she will "diminish the gift" of life. All she can offer her daughter is what she has learnt from her own life experiences. It is understandable that the mother does not want her child to stop depending on her. But as a daughter, myself, I can relate to

In the novel The Awakening Edna faces many internal conflicts. These include her role as not only just a women during the this era, but as, more specifically, a wife and mother. She learns more about herself throughout the novel and is empowered by what she feels she could be. Although she is tied down by society’s expectations of her, Edna finds her true self and is inspired to pursue a life outside of what is expected. The Awakening is an example of a novel with a character that plays an important role because of her alienation due to her gender, class, race, and religion, and revelation about society’s assumptions and moral values.

During the conversation, Edna quotes, “I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn 't give myself.” This means that she wants to balance independence and caring for her children and that she would not sacrifice the essential part of her for them but rather give up the unessential such as sensitivity that mother woman have. Madame Ratignolle does not understand Edna’s view and responds with “I don’t know what you would call the essential, or what you mean by the unessential but a woman who would give her life for her children could do not more than that”. Madame Ratignolle is unable to understand because she has not had an awakening as Edna has had and therefore the polar opposite values are shown between the two ideas. The response from Madame Ratignolle also shows the divide between Edna and the society during the 19th century. Not only do conversations show this dividend but interactions between Edna and her husband in the household

It is very important for the daughter to have a voice; it is okay that the mother is trying to prepare her daughter but she is not teaching her to be independent, intelligent or strong, but to live in fear of making a mistake or disappointing her mother. It is important for a kid to have free will and make his/hers life choices. This is why controlling your daughter on things like how to smile, how to walk and what not to sing is not healthy; just like the mother in Jamaica Kincaid’s prose-poem “Girl” does to her daughter. Nobody is perfect and a girl should not live her life trying to not upset and disappoint her mother on her every move. She should be able to be happy, have a voice and live her life to her