For such a short book, The Awakening gave me so much to sit with. I had more notes on this than any book I’ve read recently, and for very good reason.
I’ve been meaning to reread this for years. It was originally assigned back in undergrad, but like a lot of assignments, we glossed right over the depth and didn’t give it the time it deserves. This time around, I made time to truly live in Edna’s world. And I’m so glad I did.
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I’ve seen plenty of critiques of Edna, especially calling her selfish or criticizing her for not being a “good mother.” But I think those readers are missing the entire point. I am a mother. I love my children more than anything. I have them hanging onto my skirt tails all day, every day.
And I still understood Edna.
That’s what makes this story so devastating and so powerful. Edna’s constant ache to be more than the roles she’s been handed. The need to feel free in a society that offers women so little room to breathe.
And speaking of breathing (or lack thereof), let’s talk about the ocean.
The Final Swim
The ocean’s symbolism runs deep.
It’s not just a backdrop; it’s more of an actual character in the story. A mirror to Edna’s internal world.
The ocean is always shifting, just like she is. Its tides echo the push and pull of her desires, freedom versus obligation, self versus society, longing versus reality.
From her first steps into the water to her final swim, the ocean represents everything she can’t fully grasp.
When Edna returns to the ocean at the end, it mirrors the imagery from the beginning of the story, back to when she first learned to swim. It felt full circle. But it also raised the biggest question I had for the novel:
Was her final swim an act of liberation or resignation?
Edna was caught between two worlds the entire time. Wife and woman, mother and individual, duty and desire; however, she never fully belonged to either.
Her strength was gone.
And then there’s the final lines, what she hears while floating with pure exhaustion: her father and sister’s voice, her old dog’s bark, the hum of bees, and the scent of pink flowers in the air. It’s not the sounds of her present life calling her back. It’s her childhood.
It’s memory. It’s her freedom. It’s back to when she belonged only to herself.
I love that the end is up for interpretation.
But, if you want my honest opinion, I think she let the ocean take her. It was the only place that ever truly felt like hers.
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