Revision of Open Prompt #3

The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death or deaths take place. Choose a novel or play and write a well-organized essay in which you show how a specific death scene helps to illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary. 

Death is literature carries with it much more than just the event transpiring. The Awakening by Kate Chopin follows Edna Pontellier as she matures and rationalizes suicide.  Her death in this manner death illuminates themes of the novel  by emphasizing  her feelings of alienation and giving her true control of her life. 

            Edna awakens to the injustices of her life, and falls into depression.  This is made very clear by details of the novel, seen in emotional breakdowns , strange comments to friends and family about her lack of desire to live, and especially in the absence of a maternal connection to her children. By the end of the novel she can no longer conform to the traditional female roles of upper class society.  She acts with unforgivable disgrace for the time period,  committing adultery and moving out on her husband.  She looses the entirety of the maternal instinct that  mothers have.  Though she definitely lacked the affection and feelings of connection that most mothers do at the beginning of the novel, all remnants of this disappear by the end.  Shes sees no reason in staying alive even for the sake of her children. Committing suicide represents the most extreme of her options.  Her experiences throughout the novel alienated her in such an extreme way, and her constant sense of loss and longing gave her no alternative to death.  the novel  shows the gravity of Edna’s awakening to the dismal nature of domestic life through her act of suicide.  Nothing shows the deep wounds that a character carries than the taking of their own life.

            A  theme associated with The Awakening is a lack of control Edna has over her life due to her domestic position.  Committing suicide demonstrated the final control over her own life.  In her ability to choose life or death, Edna took back all of the control that was stripped away from her throughout her marriage and upbringing.  The importance of her action  is made clear by the unique writing style used at the end of the novel.  The scene in which Edna drowns is filled with imagery that no other part of the novel shares. As she begins to feel the pangs of panic, that her attempt at her life may actually work, she sees many images of her life flash before her.  These images are vivid and Edna actually relives these moments.  Having imagery unique to the novel in this end coinciding with such a significant occurrence emphasizes this event.  It is a definitive end to Edna’s life of uncertainty and discomfort. It defined Edna as a martyr for her own cause, and allowed her strong desire for true independence to be realized. 

            The Awakening is a novel in which the protagonist is lost and finds no meaning in life. Meaning for Edna however comes in a unique and ironic fashion.  Only through death is she able to achieve her independence and through this find meaning to her life.  This absolute yearning for independence is something that is emphasized on account of the manner in which she obtains it, through a death brought on by her own doing.