The Awakening 9-14

This is the ocean part where Edna tries to swim away. We talked a lot about this in class... how her feeling of empowerment is projected through the water. It is a huge metaphor, as she previously was not able to swim on her own, just as in her life she felt that she had to get married and be a good wife in order to live as part of the society. However when she gets into the water she has a feeling of empowerment, and suddenly she becomes extremely independent and wants to swim out by herself. She is pushing herself out of her comfort zone, both in life and in the water, and though she likes it, it frightens her at the same time. She gets literally frightened in the water, and in her life, she can never figure out her own thoughts and what is going on with her own emotions. This frightens her in a more figurative sense.