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Kelly Kallini

English IV Block A

Mrs. Morris

7 December 2016

The Loneliness of Independence

As the philosopher Paul Tillich once wrote, "Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone

and solitude expresses the glory of being alone". In the novel The Awakening, written by Kate

Chopin, the main character, Edna, experiences waves of both loneliness and solitude, oftentimes

confusing the two. This is displayed using various symbols the most predominant being the

ocean. The sea represents Edna's powerful awakening and how it devours her because water

possesses the contrasting qualities of rebirth and loneliness.

Water is symbolic of cleanliness and newness. When Edna learns how to swim, she is

overcome with joy and excitement. She feels, for the first time, " . . . as if some power of

significant import had been given her to control the working of her body and her soul" and lets

the feeling of exultation overtake her (Chopin 32). She discovers newfound exhilaration of being

alone when she turns " . . . seaward to gather in an impression of space and solitude . . . " and

swims to reach " . . . out for the unlimited in which to lose herself" (32). Edna discovers for the

first time what it is like to feel free and independent. She is washed away of her old outlook on

life and is born again as a new individual. However, when Edna turns back toward the shore, she

realizes that she had not swam a great distance. Yet, she still takes her swim as a victory, showing

her inability to comprehend how much she does not know about her own awakening. Edna's

thrill quickly turns to fear when "a quick vision of death smote her soul . . . "; Edna is able to see

a glimpse of the abyss of loneliness and is utterly terrified by it (33). As a result, she staggers
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back to land with great difficulty; she has had her first experience with the vast ocean and feels

"A thousand emotions . . . And [is unable to] comprehend half of them" (33). On her walk back

from the beach, Edna confides in Robert, the man who had originally taught her how to swim.

The need for Robert to teach her how to swim, or to be independent, and to reassure her after her

experience allows the reader to see that Edna's enlightenment in the ocean had not resonated with

her completely and that she is still dependent on others.

Throughout the novel, Edna is able to learn more and more about her awakening and

begins to push everyone away except Robert, who had taught her how to be independent. When

Robert refuses to spend the rest of his life with her, Edna is now fully independent. However,

instead of feeling liberated, Edna feels utterly alone and takes to the sea. Standing on the beach,

Edna is . . . naked in the open air, at the mercy of the sun, the breeze that beat upon her, and the

waves that invited her (136). She is now vulnerable to the oceans calling, steps inside, and

swims deep into the sea, ignoring the terror she had felt the first time she had swam. She lets the

ocean, an . . . abyss of solitude . . . swallow her up completely and gets lost in it (15). Edna

lets her desolation overcome her and is devoured because of it; she has now allowed her rebirth

and solitude to be overcome by loneliness like a crashing wave. She ends her awakening of

discovering independence alone and unhappy.

Although Edna is born again the first time she swims in the ocean, she ultimately loses

herself and dies a lonely death. She allows her newfound discovery of self-dependence and her

inability to fully distinguish between loneliness and solitude to be her own demise. Edna swims

in the ocean and has a taste of freedom, but in the end she lets her newfound independence grow

into complete loneliness that eventually swallows her up entirely. Thus, water represents this in

that it possesses both the qualities of renewal and loneliness.

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Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. The Awakening and Selected Stories of Kate Chopin,1-137. New York: New

American Library, 1976. Print.