Index"The Awakening" and its hidden symbolismConclusionWorks CitedIn The Awakening by Kate Chopin, specific settings and details further explain Edna's daily struggle in Creole society. The symbols are used as vectors to understand Edna's journey of awakening beyond the surface. The textual comparison and use of birds, Edna's home life, and Edna's infatuation with the ocean provide deeper meaning than what the text could offer on its own. Each unique symbol is used to represent Edna's current progress on her journey to independence and happiness. The symbolism in Chopin's novel elaborates the female role in society and provides an intentional comparison to leave the reader with an imprint on the oppression of women. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "The Awakening" and its hidden symbolism The ocean was Chopin's way of bringing freedom to Edna. On vacation in Grand Isle, Edna decides to swim far beyond what she normally does for the first time, “A feeling of exultation came over her…she became bold and reckless, overestimating her strength. She wanted to swim far, where no woman had ever swum before.” This scene is important to Edna's character because her newfound ability to swim has given Edna her first genuine feeling of freedom, from here she can contemplate how empty she feels and the constraint she faces. Edna's realization of her independence helps her in later encounters at work and is the driving factor in what brought about Edna's new lifestyle. Edna's desire to “swim away” is her desire to escape society's expectations. Edna feels that the ocean has allowed her to express her emotions in a way she was previously unable to do and to escape the boundaries and ideals that were imposed on her. Edna soon embarks on the idea that no matter what she does to free herself, she will never be free from the chains placed on her by the society she was born into and the people she is connected to. The role of the sea in Edna's development was to lead Edna to her physical freedom, when she drowned Edna had escaped her internal misery by allowing herself to be beyond her body to be free too. Chopin's comparison to the sea shows us how oppressive social standards can be for women trying to express their potential. Multiple images of birds in the novel symbolize the confinement of women. In the society where Edna exists, women are limited by gender roles. The caged parrot is representative of Edna's experiences, in that the bird has no way to communicate or be understood by those around it. An example of this confrontation is Mr. Pontellier's inability to understand Edna and is also symbolic of how isolated Edna is. Another way to interpret the caged birds in The Awakening is the way caged birds are used as decoration. This is an interpretation of how women were seen as ornamental objects without any substance, standards or necessity in the Victorian era. Just as Edna is not much appreciated by her husband, and is only there to fulfill the duties of a wife and mother in Creole society. “The bird that wants to fly above the plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings,” suggests the difficulty women would have to face in breaking society's ideals and being considered something more than a possession, or an object to be held with expectations. In the quote “A bird with a broken wing beat the air above, staggering, fluttering, circling, disabled down, down until.