December 7, 2009


Dear Kate Chopin,

Your book, The Awakening, has led me to different perspectives about life. After reading the book, it made me think for a while. I feel like I can relate to the character Edna and the challenges that she faces. Her way of thinking made me think the same way about reality. However, there were some things I didn’t quite understand, and some things I would have done differently. Overall though, this book was a tool to help me realize things about this world I have never noticed before.

Edna was a character I enjoyed reading about because I related to her in many ways. Her sentiment of escaping the society and its expectations, to do her own thing, was amusing to me because I pretty much want to do the same thing. I think that being just like everyone else and doing the same things isn’t the best way to live your life. I would rather be unique and do the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing, and that’s the type of attitude Edna portrays. Some prominent strengths that I also share with Edna are confidence and commitment. She believes that she has enough guts to ignore society and truly express herself as an individual. She doesn’t care about what other people think and I can relate to that.

Your book helped me to realize things I would have never noticed before. In your book, Edna talks about her feelings and rights as an individual. It made me realize how women were, and sometimes still are, often mistreated, and how their own desires were often ignored. They were thought of as someone expected to only care for the health and happiness of their family. So, this story of Edna rebelling against society’s expectations of her, in order to fulfill her own desires, fascinates me because that type of character is not common today. An example of a typical person today, who is the opposite of Edna, would be a student in a band class that follows the music sheet, making no mistakes or changes. However, someone that thought the same way as Edna would ignore the expectations of playing the original music by following the music sheet partially, and improvising and adding solos at the same time, allowing them to fully express themselves and be fully satisfied. This demonstrates a characteristic of Edna that allowed me to connect with her.

There were a lot of things in this book that both surprised and confused me, at the same time. I really didn’t understand why Edna had to commit suicide in the end, because it could be interpreted as a failed attempt at trying to surmount society’s expectations of her. I don’t see how ending your life is a way to solve a problem that was created by other people. I was also confused about the purpose of the parrot in the book, because it would keep repeating phrases in a different language throughout the book.

This book had a character I could relate to, a thought provoking story, and also some confusing parts. I think this book was meant to be read in-between the lines because the story wasn’t just about a wife and her love affairs. After reading your book, I realized that the society impacts certain individuals to the extent where they chose to rebel so they are able to fully satisfy themselves. Your piece of literature gave me a new understanding of why some people choose to live their life differently than others.

Sincerely,

Peppy S.