Kate Chopin"s The Awakening is a work of fiction that tells the story of Edna Pontellier, Southern wife and mother. This book presents the reader with many tough questions and few answers. It is not hard to imagine why this book was banished for decades not long after its initial publication in 1899. At that time in history, women did just what they were expected to do. They were expected to be good daughters, good wives, and good mothers. A woman was expected to move from the protection of her father"s roof to the protection of her husband. Edna didn"t...
story of independence, freedom and will power unheard of during the times of its publication. It"s a stirring book that forces you to confront tough issues. It paints a picture of what goes through the mind of a person who loses hope.

Like Dee Brown"s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Chopin"s The Awakening tells us a story from the perspective of the oppressed. It is far more than another romance novel with a tragic ending. It is a book about the choices one will makes to protect one"s freedom, and Chopin wonderful job presenting them in The Awakening.