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What Does The Ocean Symbolize In The Awakening

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What Does The Ocean Symbolize In The Awakening
The ocean is used as a symbol in The Awakening to represent Edna's solitude that she finds herself in when she starts thinking for herself. Near the ocean is where Edna began to “awake” as she puts it. The ocean is also where Edna finds herself at the end of her life. Using the ocean as a symbol ties into the theme of this story very well. The theme being that what is expected of someone by societyis sometimes unreasonable, and that if you do not meet society's expectations then there will be consequences. These consequences usually consist of being alienated to an extent, and gaining a bad reputation. Almost every time Edna is at the beach, she is doesn't act according to what is expected of her. In chapter six Edna is at the beach with Robert
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