Free Awakening Essays: The Parrot :: Chopin Awakening Essays

The Importance of the Parrot in The Awakening   Go onward Go away For heavens sake Thats all right (1) Chopin opens her poetic novella, The Awakening, not with the dialogue of a character, but with the ramblings of a brash echo. Immediately, Chopin compels her readers to ponder what significance, if any, these ostensibly random words will have in the following tale. Yet, it is not until the final pages that we recognize the birds true importance and meaning. The parrot, though seldom referred to within the text, comes to symbolize Ednas role in society and the woman she becomes as she is spiritually awakened. At first impression the parrots frank demeanor creates an image of eccentricity. His spirited exclamations give him an air of impertinence, defiance, and intelligence that one would not expect of such a bird. Chopin portrays Edna in the same light, showing that peradventure as the parrot may deviate from the norm, so does Edna, who digresses from the society in w hich she lives. She does not conform to the image of a typical woman in society, contend the roles of a devoted mother and wife. Edna ignores these standards by engaging in two extra-marital affairs and by placing her own life before those of her children. Her desire to live as she pleases lies in direct opposition to the duties she is expected to perform, and she refuses to put on this performance to satisfy society. As a result, Edna seems as brazen and audacious as the parrot that obviously does not mimic the sounds he hears and instead seems to create his own. Again squawking, Go away Go away at the bothersome piano play of two girls, Chopin writes, He was the only being present who possessed sufficient candor to admit that he was not listening to these gracious performances for the first fourth dimension that summer. (23) Edna shows similar candor in her unwillingness to accept societys burdening stereotypes. The seemingly intelligent bird could speak a little Spanish, and a lso a language which nobody understood... (1) Though the parrots remarks appear to fall on deaf ears, Edna is one who can identify with his presumable wisdom, as her globe too is misjudged. Both Edna and the parrot are depicted as extraordinary and misunderstood in their surroundings, yet they are not freeas the parrot must exist in a cage, so Edna is caged by the restrictions society places upon her.