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Simile
Explanation and Analysis—Little Tottering Child:
When Edna finally learns to swim, the novel uses a simile to describe the sense of confidence and freedom that overtakes her:
But that night she was like the little tottering, stumbling, clutching child, who of a sudden realizes its powers, and walks for the first time alone, boldly and with overconfidence. She could have shouted for joy.
Once again, Chopin uses a simile to suggest that Edna transforms the moment she learns to swim. The reference to childhood suggests a transition from innocence to maturity, from dependence to independence. Edna’s ability to swim is a sign of her growing individuality and self-reliance, a major turning point for her. Moreover, the sea Edna learns to swim in is an important symbol in The Awakening. It symbolizes freedom and individuality, as well as emptiness—what the narrator later describes as an "abyss." At the end of the novel, Edna drowns in the very same waters she learned to swim in, suggesting that freedom can be liberating but also overwhelming or suffocating.
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