Journal entry# 34 Kate Chopin

Siu Faat Jimmy Wong
English 48b
February 29, 2008
Professor Lankford

Quote:

She looked into the distance, and the old terror flamed up for an instant, then sank again. Edna heard her father’s voice and her sister Margaret’s. She heard the barking of an old dog that was chained to the sycamore tree. The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged as her walked across the porch.

Summary:

This is the final paragraph in the story. It explains her feeling and listening when she is drowning in the ocean.

Response:

I think that this ending is very sad. Why literature is always so touching? Moreover, when I first read the story, I really could not judge her whether her suicide is right or wrong. Does it imply that it is a final success or it is just a failure? Indeed, after I read the story for several times, I admit that her death is a way to express her anger on the imbalance of social status of women. She didn’t choose to run away or live alone so she can always hook up with other men. She thought that this act would definitely harm her children. Therefore, she chose to get drowned into the ocean instead. She think that in her children's minds, losing a mother in an ocean is much better than losing a mother in other men’s beds. Her children really act as a burden on her life, even when she is going to suicide. At this point, I think that I can feel her pain and confusion as an awakened woman in that time period. However, I do not appreciate the way that she cheats her husband. I understand that she has the right to perceive herself as an individual, but I don’t think she has the right to have sex with other men. Instead, she has the responsibility to be loyal to his husband. It is not the matter of being controlled or not. It is a responsibility after she is somebody’s wife. If I were her, I would definitely think to divorce her husband or to go to live alone, instead of cheating her husband.