The Awakening Reflection

This piece of "The Awakening" is about a woman who has suffered something extremely sad but the reader does not know why. This novel is part of the Realism period of writing which features the true nature of the human spirit and the real events and things that happen to people in a society. This woman might have just suffered a great loss of a family member or friend, which could explain her grief and tears. They say that if you hear an owl hooting at night someone close to you dies, whether this is simple an old wise tale or a bit true it leads this women to be grief struck. The article from "The Awakening" shows the emotion and true emotions of a person and not just the happy ones or romantic ones that paint a perfect story. The story of Realism is the life and death stakes, which many people during this time period were facing due to the booming economy and all the factories that needed people to work for them. "The tears came so fast to Mrs. Pontellier's eyes that the damp sleeves of her peignoir no longer served to dry them"(Chopin 491). During this time period after the Civil War and into the early nineteen hundreds people everywhere were seeing American in a much different light. The people working in the factories were submitted to terrible working conditions and living standards that were killing hundreds of people and the sight of someone crying was probably not uncommon amongst people. This women believes that once she has finished crying all will be better in her life. Emerson and Thoreau believe that real emotions were something hidden by other writers and they do lead to the expression of emotion throughout their own ideas. Thoreau and Emerson find happiness in nature and alone in away from the corruption that is the government and society, which takes hold of people's lives and affects their lives in every aspect.

Chopin, Kate."The Awakening." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009.491. Print.