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Edna's Childhood In The Awakening

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Edna's Childhood In The Awakening
Edna’s childhood plays an important role in how the past shapes her present and future. Edna has frequent flashbacks of her childhood in the novel, that make her current situation feel familiar to her. In chapter 7 the author mentions, “even as a child she had lived her own small life within herself.” These flashbacks that possess Edna are a key part to her character development.
The sea is a very important symbol in The Awakening. This vast body of water symbolizes freedom and escape. While at the beach, Madame Ratignolle asked Edna what she was thinking of, as a result of her silence. Edna sends herself into a flashback while reminiscing on a day when she was younger and she walked through a large field near her childhood home in Kentucky,
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