“The pigeon house pleased her. It at once assumed the intimate character of a home, while she herself invested it with a charm which it reflected like a warm glow. There was with her a feeling of having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in the spiritual. Every step which she took toward relieving herself from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual. She began to look with her own eyes; to see and to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer was she content to “feed upon opinion” when her own soul had invited her” (pg.7, chapter 32).
This quote is a turning point in the book The Awakening. Edna now realizes that she is an individual in life whose actions are for her, and not for others. She is growing closer to herself, but away from her family and society. She is learning that she likes it best when she can act the way she wants to act, and do what she wants to do, not what others or society wants her to do or to act like. This quote is showing that Edna is starting to become more independent, which could also be foreshadowing Edna’s suicuide.
Great American Novels 2020 