The Awakening of Kate Chopin ends with the death of the protagonist, Edna Pontellier. Removing her clothes, she swims out to sea until her arms can no longer support her and she drowns. It wasn't necessarily suicide, nor was it necessarily the best option to escape his problems. We are told that he walks to the beach "rather mechanically" (Chopin 108) and that he doesn't think about much, other than the heat of the sun. This doesn't sound very interesting until we read that the reason she isn't thinking is because "she did all the necessary thinking after Robert left, when she lay awake on the couch until morning." (Chopin 108) This means that he has already planned exactly what he will do on this trip to the seaside; in fact, he thought about it all night. This is especially significant with Edna, who normally does not think ahead about the things she will do or say. It can be safely concluded that this was a highly premeditated trip to the beach, regardless of whether she committed suicide or not. His mood is of vital importance in the evaluation of his death. We are told that during her night of reflection, she came to realize that there was "nothing in the world that she wanted" (p 108) and that she would ultimately be left alone. Then he remembers his children, but not with affection. They are «antagonists who overcome it; who had overpowered her and sought to drag her into soul slavery for the rest of her days.” (Chopin 108) Her children are a burden, not a joy, because they anchor her to the “slavery of the soul.” “But he knew a way to evade them.” (Chopin 108) Did he know a way to evade his children? Of course there are other possibilities besides suicide, but together with the other... middle of paper... he has definitively solved his problems. It wasn't her only option, but for her, in the state she was in, it was probably the best. Nothing else she could have done could have helped her. Works Cited Arnavon, Cyrille. "An American Madame Bovary." Chopin, Kate. The awakening. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1994. 184-188. Chopin, Kate. The awakening. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1994. Pollard, Percival. "The Unlikely Awakening of a Married Woman." Chopin, Kate. The awakening. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1994. 179-181. Wyatt, Neal. Suicide in "The Awakening". 1995. April 2008 .Young, Lady Janet Scammon and Dr Dunrobin Thomson. “Letters from “Lady Janet Scammon Young” and “Dr. Dunrobin Thomson"." Chopin, Kate. The awakening. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1994. 173-178.