However, near the end of the story, when Edna returns to Grand Isle with
despondency, she recovers that her responsibility toward her children is not what she
considers her dignity. Although she loves them, it is unbearable to return to the
devoted mother-woman’s role which has stolen her independence. Her children
“appeared before her like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered
her and sought to drag her into the soul’s slavery for the rest of her days” (113). To 35
choose them means to give up her selfhood which, is impossible for Edna. That is
why she prefers death.