ed by the dog. The barking dog feels its chains and barks in complete futility. It cannot be said why the dog is chained. Nor can the reader know whether the dog wants to escape or merely frighten the intruder. Its message is being delivered as loudly as it knows how, but there is no auditor who understands it.
Edna's confusions arise from the fact that she has been transplanted into this particular community. The rules are not apparent to her and so she misreads them. The absence of prudery confuses her. Frank discussions of birth and sexuality leave her amazed, though she eventually stops being astonished and concludes that "wonders would never cease" (500). She believes, however, that she understands the "lofty chastity which in the Creole woman seems to be inborn and unmistakable" (500). What Edna misses is that fact that the chastity is ensured because the system of social control is even more rigid than in some societies where less frankness is allowed. Such discussions do not lead to breaches of the social code because the code is u
...