How is The Awakening an internal novel ?through events such as investigations, realizations, and determinations

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, tells
the story of Edna Pontellier: A married housewife and mother who is on vacation with her
family. When we fist meet Edna we only see her outer shell. She seems like a very
devoted wife, a doting mother, a great friend, and a woman who is just passing through
life without any concerns.

However, when Edna meets Robert
Lebrun, a younger and charming man, she seems to have experienced for the first time in
her life what it is to feel like a woman. Robert's attentions to Edna are not just
superficial: It just so happens that the two may very well be kindred spirits who
discover how much they have in common. This is altogether new to Edna, who has always
viewed marriage and motherhood as expected events in the life of a woman. Little does
Edna know how deep she has buried her true emotions under the facade of a virtuous
family woman. It is this break in her routine that brings all that Edna once viewed as
"life" down to shambles. There is where her awakening
begins.

The internal journey of Edna Pontellier intensifies
when she comes to realize that, unbelievably to her, she is in love with a man that is
not her husband. Moreover, she discovers further on how empty and squalid her current
marriage is. Her husband is not a listener, nor a romantic. He does not talk, nor take
into consideration her true needs. He feels that Edna is a wife and mother: Not a
woman.

Meanwhile, Edna's womanhood continues to grow
intensely. She takes up painting, begins to meet with bohemians, and even realizes how
much she dreads motherhood and the responsibilities of adulthood. She even moves out of
her own home while her family is away and takes residence in a small place she called
"the pigeon hole" to be able to meditate and feel life without the burdens that society
imposes upon women. Her love for Robert intensified, making her realize how little
pleasure she has experienced in her 28years. This leads Edna to lead a life of pleasure
and passion as best as she can. She eats as much as she wants, paints, takes long swims
in the ocean, has sex with yet another man (Arobin) just for the sake of it, and
continuously rebels against her embarrassed
husband.

However, in comes her tragedy: As a true Creole,
Robert refuses to consummate a romantic affair with Enda, and leaves her for good.
According to his final letter, he leaves because he loves her. This is when Edna
realizes that, no matter how hard she tries to catch up with the life she never lived,
she was awoken from her stale life way too late. When she retires to the sea, and takes
a final swim completely naked, she is basically giving herself back to nature. She
prefers to die as to return to a life that does not suit her spirit. Edna's suicide is
the final step of a complete transformation. This is how this novel presents an
introspective journey into the live, heart, and spirit of a common, but needy,
woman.