An Analysis of Margaret Atwood's Happy Endings
An Analysis of Margaret Atwood's Happy Endings
Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood reviewed by Karen Bernardo
Want to know more? Check out BookRags Study Guides!
'Happy Endings' is one of Margaret Atwood's most frequently-anthologized stories because it is so unusual. In form, it isn't so much a story as an instruction manual on how to write one. In content, it is a powerful observation on life.
The story is broken up into six possible life scenarios plus some concluding remarks. In scenario A, John meets Mary and they have a perfect life, living together devotedly until they die.
In scenario B, John sleeps with Mary, whom he doesn't love; he treats her abysmally, she commits suicide, and he marries Madge, whom he does love, and 'everything continues as in A.'
In scenario C, Mary sleeps with John, who is married to Madge, who has become boring. Mary only sleeps with John because she pities him, and she is really in love with James, who rides a motorcycle. John discovers Mary and James in bed together and shoots them before turning the gun on himself. Madge goes on to marry a nice man named Fred, and we continue as in A.
In scenario D, Fred and Madge have no interpersonal problems at all, but their house is swept away by a tidal wave. They emerge 'wet and dripping and grateful, and continue as in A.'
In scenario E, Fred is found to have heart problems. Madge nurses him until he dies, after which she selflessly devotes herself to volunteer work for the rest of her life. It is in this scenario, incidentally, that Atwood begins to break down this encapsulated version of 'fifty ways to write a story.' Maybe it's not Fred with the heart problems, she suggests; maybe it's Madge who has cancer. Maybe she's not kind and understanding; maybe she's guilty and confused. Or maybe Fred is. Maybe Fred, after Madge's death, devotes himself to bird watching rather than volunteer work. We are obviously getting the point that none of this really matters.
In scenario F,
Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood reviewed by Karen Bernardo
Want to know more? Check out BookRags Study Guides!
'Happy Endings' is one of Margaret Atwood's most frequently-anthologized stories because it is so unusual. In form, it isn't so much a story as an instruction manual on how to write one. In content, it is a powerful observation on life.
The story is broken up into six possible life scenarios plus some concluding remarks. In scenario A, John meets Mary and they have a perfect life, living together devotedly until they die.
In scenario B, John sleeps with Mary, whom he doesn't love; he treats her abysmally, she commits suicide, and he marries Madge, whom he does love, and 'everything continues as in A.'
In scenario C, Mary sleeps with John, who is married to Madge, who has become boring. Mary only sleeps with John because she pities him, and she is really in love with James, who rides a motorcycle. John discovers Mary and James in bed together and shoots them before turning the gun on himself. Madge goes on to marry a nice man named Fred, and we continue as in A.
In scenario D, Fred and Madge have no interpersonal problems at all, but their house is swept away by a tidal wave. They emerge 'wet and dripping and grateful, and continue as in A.'
In scenario E, Fred is found to have heart problems. Madge nurses him until he dies, after which she selflessly devotes herself to volunteer work for the rest of her life. It is in this scenario, incidentally, that Atwood begins to break down this encapsulated version of 'fifty ways to write a story.' Maybe it's not Fred with the heart problems, she suggests; maybe it's Madge who has cancer. Maybe she's not kind and understanding; maybe she's guilty and confused. Or maybe Fred is. Maybe Fred, after Madge's death, devotes himself to bird watching rather than volunteer work. We are obviously getting the point that none of this really matters.
In scenario F,