Satire In Happy Endings By Margaret Atwood

In "Happy Endings", Margaret Atwood uses satire to mock the idea that happy endings actually exist. Atwood is trying to prove the point that the ending will always be the same, therefore it is not important. What is important is the quest to reach the end. That reason being because no matter how a person pursues their journey to the end (rich, poor, mansion home, trailer home) it will never change. Atwood tells the reader not to focus on the “who” and “what”, but to focus on the “how” and “why” (259). She portrays her satirical style by using empty adjectives, a tone of irony, and metaphors throughout her work. Atwood uses adjectives that are not descriptive enough to create imagery as one way to show her satirical tone. She uses adjectives like
The main metaphor is clearly life itself. Version A, the “Happy Ending”, does not have to be the “middle class ideas”, but can be anything a person is trying to achieve. Either way, Atwood says, “The only authentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die” (259). Atwood is trying to push to her readers to not be afraid to live life, and to do whatever makes them happy. Once the readers realize the only guarantee in life is death, it will be much easier to live to the fullest. She also wants other writers to realize that they should make the beginning and middle of their works interesting and entertaining, and have a simple ending. Atwood’s intentions of this story were to make the reader question the point of life. Implying that maybe humans are only born to die. She wants other writers and just people, in general, to make the beginning interesting and to not focus on the ending. “Happy Endings” has a completely satirical style that mocks the existence of happy endings. Atwood depicts her satirical style with the use of empty adjectives, irony, and metaphors throughout her