Survival By Margaret Atwood Analysis

How can you implement tradition while remaining original? Many authors have been stuck inside this metaphorical box, and often do not know how they will escape. “Survival” by Margaret Atwood describes what seems to be the traditions of Canadian literature. When it comes to showing said traditions, “The Painted Door” and “Travel Piece” shows the traits “Survival” describes, but they manage to execute them in their own unique way. Both pieces of literature use negative events to advance their stories or even bring them to an end. They also put their characters into situations where they have to survive, though they have different definitions of what survival is. Only one author decides to use the Canadian tradition of making nature a cruel
“The Painted Door” covers the topics of death and adultery. Shown mainly in the later parts of the story, it states for death, “Drifting with the storm he had run against his own pasture fence and overcome had frozen, erect still, both hands clasping fast the wire”(pg. 243). This section describes that John died while outside in the snowstorm that was building up throughout the story. This scene indeed is negative, as it covers death. Death is always a prime example, as it is tied to grief, due to how you feel when losing someone you are close to. Meanwhile, in “Travel Piece” the negativity is there, however, it doesn’t bluntly show its face as much as “The Painted Door”. “Travel Piece” has negativity come up in emotions, mainly with how Annette feels. She is feeling down throughout the entire story, but negative emotions are addressed near the end where it is brought up that “Annette feels she is about to witness something mundane and horrible…”(pg. 293). Mundane and horrible are two highly pessimistic words. This then accurately describes what Annette is feeling what she will see next though, as she believes she might witness a murder. Both of these stories being pessimistic are supported by “Survival”. “Survival” brings up that negativity seems to be a staple in Canadian literature. Canadians tend to write about depressing situations, as shown by Margaret Atwood stating, “you may predict that when
“The Painted Door” shows surviving as an attempt to get through an extreme storm. All throughout the story the buildup has to do with the storm, and how it gets worse. The storm gets to a point in the story where the character Steven states”...Across the hills...it would be suicide to try”(pg. 237). Describing the storm being impossible to survive, and telling the reader that John always comes back home, foreshadows that John won’t be making it back alive. John tried to survive a storm so he could return to his wife but ultimately failed. In “The Painted Door”, it displays survival as something that even if you try really hard to succeed, you will eventually fail. “Travel Piece” has a different way of showing and a different mindset about survival. “Travel Piece” paints survival as surviving a crash, and being stranded with other people, with nowhere to go. Our protagonist Annette after the crash becomes stuck in a lifeboat with others, and rescue does not seem to be arriving anytime soon. Near the end of the story, Atwood reveals that the student named Greg drank seawater, causing him to become delusional and try to jump off the boat into the ocean. They manage to pin him down, but the realization sets in that “They can’t hold him down forever…”(pg. 293) and that “...he will be lost to them”(pg. 293). With the wording and events shown later,