A Literary Analysis of Margaret Atwood’s Happy Endings

In the story “Happy Endings” the author Margaret Atwood gives 6 scenarios in alphabetical order from A to F of how a couples life could play out over the span of their lives. In these six scenarios Atwood uses satire to emphasize how interchangeable and simple each couples life is. In this story Atwood uses character, style, and point of view to chastise the desire for the everyday common life and the concern for only the “whats” in life and not “how or why”.

The use of flat characters in “Happy Endings” is one of the ways Atwood’s satirical tone is especially emphasized. The first characters introduced, Mary and John, are barely developed and we only learn simple details about their life that appears to be happy and comfortable. For example, we learn that they both have jobs but not what they do for these jobs. The narrator describes them as “worth while and remunerative jobs, which they find stimulating and challenging.

” We also learn that they continue to enjoy their lives but are still not given any exciting details.

For example, all the important aspects of their life are described by the narrator as “they buy a charming house”, “when they can afford live in help, they have two children. They turn out well. ” “They go on vacations together. They retire” , “They both have hobbies they find stimulating and challenging. ” Atwood uses this lack of detail to emphasize how flat and dull the characters are, building the idea that the main desire in life is focused on the “whats”. Throughout the different scenarios Atwood continues to use the writing style of repetition to make the point that the root of each story is the same.

For example, almost everything in the characters lives throughout the six scenarios are described as “stimulating and challenging”, all the houses in the story are described as “charming”, and the real estate market is always mentioned. The most important thing that is repeated at the end of every story is that they all die, no matter what happened in their life, they all eventually die. Death is key to this story because regardless of the “whats” the characters have in life, Atwood wants to emphasize that death will always equal us out.

For example, in scenario F these exact ideas are mentioned by the author “you’ll have to face it, the endings are always the same however you slice it” and “the only authentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die. ” The third person objective point of view that this story is written in is what makes the characters so flat, the repetition so empty, and the story so simple. For example, a much more descriptive story in B is emotionally detached and flat because of how the author purposely lacks passion by writing, “Mary falls in love with John but John doesn’t fall in love with Mary.

He merely uses her body for selfish pleasure and ego gratification of a tepid kind. ” This statement is so emotionally loaded and could be very upsetting but the way its delivered, so fat and blunt, takes away the emotional attachment. The death as well in story B is a dark and heart breaking part but is also told so bluntly to remind you of death being the equalizer. For example, the author writes so easily about the death “Mary collects all the sleeping pills and aspirin she can find, and takes them and a half bottle of sherry.

You can see what kind of woman she is by the fact that its not even whiskey. She leaves a note for John. She hopes he’ll discover her and get her to the hospital in time and repent and then they can get married, but this fails to happen and she dies. ” The non-emotional way her death is described is an indicator of the flatness. The use of character, style, and point of view that Atwood uses to write this story gives you a real feeling of pity for these characters, only having horrible lows or average highs in their relationships.

It appears that there is no great place to be in her story. Reading this story for the first time, the reader could assume Atwood has an obsession with bad relationships, boring average marriages, and death. The key to understanding what the author is trying to convey is realizing how the stories all link together and how they all lack the essence of excitement and desire. The author brings the idea that without focusing on the “how and why” of life and only focusing on the “what, what, what” will leave you with an average life.

Reference

Endings, and Margaret Atwood. 2016. “Happy Endings”. Goodreads. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28673445-happy-endings.

Topics, Sample Papers & Articles Online for Free. (2016). Happy Endings – Margaret Atwood. [online] Available at: http://studymoose.com/an-analysis-of-margaret-atwoods-happy-endings-essay [Accessed 21 Nov. 2016].

“Happy Endings Summary”. 2016. Www.Bookrags.Com. http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-happyendings/chapanal001.html.