"Happy Endings" -A Review

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes and reviews "Happy Endings," a short story by Margaret Atwood about a couple named John and Mary. Atwood presents six succinct scenes, centralized around the couple, and illustrates possible avenues their relationship may undergo. The reviewer notes Atwood's feminist perspective in this work, and Atwood's cynical and satirical tone. The writer sees Atwood as using cynicism to convey her belief in the nonexistence of fairy tale endings.

From the Paper:

"Atwood's cynical attitude about the insignificance of life is evident in the third story when she explains the reason John purchased a handgun is "the thin part of the plot and can be explained later" (219). Atwood does not place impact on the events leading to death. Instead she concentrates on the "happy ending" itself, for all that matters is that the ill-fated lovers do die, it does not matter how. This reinforces Atwood's notion that life is simply a means to the "happy" end."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Atwood, Margaret. "Happy Endings." An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2006.

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