29 pages • 58 minutes read
Margaret AtwoodHappy Endings
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1983A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Pick a literary device that Atwood uses in the story and pinpoint all the places it arrives in the narrative. How does it function, and does the device’s function change at all over the course of “Happy Endings”?
What role does the character of James play in the story?
Why is the cause of the tidal wave, and the devastation it creates, not given more space on the page than a single sentence?
In Section C, once John has somewhat magically obtained his handgun, Atwood offers that getting the gun is a “thin part of the plot,” and will “be dealt with later.” (44). However, reconciling this is indeed never dealt with. How does this omission fit in with postmodernist literature?
How is the ending, “John and Mary die,” the only authentic ending to a story? Do you perceive Atwood as being serious here, or employing play/humor?
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By Margaret Atwood
