![]() And so in character-based fiction, closure is either meaningless or an elegant lie.ġ0. In life, when events impact us, that impact never stops. Death is generally arbitrary and meaningless.ħ. The story starts off with a generic fairy tale ending in which a husband and a wife live a happy life together and eventually die. The only real resolution for character is death. In her short story Happy Endings, Margaret Atwood uses different literary techniques that can alter the interpretation of the story’s theme. Other fiction prioritizes character: how events impact the way that people exist, their being in the self and in the world.Ħ. Situational/plot-driven fiction is aptly suited for closure.ĥ. Don DeLillo, who authors such fiction, has written that all plots tend to move deathward. Other fiction, though, focuses on situation, plot, and tension.ģ. At approximately 1,300 words, it's also an example of flash fiction. That is, it's a story that comments on the conventions of storytelling and draws attention to itself as a story. In a world which is tormented by gender bias and racial prejudices, no human story can end happily. 'Happy Endings' by Canadian author Margaret Atwood is an example of metafiction. Think Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings.” These comments won’t be discussing such fiction, as the notion of closure isn’t relevant to it.Ģ. Definitely, Atwood uses the term Happy Ending ironically. Some fiction, metafiction, is about how fiction might better or differently be written. But for the panel I came up with some thoughts on closure, and I share them here.ġ. While I’m happy to point to a character or a story or a novel or an ending and say, I think this is good, and here’s why, I’m hesitant – when I write, when I teach, when I think – to say what is good in the abstract. GradeSaver, 12 June 2023 Web.I recently appeared on the first of two conference panels discussing the notion of closure in fiction the inspiration for the panel was not our wonderful pictured friend’s assertion of the magical duo of surprise and inevitability – rather it was Tobias Wolff’s thought that ‘a good story somehow continues in a shimmer of possibility.’ Next Section Quotes and Analysis Previous Section Glossary Buy Study Guide How To Cite in MLA Format GradeSaver "Happy Endings Themes". This assertion helps underscore the narrator's suggestion that, in fiction, plot is secondary to characterization, description, and explication because in reality, all plots end the exact same way. The author here showcases the inevitability of mortality, and declares this theme outright when the narrator says, "The only authentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. If this video helped you, please consider donating to my audiobook career so I can continue producing audio to help students and readers. No matter the sequence of events or the shifting personalities of characters, John, Mary, James, Madge, and Fred all die before the end of the story. Readers will likely notice that every character in the story eventually dies. These different portraits of relationships highlight Atwood's interest in dramatizing power dynamics between men and women as they relate to factors like age and desire. In version C, Mary finds herself drawn not to the well-established and doting John, but to the younger and flighty James, who is never around. In version B, the narrator presents a gender normative relationship between John and Mary – one in which Mary's only goals are to please John, who notably takes advantage of her. ![]() ![]() Secondary to the theme of the writing process is one that appears frequently in Atwood's work: sex and gender. Plots can vary, but a story composed only of plot is boring a good writer will make the plot meaningful by communicating how the events unfold and why the reader should care. This structure is deliberate, as it highlights the narrator's concluding thoughts in part F. Readers will likely notice that each version of the characters' lives is dominated by a straightforward recounting of events there is little if any interiority for the characters and the tone of the narrator throughout every version is monotonous and deadpan. That the story is organized into six different versions showcases the author's interest in dramatizing how one creates memorable characters, compelling plot points, and ultimately a good story. ![]() The central theme of " Happy Endings" is the process of writing, specifically the process of writing fiction. ![]()
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