Margaret Atwood’s short story Happy Endings suggests the importance of social constructs and the impact society has on people's lives. Social constructs are defined as a concept or perception of something based on the collective views developed and maintained within a society or social group (Oxford Dictionaries). Atwood suggests many times the important role of social constructs. Happy Endings implies that in order to live a happy and fulfilling life, social formations designed from society must be followed. This is evident in the many different plots in Happy Endings and how if social constructs and formations are not followed the ending is never a desirable one. In plot A the couple John and Mary follow a social normative path in their relationship leading them to happiness. Their well-being and success is suggested to be as a result of their traditional marriage. Due to the fact that they “fall in love and get married”, they are guaranteed to live a happy life. Margaret Atwood uses short and simple sentences that describe the highlights of the relationship of the married two. She does this to prove that the couple partake in activities that …show more content…
Whether it is because you are able to live a happy and fulfilling life as in plot A, or you are doomed to be miserable as a result of going against the social normative like in plot B and C. Happy Endings, written by Margaret Atwood proposes the vast effect social formations have on the individual which is evident with the different plots and their disparate endings. Works Cited Atwoods, Margaret. “Happy Endings.” 1983. The Broadview Introduction to Literature. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press. 2013. 191-194. Print. “Social construct | Definition of social construct in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries. en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/social_construct. Accessed 9 Dec.
...e protagonists finally arrive at lives of satisfaction from their lives of discontent after they have tried new activities.
The struggle between happiness and society shows a society where true happiness has been forfeited to form a perfect order.
end. This essay will further show how both stories shared similar endings, while at the same time
Holman, C. Hugh and William Harmon. A Handbook to Literature. MacMillan Publishing Company, N.Y. 1992.
Innocence, happiness, success, and optimism, are all characteristics of human kind. A cure for cancer is superior to the elimination of physical abuse and suicidal death’s. A result to have all people treated equally appreciated and loved. Is it a possible gesture? It may not happen in our lifetime, but if powerful and caring individuals join forces, it is possible to draw conclusions. To live the dreams and allusions each identity performs and has a reality to people and society. Within the three novels, Ellen Foster, A Virtuous Woman, and A Cure for Dreams, all written by the author Kaye Gibbons, each character from different novels struggles to face reality and find the correct path that will lead them to the right direction in life. While coping with the endless pain, Ellen, Jack, and Betty have only hope to lead them into the direction they encounter to approach. A fate in their lives can change forever. In addition, keep their “depressing days” only a memory so that they will become successful. All characters are determined to overcome their obstacles and misery through hope, courage, and inspiration.
Gail Godwin's short story "A Sorrowful Woman" revolves around a wife and mother who becomes overwhelmed with her husband and child and withdraws from them, gradually shutting them completely out of her life. Unsatisfied with her role as dutiful mother and wife, she tries on other roles, but finds that none of them satisfy her either. She is accustomed to a specific role, and has a difficult time coping when a more extensive array of choices is presented to her. This is made clear in this section of the story.
`All's well that ends well.' Two completely different authors with two somewhat different styles of writing create two endings, which leave the audience guessing, making assumptions, but assuming that indeed, all is as well as it can possibly be, finally.
Works Cited: Atwood, Margaret. Happy Endings.
Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings” is an Author’s telling of societal beliefs that encompass the stereotypical gender roles and the pursuit of love in the middle class with dreams of romance and marriage. Atwood writes about the predictable ways in which many life stories are concluded for the middle class; talking about the typical everyday existence of the average, ordinary person and how they live their lives. Atwood provides the framework for several possibilities regarding her characters’ lives and how each character eventually completes their life with their respective “happy ending”.
Keep, Christopher, Tim McLaughlin, and Robin Parmar. "Defining Postmodernism." Defining Postmodernism. N.P., N.D. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
All in all, Chris McCandless is a contradictory idealist. He was motivated by his charity but so cruel to his parents and friends. He redefined the implication of life, but ended his life in a lonely bus because of starvation, which he was always fighting against. Nevertheless, Chris and the readers all understand that “happiness only real when shared.” (129; chap.18) Maybe it’s paramount to the people who are now alive.
Happiness plays an important and necessary role in the lives of people around the world. In America, happiness has been engrained in our national consciousness since Thomas Jefferson penned these famous words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Since then, Americans have been engaged in that act: pursuing happiness. The problem however, as Ray Bradbury demonstrates in his novel Fahrenheit 451, is that those things which make us happy initially may eventually lead to our downfall. By examining Guy Montag, the protagonist in Fahrenheit 451, and the world he lives in we can gain valuable insights to direct us in our own pursuit of happiness. From Montag and other characters we will learn how physical, emotional, and spiritual happiness can drastically affect our lives. We must ask ourselves what our lives, words, and actions are worth. We should hope that our words are not meaningless, “as wind in dried grass” (Eliot).
The philosopher Aristotle once wrote, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” This famous quote compels people to question the significance of their joy, and whether it truly represents purposeful lives they want to live. Ray Bradbury, a contemporary author, also tackles this question in his book, Fahrenheit 451, which deals heavily with society's view of happiness in the future. Through several main characters, Bradbury portrays the two branches of happiness: one as a lifeless path, heading nowhere, seeking no worry, while the other embraces pure human experience intertwined together to reveal truth and knowledge.
Deck, Alice A. "Beloved: Overview." Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 5 May 2014
Margaret Atwood is an acclaimed poet, novelist, and short story writer. With such a variety of works in different types of writing, it is difficult to grasp every aspect of Atwood's purpose of writing. A comparative analysis of Rape Fantasies reveals the Atwood's writing is varied in many ways yet soundly consistent especially when comparing a particular set of writing such as a group of her other short stories. Atwood's background plays a large part in her writing. Atwood was born in Ottawa, Canada in 1913. Her father was an entomologist, so she spent much of her childhood in the wilderness and other various urban places around Canada. Throughout her life, she lived in numerous Canadian residences as well as several towns in the United States. She has also lived in England, France, Italy and Germany. With this extensive background, Atwood displays a vast knowledge of the world around her, although large portions of her writing are based on Canadian settings. As a young girl, she started reading many books and even writing poems and comics. After deciding that she wanted to become a writer, Atwood attended the University of Toronto and earned her bachelor's degree in 1961. Following this, she went on to receiver her master's degree from Harvard University.