Comparing Pillow Talk And Happy Endings

Both Alasdair Grey and Margaret Atwood have written short stories about a man and a woman; “Pillow Talk” and “Happy Endings”. The short stories are, as expected, not the same. They have similar characters, themes, and underlying plots, nonetheless they also have contrasting genres, styles , settings, and other aspects of plot. By comparing these two stories, it is clear that there are many different ways to portray a singular theme. While “Pillow Talk” and “Happy Endings” have an abundance of similarities, they also have a plethora of differences that make them the short stories they are. E.M. Forster coined the modern definition of a flat character: “a flat character is a term referring to a character who boasts no mental or emotional development”(http://narrative.georgetown.edu/wiki/index.php/Flat_character)

Theme is defined by Oxford Dictionary as “The subject of a talk, piece of writing, exhibition, etc.” (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/theme). The theme throughout both stories is dysfunctional relationships. In the further the couple does not want to be together, but they stay together,and in the later, story C, the couple gets together despite not loving each other. In “Pillow Talk” the husband says “‘I don’t want you ever to leave me because I love you. My life will be a misery if you leave me”’ (Grey 31). To which the wife replies “‘ Then you’re luckier than I am” (Grey 31). The two have opposing views on whether they should stay together. Also in “Happy Endings” part C it states that Mary “ sleeps with him even though she’s not in love with him”(Atwood 96). Both of these situations differ from the traditional relationship in a dysfunctional way. Along the same lines both short stories have similar aspects of plot. In each story the characters follow a basic story. There is a couple, something happens, and the relationship ends. In “Pillow Talk” the relationship ends emotionally after unknown events that make the couple unhappy. Similarly in “Happy Endings” all of the alterate stories have the plot of boy meets girl, something happens, and in every story they die in the end, thus ending the relationship. These aspects considered there are still vast differences that identify the two