The Blind Assassin By Margaret Atwood Analysis

There is no equality between men and women. Women are subconsciously treated differently, ostracized by the sexist ideologies instilled over the centuries. Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Blind Assassin, portrays the struggles that women have to overcome in the fight to obtain equality. The novel tells the story of two sisters, Iris and Laura, who were born in a time when they were oppressed by societal expectations that dictated their conduct. The novel’s female characters all struggle to have their opinions validated, because as women they were expected to be submissive. Atwood’s book showcases this inequality through the regret the characters experience as a result of not being in control of their lives. In the end, the women’s lives are ruined and full of regret, they become used products of a patriarchal society.
The main character, Iris, sacrifices her life to save the family company when she married a 35-year-old man at the age of 18. Her father did not physically force her but she knew it was expected of her to agree because she was a woman and society stipulated that she needed a man in order to sustain herself.

Reenie explains how women in movie theaters would feel if they were harassed, “...magically deprived of the ability to scream or move. She would be transfixed, she would be paralyzed--with shock, or outrage, or shame. She would have no recourse”(201). The movie theater of Laura’s life had a man who raped her and took advantage of her innocence. Laura did not deprive herself of the ability to scream or move, she wasn’t paralyzed when she drove off the bridge. Although Richard broke Laura down,who was not afraid to live life fearlessly, she was able to control her death: one component she did not have to regret. Iris spent her life dwelling on what could have been. She never took action, she allowed misfortunes to drown