Friendship Relations In Margaret Atwood's Novel

Literature has most often catered to the tradition of idealizing friendship, portraying the brighter side leaving out the more realistic, murkier and the complex aspects. In any friendship there are compromises, resulting in dissatisfaction and distress. It would be imprudent to ignore the negative experiences as they have a lasting influence on one’s life. Psychologists put forth that, “as a developmental hindrance, experience in friendship relation would be expected to push a child forward a maladaptive developmental pathway by promoting deviance’ (Bagwell). Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye focuses on this complex aspect of friendship relations. The novel delves deep into the world of school children portraying the nature, behaviour and desires of the girls of that age examining the various reasons causing conflicts. Adept in the portrayal of women’s sphere, Atwood presents the female world unveiled in her novels. She keenly follows the thought process of women and describes it with sensitivity. Her capacity to capture and concretize the invisible, indescribable and the subtle renders it possible for her to portray the exterior and interior of the women’s world with graphic precision. Cat’s Eye narrates the harrowing childhood experiences of Elaine …show more content…
She also brings out the hesitation in children to discuss the matter with any one which blocks their way of getting help. Irked by the constant instructions and comments of her friends when Elaine tries to avoid them, Cordelia would bully her back into the group. Elaine gives up the idea of discussing the matter with her brother / mother that it might appear to be childish to them. She also has a sense of insecurity in sharing it with them for the fear of appearing childish and losing their friendship by their