Margaret Atwood's Happy Endings

In Atwood’s “Happy Endings” the slightest factor like age, job, and personality can change the outcome of a story but no matter what, the ending will always be the same. Her choice of narrative helps us to focus on the changing scenarios of the story that eventually lead to the same ending. She alternates through second and third person point of view, to lead us through the story. Regardless of the way the story starts eventually all the characters die, so in “Happy Endings” the most important part isn’t about the ending but instead on how we get there.
From the beginning we can pick the outcome of the story, either we pick the short happy compressed scenario or we pick from the other five longer options. Each scenario has a different factor that has been changed like someone’s age or job which greatly affected the outcome of the story, but no matter what the ending stays the same. There are three parts to our life, the beginning, middle and end. Like Atwood says “…the endings are the same however you slice it…Beginnings are always more fun.” In “Happy Endings” …show more content…
The middle is left for us to do as we want. In “Happy Endings” not matter what you do all endings are the same. The middle is left for us to expand and make the best of it. The smallest thing in a story can have dramatic changes but that shows that life is unpredictable. Narration is also very important because, she alternates through second and third person point of view, to lead us through the many possibilities our characters might face in their life. The story needs the type of narration so it can have a better flow and without it the story the story itself wouldn’t make any sense. Her choice of narrative helps lead us to focus on the changing events of the story that eventually lead to the same ending. Life isn’t just about the happy ending, it’s about the important events that led up to that certain