IRU #1
Method Element:
In the short story, “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood, an element that is important to the story is exact repetition. At the end of the short story, it states, “The only authentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die” (F. 291). This demonstrates that Atwood was trying to convey that no matter what happens in life, death is always inevitable. The story is a life lesson to tell readers to make the most of their precious time on earth, and not to depend on other people to make you happy or to choose how you should live. This connects to the theme fate vs. free will, because no matter what choices the people made in the scenarios, they all end up the same, dead. This …show more content…
In part B, the narrator describes how Mary feels about John by stating, “This other John will emerge like a butterfly from a cocoon, a Jack from a box, a pit from a prune, if the first John is only squeezed enough” (289). This reveals how Mary is hoping for John to show his “true-self” to Mary, because she believes there’s a different side of John that he doesn’t show the world. She desperately wants to be “the girl” that changes him and makes him fall in love with her. Unfortunately, she is blinded by her love that she can’t see that he doesn’t feel the same way that she feels for him. She completely believes that if she gives him everything he wants and has her whole life revolve around him, then he will return the favor and love her back. In reality, her dependency just makes it easier for John to use her, because he knows that she needs him and he knows he can get away with treating her badly. Mary thinks that she can peel away the bad that John shows, but actually the person that John is when he is with Mary is the true John. When John is with Mary he expresses his true self, because he does everything he desires with Mary. He doesn’t impress anyone, he is just doing all the sinful things that he wants and knows he won’t get punished for it. Mary wishes that John would find himself, but Mary is the one that needs to find who she really is. Mary is the one who is lying to …show more content…
When her current husband is narrating his wife’s and the blind man’s relationship he describes, “The blind man made a tape. He sent her the tape. She made a tape. This went on for years” (314). This communicates how the husband constantly talks about the connection his wife and the blind man share, displaying his jealousy against the blind man. He feels competition with the blind man because his wife characterizes the blind man as this wonderful man that she loves, who she always goes to for everything. She and the blind man have experienced all the rough times in their lives together, and her husband knows he can’t give her the insight and history that the blind man has given her. When he describes his wife’s past, he explains it vaguely and it seems as though he doesn’t really care, but the part he emphasizes frequently is the fact that she tells the blind man all of it and more. He is upset that she dedicates more time into these tapes than their relationship, and he doesn’t comprehend why she would emotionally invest in a man who isn’t him. He keeps bringing up the tapes because they secretly irritate him, because they express their feelings over those tapes, but the husband and she don’t. The wife could be manipulating her husband by telling him about the tapes and the blind man to cause him to open up to her more, or she may be trying to tell him about
Method Element:
In the short story, “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood, an element that is important to the story is exact repetition. At the end of the short story, it states, “The only authentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die” (F. 291). This demonstrates that Atwood was trying to convey that no matter what happens in life, death is always inevitable. The story is a life lesson to tell readers to make the most of their precious time on earth, and not to depend on other people to make you happy or to choose how you should live. This connects to the theme fate vs. free will, because no matter what choices the people made in the scenarios, they all end up the same, dead. This …show more content…
In part B, the narrator describes how Mary feels about John by stating, “This other John will emerge like a butterfly from a cocoon, a Jack from a box, a pit from a prune, if the first John is only squeezed enough” (289). This reveals how Mary is hoping for John to show his “true-self” to Mary, because she believes there’s a different side of John that he doesn’t show the world. She desperately wants to be “the girl” that changes him and makes him fall in love with her. Unfortunately, she is blinded by her love that she can’t see that he doesn’t feel the same way that she feels for him. She completely believes that if she gives him everything he wants and has her whole life revolve around him, then he will return the favor and love her back. In reality, her dependency just makes it easier for John to use her, because he knows that she needs him and he knows he can get away with treating her badly. Mary thinks that she can peel away the bad that John shows, but actually the person that John is when he is with Mary is the true John. When John is with Mary he expresses his true self, because he does everything he desires with Mary. He doesn’t impress anyone, he is just doing all the sinful things that he wants and knows he won’t get punished for it. Mary wishes that John would find himself, but Mary is the one that needs to find who she really is. Mary is the one who is lying to …show more content…
When her current husband is narrating his wife’s and the blind man’s relationship he describes, “The blind man made a tape. He sent her the tape. She made a tape. This went on for years” (314). This communicates how the husband constantly talks about the connection his wife and the blind man share, displaying his jealousy against the blind man. He feels competition with the blind man because his wife characterizes the blind man as this wonderful man that she loves, who she always goes to for everything. She and the blind man have experienced all the rough times in their lives together, and her husband knows he can’t give her the insight and history that the blind man has given her. When he describes his wife’s past, he explains it vaguely and it seems as though he doesn’t really care, but the part he emphasizes frequently is the fact that she tells the blind man all of it and more. He is upset that she dedicates more time into these tapes than their relationship, and he doesn’t comprehend why she would emotionally invest in a man who isn’t him. He keeps bringing up the tapes because they secretly irritate him, because they express their feelings over those tapes, but the husband and she don’t. The wife could be manipulating her husband by telling him about the tapes and the blind man to cause him to open up to her more, or she may be trying to tell him about