FREE ESSAY ON MARGARET ATWOOD

MARGARET ATWOOD

Margaret Atwood is an acclaimed poet, novelist, and short story writer. With such a
variety of works in different types of writing, it is difficult to grasp every aspect of
Atwood's purpose of writing. A comparative analysis of Rape Fantasies reveals the
Atwood's writing is varied in many ways yet soundly consistent especially when comparing
a particular set of writing such as a group of her other short stories. Atwood's
background plays a large part in her writing. Atwood was born in Ottawa, Canada in 1913.
Her father was an entomologist, so she spent much of her childhood in the wilderness and
other various urban places around Canada. Throughout her life, she lived in numerous
Canadian residences as well as several towns in the United States. She has also lived in
England, France, Italy and Germany. With this extensive background, Atwood displays a
vast knowledge of the world around her, although large portions of her writing are based
on Canadian settings. As a young girl, she started reading many books and even writing
poems and comics. After deciding that she wanted to become a writer, Atwood attended the
University of Toronto and earned her bachelor's degree in 1961. Following this, she went
on to receiver her master's degree from Harvard University. 
Since 1961, Atwood has produced a highly acclaimed body of work that includes fiction,
poetry and literary criticism. Atwood published her first volume of poems, Double
Persephone, in 1961 (Toronto), followed by many more throughout the next three decades,
interspersed with novels, including The Edible Woman, Surfacing, Lady Oracle, Life Before
Man, Bodily Harm, The Handmaids Tale and The Robber Bride. (Contemporary Literary
Criticism, 48). Among Atwood's extensive list of writing, it is important to note the
handful of short fiction that she has published. Her most recent collection of short
fiction is titled "Good Bones" which was published in 1992. Some other significant short
fiction works include "Wilderness Tips", "Bluebeards Egg", "Murder in The Dark", and
"Dancing Girls". All together Margaret Atwood's major published pieces total over forty.

For a majority of these works, Margaret Atwood has received numerous awards. Canada's
highest literary honor, the Governor General's Award, was awarded to Atwood for her
poetry collection "The Circle Game" in 1967. She received the award again in 1986 for her
novel, The Handmaid's Tale. Another significant work that has won Atwood a number of
awards are Cat's Eye, which is a novel that Atwood produced in 1988. Her large amount of
awards proves to her readers that she is a good writer. By looking at a portion of these
other works, short stories in particular, it is easy to compare a majority of her work
and conclude that her writing of Rape Fantasies is typical of the work that she normally
produces. In general, Atwood's literary reputation for subject matter, themes and style
are recognizable with the other work that she produces. In her short stories, she follows
a few basics, but usually has one significant underlying meaning. 
The subject matter of Atwood's works usually focuses on either relationships or power,
perhaps sometimes both. The relationships in her short stories are either male to female
or female-to-female. Atwood's writing has a strong focal point on human relationships.
Atwood consistently uses relationships to develop her stories. "In her novels, Margaret
Atwood creates situations in which women burdened by the rules and inequalities of their
societies, discover that they must reconstruct braver, self reliant personae in order to
survive" (Goldblatt 276). In one of Atwood's short stories, "Uncles", the author presents
the relationships that a young girl has with her uncles. The bond, although slightly
unusual, is closer with her uncles rather than her aunts. The uncles are important to the
girl because of the loss of her father. She needs the male bonding that she lacks from
her father, so she gets this through her uncles. Atwood often portrays women as dependent
on men. This is such the case in "Uncles". Even after her uncles are gone, the
protagonist meets a man at her workplace. Although at first, it seems like she might
overcome him, he gets the best of her and begins to make her wonder if she were much of a
woman. Another important element in the subject matter of Margaret Atwood's writing is
the power struggles between men and women. Most of the main characters in Atwood's
writing are having some kind of conflict at one point of the story. In most of the
stories, the women might start out just fine, but by the end of the story, they have had
to face one or more power struggle situation. Often the background of the female in
Atwood's writing suggests an unhealthy questionable one. They might come from weak or
unhealthy families that give off a sense of unsupportiveness. It is often apparent that
Atwood's female characters are threatened by the roles that they are expected to play in
society, either wife or mother. If they don't fulfill these roles, they usually have
internal conflicts about these roles that they should be in. 
The themes of Atwood's writings are also significant when trying to understand how the
author usually writes. Some of the noteworthy themes that she tends to follow are the
significance of eating and oral communication. Both of these themes offer the protagonist
a source of power. One of the more prominent themes of Atwood's work is the significance
that eating plays on the main characters. A large amount of work that is done by Atwood
at least mentions some sort of eating. Whether it is just grabbing a bite to eat, or
actually focusing a whole scene around eating, Atwood tends to work this theme into her
stories. "By writing about women and food, Atwood exposes one of the most subtle and
subconscious ways in which power operates (Bouson 232). Often times these eating scenes
in Atwood's stories are surrounded by conversation. The oral communication theme is
prevalent in many of the short stories by Atwood. It appears that the majority of heated
discussions occur over some sort of food. Women have always been socially aware of
eating. It was not always acceptable for a woman to eat in public, back centuries ago;
the women were looked down upon for eating. Atwood stresses this factor into almost all
of her works. It is an important factor in the role that the women of today's society now
play a part of instead of watching. 
A third element to characterize Margaret Atwood by is her style of writing. Atwood is
consistent in using both symbols and metaphors in her writing. Another technique that she
often uses is to have the characters carry on a normal conversation, without any
explanation in the middle. What the reader knows is what is said during the conversation.
The symbols and metaphors that Atwood uses are consistent throughout her writing. As
Bouson states, "Atwood has developed further the literary convention of language as
surfaces and depths, as a palimpsest which hides what it means, and she has toyed with
the deceptive devices of rhetoric and figures of speech, especially metaphors, as
essential to language (230).
Atwood's "Rape Fantasies" is a good example of all the techniques mentioned above that is
concurrent with her normal subject matter, themes, and style. "Rape Fantasies" starts out
with a group of women sitting around their lunchroom playing bridge as usual, while
eating their lunch. One of the ladies mentions a magazine article that talks about how
every woman has them… rape fantasies. This gets the women in an uproar. For a few
minutes, they do not say anything. Finally, one of them opens up to the rest of them as
to what her fantasy would be like. The women begin to share what they think are their
rape fantasies. Each woman's idea of how her rape would take place is humorous. The main
character ends up sharing her main thoughts on the whole idea and how some of her
fantasies have been. The story ends with a comment on how women could overcome another
one of the social problems that they face by getting a conversation going with someone
who is intending on raping you. Atwood appears to be making a comment on the strength of
women and how she thinks that a society could be changed just by talking. 
The subject matter of "Rape Fantasies" is parallel with that of her other works. The most
important factor is the relationships between male and female. The female relationships
in "Fantasies" are very close. Atwood makes the women seem like they have a tight enough
bond to be talking about rape together, yet they do not know each other well enough that
they will not talk behind the others back. The flow of conversation that Atwood uses in
this particular story is an attribute to the story. When women are together, they tend to
ramble on or interrupt each other, just as they do here. Each of the women, over their
lunch is willing to open themselves up to the other women by admitting that they have had
these fantasies, and just how they had perceived the time when they were going to be
raped. The male relationships with females are another important factor in this story.
None of the women actually mentions having a friendship with a male, but most of the rape
fantasies are about a man that could be the woman's friend. If the fantasies are not
friendly, then Atwood makes sure to have the woman overpower the male or make the man
look like a fool. In one of the fantasies, Estelle, the main character says, "I feel so
sorry for him, in my rape fantasies, I always end up feeling sorry for the guy, I mean
there has to be something wrong with them…" ("Fantasies" 249). Atwood displays in
her story how important it is that women are now thought of as equals rather than just a
secondary to men. Although most of the time Atwood displays her female characters as
uncomfortable, unstable and innocent, she usually has them pull through the rough times
to prevail on the other end of the story. 
The second characteristic of Atwood's writing that is noticeable in "Rape Fantasies" is
her use of specific themes. The major theme is the importance of eating. Almost the
entire story is based around the ladies' discussion during their lunch break. This fact,
from the beginning shows the strength of all the women. Atwood has her own way of showing
which women were weaker within the group. Through Estelle's words, Atwood describes each
of the women, what they look like, their age, and what they eat. It is important in
understanding the women to know what they eat. When Estelle describes each of the women,
she also includes what they were eating. In Atwood's first novel, The Edible Woman, one
of the central ideas is that women are defined by their culture as passive objects for
male consumption (Bouson 231). By allowing the women of her text to eat, she not only
shows that they are not going to be overlooked as something for men to consume, but they
are on the same level as the men, doing everything, perhaps even more than a male might
pursue. Oral communication, like in many other works by Atwood, is present in "Rape
Fantasies". A major way for the females to bond is by simply talking to one another.
Atwood also suggests that if the females in the story communicate with the males that
they would not be able to rape them, if they had any heart at all. The females
communication with each other is also another way to show that women wish to have a voice
too. They are tired of letting the men do all the talking, and they are ready to be heard
too. 
One of the most powerful themes in "Rape Fantasies" is the power of women over men.
Although Atwood shows this in some of her other stories, it plays a major part in this
particular story. By the end of the story, when Estelle is telling about the different
"fantasies" that she has had, the whole idea behind rape is not the prevailing idea of
the story. Estelle in each instance that Atwood gives is either equal to or better than
the man that intended to rape her. At one point in reading the story, a reader could
almost get the impression that Atwood is making a mockery of rape. The whole idea of rape
is played off as if it is a very natural thing. There is a very serious underlying
meaning to the whole idea of the way rape is portrayed that is best portrayed by the way
the story begins: "The way they're going on about it in the magazines you'd think it was
just invented" ("Fantasies" 244). Atwood is very clever in the way she addresses serious
issues in her writing, yet keeps it comfortable enough to get a laugh out of simply by
reading. Most of her writing does have a serious issue that goes hand in hand, with what
the story ultimately deals with. 
Although Atwood is not as consistent with her last technique, "Rape Fantasies" can still
be compared to her other works. The use of symbols and metaphors is important. Turbide
suggests, "in her [Atwood] novels eating is employed as a metaphor for power and is used
as an extremely subtle means of examining the relationship between woman and man" (45).
Atwood mostly uses metaphors in this particular instance when she is describing the males
of the story. Her use of symbols and metaphors are much more present in some of her other
significant works. The one consistent thing about this story is the way it is told.
Almost like a stream of consciousness, but not quite. The narrator, Estelle, is telling
her story to someone else, and she blurts out the whole story, including every thought
she had about the other women's fantasies. She does not stop to allow the listener to ask
questions, she just keeps right on going until she finishes. The conversational way in
which the story is presented makes it comfortable for the reader. It just flows as a
normal conversation would. Atwood's writing is typically produced in this fashion. Her
short stories in particular are easy to read, because they flow just like people having a
conversation. 
Overall, a comparative analysis of Margaret Atwood's works, short stories in particular
can lead to the conclusion the through the use of repeated subject matter, themes, and
style, Atwood can allow her readers to become more involved in her writing. She typically
follows her own style of writing. When comparing her subject matter between "Rape
Fantasies" and her other works, certain aspects can be obtained. The relationships
between male and female are important. Atwood stresses the ability to be able to compare
males to females in an equal sense. The further society progresses in this equal frame of
mind, the more critics are agreeing with Atwood's writing. 
With Atwood's other works, "Rape Fantasies" is a good comparative analysis in trying to
figure out if it is consistent with her other writings. It would be easy to take this
essay the complete opposite direction. Atwood, although she has many elements of writing
that make it easy to compare her works, she also has a broad spectrum of work that would
be just as easily contrasting to her norm. Some elements that allowed for a comparative
essay are female protagonist, eating and the justification behind it, power struggles,
and the ever-present relationships between both male and female and female-to female. 
Margaret Atwood offers no ending to the underlying question that she poses throughout the
short story, "Rape Fantasies", of whether a man could rape a woman if she were to strike
up a conversation with him. She leaves that entirely up to the woman to decide. Most of
her writing will deal with a social problem, yet never offer any sort of solution. Atwood
likes to write about social afflictions that cause an unequal attitude between men and
women. Overall, a comparative analysis of Atwood's works have proven that she does
consistently use similar subject matter, themes, and style to express her feelings and
complete her stories. "Rape Fantasies" was written in Atwood's typical framework for
which she has written other pieces, but it is very possible to also prove that "Rape
Fantasies" is in a category of it's own.