Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

Reconstructing Margaret Atwood's Protagonists

Author(s): Patricia F. Goldblatt
Source: World Literature Today, Vol. 73, No. 2, On Contemporary Canadian Literature(s) (Spring,
1999), pp. 275-282
Published by: Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma
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Reconstructing MargaretAtwood's Protagonists
To construct: to build;tofabricate;to deviseor invent.
To RECONSTRUCT:
to rebuild.

By PATRICIAF. GOLDBLATT A weaver em- the voyageurfaced with an inclement, hostile envi-
ploysfragments ronment,these women struggleto overcomeand to
from life, silk, change systemsthat block and inhibittheir security.
raw yarns, wool, straw, perhaps even a few twigs, Atwood'spragmaticwomen are drawnfromwomen
stones, or feathers,and transformsthem into a tap- in the 1950s and 1960s: young women blissfully
estryof color, shape, and form. An author'swork is building their trousseausand imagininga paradise
similar, for she selects individuals, locations, im- of silverbells and picketfences.
ages, and ideas, rearrangingthem to createa believ- Yet the author herself was neither encumbered
able picture.Each smacksof reality,but is not. This nor restrictedby the definition of contemporary fe-
is the artist's art: to reconstructthe familiar into malein her life as a child. Having grown up in the
new, fascinating,but often disturbingtableauxfrom Canadian North, outside of societal propaganda,
which storiescan unfold. she could criticallyobservethe behaviorsthat were
MargaretAtwood weaves stories from her own indoctrinatedinto her urban peers who lacked di-
life in the bush and cities of Canada.Intenselycon- verse role models. As Atwood has noted, "Not even
scious of her political and social context, Atwood the artisticcommunityofferedyou a viablechoice as
dispels the notion that caribou-cladCanadiansre- a woman" (Sullivan,103). Her storiesdeal with the
main perpetuallylocked in blizzardswhile simulta- transformationof female charactersfrom ingenues
neously seeming to be a polite mass of gray faces, to insightfulwomen. By examiningher heroes, their
often indistinguishablefrom their Americanneigh- predators,and how they cope in society,we will dis-
bors. Atwood has continuallypondered the lack of cover where Atwood believes the ability to recon-
an identifiable Canadian culture. For over thirty structour lives lies.
years her work has aided in fashioning a distinct
Canadian literary identity. Her critical catalogue Who are the victims? "But pathos as a literary
and analysis of Canadian Literature,Survival, of- mode simply demands that an innocent victim suffer"
fered "a political manifesto telling Canadians . . . (Sv, 75). Unlike Shakespeare'shubris-ladenkings
[to] value their own" (Sullivan,265). In an attempt or Jane Austen's pert and private aristocratic
to focus on Canadianexperiences, Atwood has popu- landowningfamilies, MargaretAtwood relies on a
lated her storieswith Canadiancities, conflicts, and collection of ordinarypeople to carryher tales:uni-
contemporarypeople, conscious of a landscape versity students, museum workers, market re-
whose bordershave been permeatedby the frost of searchers, writers, illustrators, and even house-
Nature, her colonizers and her neighbors.Her ex- maids. In her novels, almost all dwell on their
aminationof how an individualinteracts,succeeds, childhoodyears in flashbackor in the chronological
or stagnateswithinher world speaksto an emerging telling of their stories. Many of her protagonists'
a sense of self and often parallelsthe battles fought early days are situated in a virtualGardenof Eden
to establishself-determination. setting, repletewith untamednaturalenvironments.
In her novels, MargaretAtwood createssituations Exploring shorelines, gazing at stars, gathering
in which women, burdened by the rules and in- rocks, and listeningto waves, they are solitarysouls,
equalitiesof their societies, discoverthat they must but not lonely individuals:innocent, curious, and
reconstructbraver,self-reliantpersonaein order to affablecreatures.Elaine Risley in Cat'sEye and an
survive.Not too far from the Canadianblueprintof unnamednarratorin Surfacingare two women who
recall idyllic days unfolded in a land of lakes,
Patricia F. Goldblatt, afterreceivingher doctoratein 1996, berries, and animals. Offred in The Handmaid's
has had her shortstories,book reviews,and longerarticleson lit- Tale, in her city landscape, also relates a tale of a
eratureand multiculturalstudiespublishedin the United States happy childhood. She is a complacentand assured
(EnglishJournal, MulticulturalReview, Journal of Education), Eng- child, her mother a constant loving companion.In
land (MulticulturalTeaching), Canada (English Quarterly,Journal
of the Canadian Societyfor Education ThroughArt, Canadian Wom-
their comfortablemilieus, these girls intuit no dan-
en's Studies), and Korea (Asian Journal of Women'sStudies). ger.

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276 WORLDLITERATURE
TODAY

However, other Atwood protagonistsare not as throughouthistory, to marriage.They search for a

fortunate.Their backgroundssuggest an unhealthy, male figure, imagininga refuge. Caught up in the
weedy soil that causes their young plants to twist romantic stereotypes that assign and perpetuate
and permutate. Lady Oracle'sJoan is overweight. genderroles, each girl does not doubt that a man is
Her domineering,impatient mother and her weak the solutionto her problems.
fatherpropelher to seek emotionalsatisfactionaway In TheEdibleWomanMarianand her co-workers
from them. Lesje in LifeBeforeMan is the offspring at Seymour Surveys, "the office virgins,"certainly
of dueling immigrant grandmotherswho cannot do not question that marriagewill provide fulfill-
agreeon the child'sproperupbringing.Not allowed ment. In spite of the fact that Marianis suspended
to frequentthe Ukrainian"golden church with its between two unappealingmen, she does not deviate
fairytaleonion" (LBM, 93) of the one, or the syna- from theproperbehavior.Marian'ssuitor,Peter,with
gogue of the other, Lesje is unable to develop self- his well-chosen clothes and suave friends, his per-
confidence and focuses instead on the inanimate, fectly decoratedapartment,and even Marianas the
the solid traditionsof rocks and dinosaurs as her appropriatemarriagechoice, is renderedas no more
progenitors. Similarly, the females in The Robber than the wedding cake's blanklysmiling ornament.
Briderevealmiserablechildhoodsunited by parental If appearanceis all, he should suffice.Peter is juxta-
abuse, absence,and disregard:Roz must performas posed to the slovenly, self-centeredgraduate stu-
her mother's helper, a landlady cum cleaning dent, Duncan, whose main pleasureis watchinghis
woman;her fatheris absent,involvedin shadydeal- laundry whirl in the washing machine. Marian is
ings in "the old country."Charis,a second charac- merelya blankslate upon which each man can write
ter in The RobberBride, abandonedby her mother or erasehis concept of female.
and depositedwith Aunt Vi and Uncle Vern, is sex- The narratorand her friend Anna, in Surfacing,
uallyviolatedby those who should have offeredlove are also plagued by moody men who are not sup-
and trust.Toni, the thirdof the trio, admitsto lone- portiveof women's dreams.In one particularlyhor-
liness and alienation in a well-educated, wealthy rifying scene, Anna's husband Dave orders her to
family.Markedby birth and poverty,Grace Marks, strip off her clothes for the movie camera. Anna,
an Irishimmigrantin the early 1800s in Alias Grace, humiliated by the request, nevertheless complies.
loses her mother en route to Canada. Grace is al- She admits to nightly rapes but rationalizeshis be-
most drownedby the demands of her drunkenfa- havior:"He likes to make me cry because he can't
ther and clinging,needy siblings.These exiled little do it himself" (S/, 80). Similarly,whenJoe, the nar-
girls,fromweak, absent,or cruelfamilies,made vul- rator'sboyfriend,proposes,"We should get married
nerableby their earlysituations,cling to the notion ... we might as well" (56), he is dumbfoundedand
that their lives will be improvedby the arrivalof a furious at her refusal. Men aware of the role they
kind stranger,most likelya handsomesuitor.Rather play accept their desirabilityas "catches."They be-
than becoming recalcitrantand cynical, all sustain lieve that women desirelives of "babiesand sewing"
the golden illusion of the fairy-taleending. In short, (LO, 159). These thoughtsare parrotedby Peter in
they hold to the belief, the myth perpetratedby so- TheEdibleWomanwhen he proclaims,"Peoplewho
ciety:marriage. aren'tmarriedget funny in middle age" (EW, 102).
Atwood's women are cognizantof the nurturing Men uphold the valuesof the patriarchyand women
omissions in their environments.They attempt to conform, few trespassinginto gardensof their own
cultivateand cope. Charis in The RobberBridede- design.
cides to reinventherself.She changesher name and In Alias GraceGrace's aspirationsfor a brighter
focuses on what she considers her healing powers future also dwell on finding the right man: "It was
inherited from her chicken-raisinggrandmother. the custom for young girls in this country to hire
She, Roz, and Toni turn their faith to the power of themselvesout, in orderto earn the money for their
friendship,a solid ring that lessens the painful lack dowries, and then they would marry . . . and one
of supportivefamilies. In Alias GraceGrace's bur- day ... be mistress of a tidy farmhouse"(AG,
den of an absent family is briefly alleviatedby her 157-58). In the employmentof Mr. Thomas Kin-
friendshipwith anotherhousemaid,Mary Whitney. near in Richmond Hill, Grace quickly ascertains
Mary takes an adoring Grace under her wing and that the handsome,dark-hairedhousekeeper,Nancy
createsfor Gracea fleetingvision of sisterlysupport. Montgomery,enjoys many privilegesas the reward
Unfortunately for Grace, Mary herself, another for being her master'smistress.Yet, althoughmen
trustingyoung woman, is deceived by her employ- may be the only way to elevate status, Grace learns
er's son and dies in a botched abortion, leaving that they cannot be trustedwhen their advancesare
Graceonce againabandonedand friendless. rejected.Grace, on trial for the murdersof Kinnear
In an attempt to reestablish stable, satisfying and Montgomery,is incredulouswhen she hears a
homes, these women pursue a path, as have women formerfriend,JamieWelsh, testifyagainsther.

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 GOLDBLATT 277

Then I was hoping for some token of sympathy from She learnstheir torturedsecrets and uses their con-
him; but he gave me a stare filled with such reproach fidences to spirit away the men each woman be-
and sorrowful anger. He felt betrayed in love. ... I was lieves to be the cornerstonein her life.
transformed to a demon and he would do all in his From little girls to sophisticated women, At-
power to destroy me. I had been counting on him to wood's protagonists have not yet discerned that
say a good word for me ... for I valued his good opin- trust can be perverted,that they can be reeled in,
ion of me, and it was a grief to lose it. (AG, 360)
taken advantageof, constantly abused, if they are
Women, it seems, must be made malleableto men's not carefulof lurkingpredatorsin their landscapes.
desires, accepting their proposals, their advances. Joan in Lady Oracle,longing for friendship,endures
They must submit to their sociallydeterminedroles the inventivetormentsof her Browniefriends:dead-
or be seen as "demons." ly ploys that tie little girls to trees with skipping

I
|
a

Margaret Atwood

However, it is not only men but also women as ropes, exposing them to strangeleering men under
agents of society who betray. In The RobberBride cavernousbridges. Her assassinsjeer, "How do ya'
Charis,Roz, and Toni are trickedin theirfriendship like the club?"(LO, 59). Elaine Risleyin Cat'sEye,
by Zenia, an acquaintance from their university like Joan, is a young girl when she discovers the
days. Each succumbsto Zenia'sweb of deceit. Play- power of betrayalby membersof her own sex. For
ing the part of a confidanteand thoughtfullistener, years she passively succumbs to their games. Per-
Zenia encouragesthe three women to divest them- haps, because she has grownup alone in the Cana-
selves of their tales of their traumaticchildhoods. dian North with her parents and brother, Elaine

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278 TODAY
WORLDLITERATURE

seeksthe warmingsocietyof girls. Only when Elaine namely herself. Her sphereis so small she becomes
is deserted, left to freeze in a disintegratingcreek, both victim and victimizer.
does she recognizeher peers' malevolencethat al- This view of a woman who connects and projects
most leads to her death. Elaine knows that she is a her image of self onto her body also extends to the
defeated human, but rather than confrontingher functionsof a femalebody: the abilityto controllife
tormentors, she increases her own punishment by givingbirth. Sarahin the story"The Resplendent
nightly:she peels the skin off her feet and bites her Quetzal"(1977) is drainedof all vitalityand desire
lips. when her baby dies at birth. Her concept of identity
Unable to turn outwardin a society that perpetu- is entangled with her ability to produce a child.
ates the ideal of a submissivefemale, these women When this biological function fails, Sarah's being
turn inwardto theirbodies as shields or ploys. Each ebbs. Lesje in Life BeforeMan also observes that,
has learned that a woman is a commodity, valued without children, "officiallyshe is nothing" (LBM,
only for her appearance.Thereforeit comes as no 267). Offred'sidentityand value as a childbeareras
surprisethat Atwood's protagonistsmeasure their well, in TheHandmaid'sTale>are proclaimedby her
worth in terms of body. Joan in Lady Oraclesees clothes in her totalitariancity of Gilead. She is "two
herself as "a huge shapeless cloud" (LO, 65); she viable ovaries" (HT, 135). She no longer owns a
drifts.However,her soft edges do not keep her from name; she is "Of Fred," the concubine named for
the bruising accusations of society. Although she the man who will impregnateher. Everystep, every
loves to dance, Joan'sbulgingbody is an affrontto mouthfulof food, everymove is observed,reported,
her mother and ballet teacher'ssensibilities,and so circumvented,or approvedfor the sake of the child
at her ballet recital she is forced to perform as a she might carryto term. Her only worth resides in
mothball,not as a butterflyin tulle and spangles. her biologicalfunction. Her dreamsand desiresare
Joan certainlydoes not fit her mother'sdefinition unimportant.Her goal is survival.
of femininity.Because her ungainlyshape is reject- The women describedhere do not lash out open-
ed, Joan decides to hide her form in a mountain of ly. Each who once trusted in family, marriage,and
fat, food serving as a constant to her mother's re- friendship discovers that treading societal paths
proaches: "I was eating steadily, doggedly, stub- does not result in happiness. These disillusioned
bornly, anythingI could get. The war between my- women, with abortedexpectations,turn theirmisery
self and my motherwas on in earnest:the disputed
inward,acceptingresponsibilitythat not society and
territory was my body" (LO, 67). Interestingly, its expectationsbut they themselves are weak, un-
Joan's loving, supportive,and also fat aunt Louisa
worthy,and have thereforefailed.
bequeathsto Joan an inheritancewith the stipula-
tion that she lose one hundredpounds. Atwoodher-
Who has laid prey and why? "Sometimes
fear of
self was fascinatedby transformationsin fairy sto-
these obstaclesbecomesitself the obstacle"(Sv, 33). At-
ries: a person could not become a swan and depart
the dreaded scene that mocked the tender aspira- wood's girlsare a vulnerablelot, manipulated,pack-
tions of an awkwardingenue in real life; she could, aged, and devastatedby the familiarfaces in uncar-
however, don a new mask and trick those people
who had previouslyprofferedharm.
In TheEdibleWomanMarian'sbody is also a bat-
tlefield. Unable to cope with her impending mar-
riageto Peter, Marianfinds herselfunable to ingest
any food that was once alive. Repulsedby her soci-
ety's attitude of consumerism, Marian concludes
that her refusalto eat is ethical.However,her mind
and body have split away from each other. Her
mind's revulsionat a dog-eat-dog world holds her
body hostage: captive territorywhen a woman dis-
agrees with her world. Marian "tri[es] to reason
with [her body], accusfing] it of having frivolous
whims." She coaxes and tempts, "but it was
adamant"(EW, 111). Marian'smind expressesher
disapprovalon the only level on which she possesses
control:ironically,herself.Her punishmentis circu-
lar: first, as a victim susceptible because she is a
woman subjectto her society's values; and second,
as a woman only able to command other women,

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 GOLDBLATT 279

ing, dictatorialcirclesthat reinforcesocietalimpera- afghans every afternoon to rest her bad heart,
tives. Those once free to roam and explore as chil- damns Elaine for being a heathen: there is some-
dren as well as those repressedfrom an earlyage are thing very wrong with Elaine's family, who ignore
subject to the civilizingforcesthat customize young the protocol of properwomen's wear, summercity
girls to the fate of females. Ironically,this process, vacations, and regular church attendance. Worse
for the most part,is performedby mothers. yet, Mrs. Smeath,awareof the cruelgamesinflicted
Mothers, rather than alleviatingtheir girls' dis- on Elaine, does not intervene.Instead she invokes
tress, increase their children's alienation. When deserved suffering when she decrees, "It's God's
Elaine'smotherin Cat'sEye venturesto discuss the punishmentfor the way the other childrentreather
crueltyof Elaine'sfriends,her words do not fortify [Elaine]. It serves her right" (CE, 180). With God
Elaine; they admonish her: "Don't let them push on her side, Mrs. Smeath relies on the Bible as the
you around. Don't be spineless. You have to have oldest and surestway of prescribinga femaleidenti-
more backbone"(CE, 156). Fearingher weaknessis ty- and instillingfear.
comparableto the tiny crumblingbones of sardines, In TheHandmaid'sTalethe Bible is likewisethe
Elaine maligns herself: "What is happening is my chief source of female repression.Words are cor-
own fault, for not having more backbone" (156). rupted,perverted,or presentedout of context to es-
Joan'smother in Lady Oracledoesn't mince words: tablisha man's holy vision of women: Sarah'suse of
"Youwere stupid to let the other girls fool you like her handmaid,Hagar, as a surrogatewomb for an
that" (LO, 61). Instead of offering support, the heir for Abrahambecomes the legalizingbasis for
mothersblame their daughters,aligningthemselves fornicationwith the handmaids.Acts of love are re-
with the girls'accusers. duced to institutionalizedrapes,and randomacts of
Mothers who themselveshave not found accep-
violence,banishmentto slag heaps, publichangings,
tance, success, or ease in society persistin transmit- endorsed public killings, bribery, deceit, and
ting the old messages of conformity.Joan's mother pornographyall persist under other names in order
in Lady Oracleis dumbfoundedthat "even though to maintaina pious hold on women endorsedby the
she'd done the right thing, . . . devoted her life to
GileadFathers.
us, . . . made her familyher careeras she had been In spite of the fact that Gilead is praisedby its
told to do," she had been burdenedwith "a sulkyfat
slob of a daughterand a husbandwho wouldn'ttalk creators as a place where women need not fear,
to her" (LO, 179). Joan echoes her mother's com- carefully chosen "aunts" persist in treacherythat
robs women of trust. To perpetuatethe status quo,
plaintswhen she murmurs,"How destructiveto me women are kept vulnerableand treatedas children:
werethe attitudesof society"(102).
Even the work women do conspiresto maintain girls must ask permission,dress in silly frocks, are
the subjectionof their own kind. In her job, in The allowed no money, play no part in their own self-
EdibleWoman,Marianinvestigateswhat soups, lax- determination.Yet Atwood'sgirlstire of their rigid-
atives,or drinkswill please and be purchased.Sanc- ly enforced placement that would preserve some
tioned female activitiesalso reinforcethe imposition outdatednotion of femaleacceptability.
of correct values. In Surfacingand Cat's Eye little
The escape. "She feels the need for escape" (Sv,
girls are engrossed in cutting up pictures from
Eaton's catalogues that offer labor-savingdevices 131). After enduring, accepting, regurgitating,
along with fashionableclothes: children piece to- denying, and attempting to please and cope, At-
gether a Utopia of dollhouse dreams. So brain- wood's protagonists begin to take action and change
washedare these girls that when askedto indicatea their lives. Atwood herself, raised on Grimms'Fairy
possiblejob or profession,they answer,"A lady"or Tales, knew that "by using intelligence, cleverness
"A mother"(CE, 91). and perseverance" (Sullivan, 36), magical powers
In Cat's Eye Elaine Risley's mother does not fit could transform a forest into a garden. However,
the stereotype.She wears pants, she ice skates, she before realizing their possibilities, many of Atwood's
"does not give a hoot" (CE, 214) about the rules protagonists hit rock bottom, some even contem-
that women are supposedto obey. Renderedimpo- plating death as an escape. In Surfacingthe narrator,
tent as a role model in her daughter'seyes because fed up with the superficiality of her companions,
she does not abide by the Establishment'scode of banishes them and submits to paranoia.
correct deportment,Elaine's mother is an outsider
EverythingI can't break... I throwon the floor. ... I
to a woman'sworldthat captivatesElaine. take off my clothes ... I dip my head beneaththe water
Instead of her own nonconforming mother, ... I leave my dung, droppingson the ground ... I
Elaine is most deeply affected by the indictments hollow a lairnearthe woodpile... I scrambleon hands
from her friend Grace Smeath's mother. Mrs. and knees ... I could be anything,a tree, a deer skele-
Smeath, spread out on the sofa and covered with ton, a rock. (Sf, 177-87)

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280 WORLD LITERATURE TODAY

She descends to madness, stripping herself of all the hopes on a representative facsimile that she hopes
trappings of civilized society. will bring her peace for her lost child in the next
Although often consumed with thoughts of sui- world as well as rebirth, freeing herself from anxiety
cide in Cat's Eye and The Handmaid's Tale, At- and guilt regarding the child's death.
wood's heroines never succumb. Instead they con- Rather than resorting to the cool, cleansing agent
sciously assassinate their former identities through of water, Grace Marks, the convicted murderess in
ritual deaths by water. Joan in Lady Oracle orches- Alias Grace, reconstructs her life through stories of
trates a baptism in Lake Ontario. Pretending to her own invention. She fashions a creature always
drown, she relinquishes her former life. With sun- beyond the pale of her listeners' complete compre-
hension. As told to Dr. Simon Jordan, who has
come to study Grace as a possible madwoman, her
story ensnares him in a piteous romance. Grace ap-
pears outwardly as a humble servant girl always at
peril from salacious employers; however, when
Grace ruminates in her private thoughts, she reveals
that she is worldly wise, knowing how to avoid bad
impressions and the advances of salesmen. She is
knowledgeable, stringing along Dr. Jordan: "I say
something just to keep him happy. ... I do not give
him a straight answer" (AG, 66, 98). After rambling
from employ to employ in search of security, Grace
constructs a home for herself in her stories. Her
words, gossamer thin, have the power to erect a
facade, a frame that holds her illusions together.
In an attempt to discover the missing parts and
prove the veracity of Grace's story, her supporters
encourage her to undergo a seance. Although she
recognizes Dr. Jerome Dupont, the man who will
orchestrate the event, as a former button peddler,
she does not speak out. When a voice emerges from
the hypnotized Grace, it proclaims, "I am not
glasses and scarf, she believes herself reborn, free to Grace" (403). As listeners, we ponder the speaker's
begin anew in Italy. Elaine Risley, after her bone- authenticity. Just who our narrator might be, mad-
chilling encounter in the icy ravine in Cat's Eye, is woman or manipulator, is cast into doubt. We can
finally able to ignore the taunts of her friends. Res- only be sure that the young innocent who arrived on
urrected after two days in bed, a stronger Elaine af- Canada's shores penniless and motherless has been
firms that "she is happy as a clam, hard-shelled and altered by the necessity to cope with a destructive
firmly closed" (CE, 201) against those who would hierarchical society unsympathetic to an immigrant
sabotage her; she announces, "I'm ready" (203). girl. Rather than persist and be tossed forever at the
Fortified by a new body image with a tougher ve- whim of a wizened world, each saddened young girl
neer and a protective mask, Elaine no longer heeds moves to reconstruct her tarnished image of her self.
her former tormentors. She has sealed herself from
further outrage and invasion. How? "One way of coming to termsy making sense
Marian's revelation in The Edible Woman is expe- of one's rootsy is to become a creator" (Sv, 181). At-
rienced at the precipice of a ravine, where she com- wood's victims who take control of their lives dis-
ments, "In the snow you're as near as possible to cover the need to displace societal values, and they
nothing" (EW, 263). Perhaps the fear of becoming replace them with their own. In Lady Oracle Joan
one with the ubiquitous whiteness of the landscape ponders the film The Red Shoes, in which the moral
and forever losing herself motivates a stand. Similar- warns that if a woman chooses both family and ca-
ly, Sarah in "The Resplendent Quetzal" forges a reer, tragedy ensues. Reflecting on childbirth, the
more determined persona after her trial by water. narrator in "Giving Birth" (1977) hopes for some
Instead of throwing herself into the sacrificial well in vision: "After all she is risking her life. . . . As for the
Mexico as her husband Edward fears, she hurls a vision, there wasn't one" (GB, 252; italics mine).
plaster Christ child stolen from a creche into the Toni in The RobberBride and Grace Marks in Alias
water. Believing the tribal folklore that young chil- Grace acknowledge that it is not necessary to procre-
dren take messages to the rain god and live forever ate. Each is more than her body. A grown-up Elaine
in paradise at the bottom of the well, Sarah pins her Risley in Cat's Eye and the narrator in Surfacing ac-

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 GOLDBLATT 281

cept motherhood,but not as an outcome of their playedout roles with loversin capes. In the end, she
gender that will foreclose the possibilitiesof a cre- rejectsher formercraftof subterfuge:"I won't write
ative job. In fact, Roz in The RobberBrideis quite any more Costume Gothics." Yet we must ponder
able to combine motherhood and a successful ca- her choice to "trysome science fiction"(LO, 345).
reer. Dissatisfied with traditional knowledge, At- Although it is difficult to extirpate behavior,
wood's women again turn inward, now avoiding women trust the methods that have helped them
masochistic traps, fully able to deviate from soci- cope in the past in orderto alter the future. In The
ety's dicta. Freed from constrainingfears, they lo- EdibleWomanthe womanly art of baking provides
cate talents,wings that free them. Marianwith a way to free herself:she bakes a cake
Ratherthan becoming cynical and devastatedby that resemblesherself.Offeringa piece to Peter, she
society's visions and its perpetrators, Atwood's is controllingthe tasty image of a woman, allowing
women forge on. Roz, Toni, and Charisin TheRob- him and, more importantly,herselfto ingest and de-
ber Bride, who have been betrayed by Zenia, put stroy it. "It gave me a peculiarsense of satisfaction
their faith back into friendship, allowing mutual to see him eat," she says, adding,"I smiledcomfort-
supportto sustainthem. It is solid; it has been test- ably at him" (EW, 281). Her pleasurein their con-
ed. They have turned to one another, cried and sumptionof her formerself is symbolicof the death
laughed, shared painful experiences,knowing that of the old Marian.
their friendshiphas enduredin a labyrinthof twist- One might say that Marian'singestionof her own
ed paths. image, Joan's adoption of science fiction, and both
Offredin TheHandmaid'sTalealso begins to re- Offred's and Grace's stories "in the head" do not
shape her world. She envisionsa better place in her promise new fulfillinglives, only tactics of escape.
thoughts, recording her words on tape. She has However, their personal growth through conscious
hope. Consciously,she reconstructsher present re- effort representsa means to wrest control of their
ality, knowingshe is makingan effort to projectan lives from society and transform their destinies.
optimistic picture. She says, "Here is a different These women become manipulatorsratherthan al-
story, a better one. . . . This is what I'd like to tell" lowingthemselvesto be manipulated.
(HT, 234). She relatesthat her tryst with Nick the In Cat'sEye Elaine Risley deals with the torment
chauffeur, arrangedby her commander'swife, is of her early life in her art by moving to Vancouver
caringand loving, enhancedby memoriesfrom her and exerting power in paint over the people who
earlierlife in orderto conjurean outcome of happi- had condemned her. She creates surrealstudies of
ness. In the short story "HairJewellery"(1977) At- Mrs. Smeath:"I paint Mrs. Smeath . . . like a dead
wood's narratoris an academic,a writerwho warns, fish. . . . One picture of Mrs. Smeath leads to an-
"Be careful.. . . Thereis a future"(113). With the other. She multiplies on the walls like bacteria,
possibilityof a new beginning,there is a chance that standing,sitting,with clothes,withoutclothes"(CE,
life can improve.In Alias GraceGrace'sfabrications 338). Empoweredby her success as an artist,Elaine
in her stories provide an escape hatch, a version of returnsto Toronto for a showing of her work, able
realitytailoredto fit her needs. For both Offredand to resist the pleas of her formertormentor,Corde-
Grace, stories are ways of rebelling,of avoidingthe lia, now a pitifulpatientin a psychiatricfacility.In a
tentacles of a society that would demean and re- dream, Elaine surpassesher desire for revengeand
mold them. Their stories are outward masks, be- offers CordeliaChristiancharity:"I'm the stronger.
hind which they franticallyrepair their damaged ... I reachout my armsto her, bend down. . . . It's
spirits. Each alters her world through language. all right,I say to her. Youcan go home"(CE, 419).
Each woman speaksa reconstructedworld into exis- Elaineis reinforcedby the verywords spokento her
tence, herself the engineeringgod of her own fate. in the vision that saved her life years before. Her
Offred confides that handmaidslive in the spaces work fosters her liberation.By projectingher rage
and the gaps between their stories, in their private outside of herself,she confrontsher demons and ex-
silences: only alone in their imaginationsare they alts herselfas a divineredeemer.
free to controltheirown destinies.
However,Atwood'sprotagonistsinhabitnot only Conclusion. "Youdon'tevenhave to concentrate
their minds in secret, but also their bodies in the on rejecting theroleof victimbecausetheroleis no longer
outside world. Joan, after her disappearancefrom a temptation for you" (Sv, 39). The creativeaspect
Toronto in Lady Oracle,decides that she must re- that fortifieseach woman enablesher to controlher
turn home and supportthe friendswho have aided life: it is the triumphanttool that resurrectseach
her disguise.In the past, just as she had wieldedher one. As artists,writers,friends,each amelioratesher
bulk as a weapon, so she has used her writing in situationand her world, positivelymetamorphosing
order to resolve relationships.She has indulged in reality in the process. In societies tailored to the
Gothic romances, positing scenarios;she has even submissionof females,Atwood'sprotagonistsrefuse

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282 WORLDLITERATURE
TODAY

to be pinned down to the measurementsof the per- Bibliography

fect woman. Instead.,they reconstruct their lives, Atwood,Margaret.Alias Grace.Toronto.McClelland& Stewart.
imprintingtheir own designs in worlds of patterned 1996. (AG)
fabric.Atwoodhas observedthat all writingis politi- . Cat'sEye.Toronto.McClelland& Stewart.1988. (CE)
cal: "The writersimplyby examininghow the forces . "GivingBirth."In DancingGirls.Toronto. McClelland
& Stewart.1977. (GB)
of society interactwith the individual. . . seek[s] to . "HairJewellery."In DancingGirls.Toronto.McClelland
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neys have been sought, battles fought, insights (LO)
gleaned. And authorshave always dallied with the . LifeBeforeMan. Toronto. McClelland& Stewart.1979.
(LBM)
plight of women in society: young or old, body or . Surfacing.Toronto.McClelland& Stewart.1972. (Sf)
mind, mother or worker, traveler or settler. The . Survival:A ThematicGuide to Canadian Literature.
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1985. (HT)
and to us that we all possess the talent and the . "The ResplendentQuetzal."In DancingGirls.Toronto.
strength to revitalizeour lives and reject society's McClelland& Stewart.1977. (RQ)
well-troddenpaths that suppressthe human spirit. . TheRobber Bride.Toronto.McClelland& Stewart.1993.
She has shown us that we can be vicariouslyem- (RB)
poweredby our surrogate,who not only now smiles Sullivan, Rosemary. The Red Shoes:MargaretAtwoodStarting
but winks back at us, daringus to reclaimour own Out.Toronto.HarperCollins.1998.
femaleidentities.
Toronto

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