![]() At first I was puzzled of the basis of the entire narrative, but it took an exceptional perception to realize that the couple was arguing about having an abortion. The narrative has a deeper and contradicting meaning, and makes it difficult for readers to understand its content. On the other hand, I decided on a story by Ernest Hemingway “Hills Like White Elephants” because I find it more complicated as well as symbolic. Nonetheless, “Happy Endings” reflects individual’s life where, one falls in love, marries, owns a home, gets kids, retires and eventually dies. The purpose of many versions is to ensure that everyone is satisfied, and Atwood avoided gender discrimination in her writing (Atwood 289). Furthermore, the narrative itself is unique as compared to others because it has multiple plots, and each story has a different version. I choose this story because as a reader I understand clearly that, the middle of the story is the fundamental part which is unique. Now try How and Why.” (45).“Happy Endings” is an interesting short story by Margaret Atwood, which aims at showing that the end of a narrative is not as important as the middle. John and Mary die” (45).Ītwood closes the story by saying plots, and plot, “are just one thing after another, a what and a what and a what. Atwood then asserts that all endings are the same and that “the only authentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. Section F, the story’s last section, begins with Atwood again directly addressing the reader, and offering perhaps the story’s most metafictional content to this point. This section concludes with: “If you like, it can be ‘Madge,’ ‘cancer,’ ‘guilty and confused,’ and ‘bird watching’ (45). Section E, which is only four sentences, offers that Fred has a bad heart and dies, after which Madge “devotes herself to charity work until the end of A” (45). Again, Atwood concludes this section by saying that everything “continue as in A” (45). The two get along well and own a house but a “one day a giant tidal wave approaches” (44). Real estate values decrease, thousands die, but Fred and Madge survive. Section D focuses on Fred and Madge, who would seem to be the same Fred and Madge mentioned in Section C. Atwood concludes the section by saying that “everything continues as in A, but under different names” (44). Madge, now John’s widow, “marries an understanding man named Fred,” though only “after a suitable period of mourning” (44). One day, James shows up to Mary’s apartment with marijuana, after which John shows up, finds the two lovers in bed together, and kills them, before killing himself. John has two children and is married to Madge. Mary meets John at work but is in love with James, “who has a motorcycle and a fabulous record collection” (44). Here, John, who is older, falls in love with Mary, who is twenty-two. In Section C, we are again introduced to two characters named John and Mary, and, much like Section B, it’s worth noting that a reader could skip from the opening lines of the story straight to Section C, and have Section C be read largely independently of Sections A and B. Atwood concludes this section by stating “everything continues as in A” (44). When Mary finds out from friends that John is seeing another woman, Madge, Mary commits suicide, though leaves a suicide note for John and hopes he will find her and save her life. Mary falls in love with John, but John only uses Mary for ***. Section B-which theoretically could be skipped to straight from the story’s opening three lines-also feature characters named John and Mary, though it is left somewhat ambiguous as to whether or not these two characters are the same John and Mary found in Section A. Atwood concludes this section with the sentence, “This is the end of the story” (43). The story then moves into Section A, in which John and Mary “fall in love and get married…have jobs they find “stimulating and challenging…buy a house…have two children…who turn out well…retire… die” (43). What happens next? If you want a happy ending, try A” (43). The story’s opening lines are: “John and Mary meet. After the story’s trio of opening lines, the narrative is divided into five sections, labeled A-F. “Happy Endings” is a short story by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood.
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