Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings” was written with a
two-fold purpose. First, the story’s purpose is to supply sketches of several kinds of
marriages and relationships. Secondly, she intends to challenge writers to examine
their approach to plot and the mechanics of writing.
The
story is non-traditional. Atwood supplies six different scenarios that involve the same
characters. Each of the mini-tales is lettered. As Atwood says, the only scene with a
happy life and ending is the letter A. Her primary purpose is to emphasize that all
stories end the same way: the people die. It is the beginning and the middle that make
the story interesting.
The scenarios are about John and
Mary and how life experiences changes the course of their lives. Yet, all of them end in
the same way.
John and Mary
meet.
What happens next?
If
you want a happy ending, try
A.
Scenario
A This one describes the perfect life. Mary and John are happily
married. Their careers, home, and family are exactly what they want in life. They
retire, vacation, and die.
Scenario
B Mary and John have an affair. He does not love her but likes sex. He
likes Madge. Mary commits suicide. Madge and John marry and live the life of version
A.
Scenario C John is married
to Madge. John wants more, so he has the typical co-worker affair with a younger woman,
Mary. Mary likes the sex, but she really loves James. John catches Mary and James
stoned in bed. He kills them and commits suicide. Eventually, Madge married Fred, and
they lived the life of version A.
Scenario
D Fred and Madge are married. Their home is nearly destroyed by a
tsunami. They feel lucky to be alive because thousands of people drown. They continue
to live the life found in version A.
Scenario
E Fred and Madge are married. Fred has a heart attack. Madge spends her
life working in charity.
Scenario
F [According to the author, this is the most radical version.] Fred is a
revolutionary. Mary is a spy. Even though they have spicy careers, their life works out
in the same way as A.
The story concludes with the author
supplying information for the writer.
The endings of the
stories are always the same. Any other ending is false. The main characters die in the
end.
Authenticity in writing is
important.
Beginnings are more fun than writing the
endings. Real writers really cater to the middle of the story or the major portion of
the story: the plot.
“…which anyway are just one thing
after another, a what and a what and a what.” Writers should really try to include the
“how” did it happen and the “why’s” of the
story.
Thematically, Atwood emphasizes two themes. She
speaks to the importance of marriage. The story revolves around the fulfillment that
marriage can bring. The versions each build dramatically to include abuse, suicide,
affairs, murder, and radical lives.
If the reader thinks
about most stories, nearly all stories fall somewhere in one of the versions. The names
may change but the scenarios are frequently close to Atwood’s parodies of real life
situations.
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