"Stupidity is the same as evil if you judge by the results."
- Margaret Atwood (Surfacing)
Margaret Eleanor Atwood was born on November 18th, 1939 in Ottawa, Ontario. She is one of Canada's best-known writers. Atwood began writing at age 6, where she wrote morality plays, poems, comic books, and had even started a novel. She continued writing all through high school, where she drew some inspiration from her favorite writer: Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849).
Atwood has won many awards for her work: more then 55 to be exact, which include 2 Governor General's Awards. This award is given out by The Canadian Council for the Arts and recognizes the best in Canadian literature. So yeah, it is kind of a big deal. Atwood's novels are described as "sarcastic jabs of at society and as well as identity quests. Her typical heroine is a modern urban woman, often a writer or artist, always with some social-professional commitment. The heroine fights for self and survival in a society where men are the all-too-friendly enemy, but where women are often participants in their own entrapment." Being how it is described by http://www.notablebiographies.com/An-Ba/Atwood-Margaret.html. This is shown in the novel through the main character, Marian McAlpin who works at a company that arrange surveys for companies. The entrapment works well as well because Marian gets engaged and then finds out for herself that it wasn't the best idea.
In what way(s) are the women in your novel "participants in their own entrapment"? Why is her engagement an entrapment? What other "traps" do other characters fall into?
ReplyDeleteThe women in this novel are "participants in their own entrapment" because they walk right into these problems willingly. Marian's engagement turns out to be an entrapment because, well, Peter is a jerk. He treats her like she is a child and that knows nothing of responsibility and organization. Peter feels Marian just has to sit there and look pretty.
ReplyDeleteAinsley and Len lead themselves into each other's traps because Ainsley gets pregnant on purpose, which in turn freaks Len out. Ainsley also gets used by Len and gets hurt and defensive when Len starts freaking on her about the pregnancy.
Ainsley also walks into the trap of tradition by marrying Fish and allowing him to have the father role...which is a role she was not planning on casting.