Reconstructing Subjectivities in Atwood

7/27/2019 Reconstructing Subjectivities in Atwood

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Reconstructing Margaret Atwood's ProtagonistsAuthor(s): Patricia F. GoldblattReviewed work(s):Source: World Literature Today, Vol. 73, No. 2, On Contemporary Canadian Literature(s)(Spring, 1999), pp. 275-282Published by: Board of Regents of the University of OklahomaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40154691 .

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ReconstructingMargaretAtwood's ProtagonistsTo construct: to build;to abricate;to devise or invent.To RECONSTRUCT:o rebuild.

By PATRICIAF. GOLDBLATT A weaver em-ploys ragmentsfrom life, silk,raw yarns,wool, straw,perhapseven a few twigs,stones, or feathers,and transformshem into a tap-estryof color, shape,and form.An author'swork issimilar, for she selects individuals,locations, im-ages,andideas,rearranginghemto create a believ-ablepicture.Each smacksof reality,but is not. Thisis the artist's art: to reconstructthe familiar ntonew, fascinating,but often disturbing ableaux romwhichstoriescanunfold.MargaretAtwood weaves stories from her ownlife in the bush andcities of Canada.Intenselycon-scious of her political and social context, Atwooddispels the notion that caribou-cladCanadiansre-main perpetually ocked in blizzardswhile simulta-neously seemingto be a polite mass of grayfaces,often indistinguishablerom theirAmericanneigh-bors. Atwoodhas continuallyponderedthe lack ofan identifiableCanadian culture. For over thirtyyears her work has aided in fashioninga distinctCanadian literary identity. Her critical catalogueand analysisof CanadianLiterature,Survival,of-fered "a political manifestotelling Canadians . .[to]value theirown"(Sullivan,265). In an attemptto focus on Canadian xperiences,twoodhas popu-lated her storieswith Canadiancities, conflicts,andcontemporarypeople, conscious of a landscapewhose bordershave been permeatedby the frostofNature, her colonizersand her neighbors.Her ex-aminationof how an individual nteracts,succeeds,or stagnateswithinher worldspeaks o an emerginga sense of self and often parallels he battlesfoughtto establish elf-determination.In hernovels,MargaretAtwoodcreatessituationsin which women, burdenedby the rules and in-equalitiesof theirsocieties,discoverthat they mustreconstructbraver,self-reliantpersonae n order tosurvive.Not too far from the Canadianblueprintof

the voyageuraced with an inclement,hostile envi-ronment,these women struggle o overcomeand tochange systemsthat block and inhibittheirsecurity.Atwood'spragmaticwomen aredrawn romwomenin the 1950s and 1960s: young women blissfullybuildingtheir trousseausand imagininga paradiseof silverbellsandpicketfences.Yet the author herself was neither encumberednor restrictedby the definition of contemporarye-male n her life as a child. Havinggrownup in theCanadian North, outside of societal propaganda,she could criticallyobservethe behaviors hat wereindoctrinated nto her urbanpeers who lacked di-verse role models. As Atwood has noted, "Not eventhe artisticcommunityofferedyou a viable choiceasa woman"(Sullivan, 103). Her stories deal with thetransformation f female characters rom ingenuesto insightfulwomen. By examiningherheroes,theirpredators,and how they cope in society,we will dis-cover where Atwood believes the abilityto recon-structourlives lies.

Who are the victims? "But pathos as a literarymode simply demands that an innocent victim suffer"(Sv, 75). Unlike Shakespeare'shubris-ladenkingsor Jane Austen's pert and private aristocraticlandowningfamilies,MargaretAtwood relies on acollection of ordinarypeople to carryher tales: uni-versity students, museum workers, market re-searchers, writers, illustrators, and even house-maids. In her novels, almost all dwell on theirchildhoodyears n flashbackor in the chronologicaltelling of their stories. Many of her protagonists'early days are situated n a virtualGardenof Edensetting, repletewith untamednaturalenvironments.Exploring shorelines, gazing at stars, gatheringrocks,andlistening o waves,theyaresolitary ouls,but not lonely individuals: nnocent, curious, andaffablecreatures.ElaineRisleyin Cat'sEye and anunnamednarratorn Surfacing re two women whorecall idyllic days unfolded in a land of lakes,berries, and animals. Offred in The Handmaid'sTale, in her city landscape,also relatesa tale of ahappychildhood. She is a complacentand assuredchild, her mother a constantloving companion.Intheir comfortablemilieus,these girlsintuit no dan-ger.

Patricia F. Goldblatt, afterreceivingher doctorate n 1996,has hadher shortstories,bookreviews,andlongerarticleson lit-eratureand multiculturaltudiespublished n the United States(EnglishJournal, MulticulturalReview,Journal of Education),Eng-land (MulticulturalTeaching),Canada (English Quarterly,Journalof the CanadianSociety or EducationThroughArt, Canadian Wom-en'sStudies),and Korea (Asian Journal of Women'sStudies).

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276 WORLDLITERATURE ODAYHowever,other Atwood protagonistsare not asfortunate.Theirbackgrounds uggestan unhealthy,weedy soil that causes their young plants to twistand permutate. Lady Oracle'sJoan is overweight.

Her domineering, mpatientmother and her weakfatherpropelher to seek emotionalsatisfaction wayfrom them. Lesjein LifeBeforeMan is the offspringof dueling immigrant grandmotherswho cannotagreeon the child'sproperupbringing.Not allowedto frequentthe Ukrainian"goldenchurch with itsfairytaleonion"(LBM, 93) of the one, or the syna-gogue of the other,Lesje is unable to developself-confidence and focuses instead on the inanimate,the solid traditions of rocks and dinosaursas herprogenitors. Similarly,the females in The RobberBride evealmiserable hildhoodsunitedby parentalabuse,absence,anddisregard:Roz mustperformasher mother's helper, a landlady cum cleaningwoman;herfather s absent, nvolved n shadydeal-ings in "the old country."Charis,a second charac-ter in The RobberBride,abandonedby her motheranddepositedwith Aunt Vi andUncle Vern,is sex-uallyviolatedby thosewho should have offered oveand trust.Toni, the third of the trio, admits o lone-liness and alienation in a well-educated,wealthyfamily.Markedby birth and poverty,GraceMarks,an Irish mmigrantn the early1800s in AliasGrace,loses her mother en route to Canada. Grace is al-most drownedby the demands of her drunkenfa-ther and clinging,needy siblings.These exiled littlegirls, romweak, absent,or cruelfamilies,made vul-nerableby theirearlysituations,cling to the notionthat their lives will be improvedby the arrivalof akindstranger,most likelya handsomesuitor. Ratherthan becomingrecalcitrantand cynical, all sustainthe goldenillusion of the fairy-tale nding.In short,theyhold to the belief, the mythperpetratedby so-ciety:marriage.Atwood' women are cognizantof the nurturingomissionsin their environments.They attempt tocultivateand cope. Charis n TheRobberBride de-cides to reinventherself.She changesher name andfocuses on what she considers her healing powersinherited from her chicken-raisinggrandmother.She, Roz, and Toni turn theirfaith to the poweroffriendship,a solid ringthat lessens the painfullackof supportive amilies.In Alias GraceGrace's bur-den of an absentfamilyis brieflyalleviatedby herfriendshipwith anotherhousemaid,MaryWhitney.Marytakes an adoringGrace under her wing andcreates orGrace a fleetingvision of sisterly upport.Unfortunately for Grace, Mary herself, anothertrustingyoung woman, is deceivedby her employ-er's son and dies in a botched abortion, leavingGraceonce againabandonedandfriendless.In an attempt to reestablish stable, satisfyinghomes, these womenpursuea path, as have women

throughouthistory,to marriage.They searchfor amale figure, imagininga refuge. Caughtup in theromantic stereotypes that assign and perpetuategenderroles, each girldoes not doubtthat a manisthe solutionto herproblems.In TheEdibleWomanMarianandher co-workersat Seymour Surveys,"the office virgins,"certainlydo not question that marriagewill providefulfill-ment. In spite of the fact that Marian s suspendedbetween two unappealingmen, she does not deviatefromtheproper ehavior.Marian's uitor,Peter,withhis well-chosen clothes and suave friends,his per-fectlydecoratedapartment,and evenMarianas theappropriatemarriage hoice, is renderedas no morethan the weddingcake'sblanklysmilingornament.If appearances all, he shouldsuffice. Peter s juxta-posed to the slovenly, self-centeredgraduatestu-dent, Duncan, whose mainpleasure s watchinghislaundrywhirl in the washing machine. Marian ismerelya blank slateuponwhich eachman canwriteor erasehis conceptof female.The narratorand her friendAnna, in Surfacing,are also plagued by moody men who are not sup-portiveof women'sdreams.In one particularly or-rifyingscene, Anna's husbandDave ordersher tostrip off her clothes for the movie camera.Anna,humiliatedby the request, neverthelesscomplies.She admits to nightly rapesbut rationalizeshis be-havior:"He likes to makeme cry becausehe can'tdo it himself" (S/, 80). Similarly,whenJoe,the nar-rator'sboyfriend,proposes,"We shouldget married... we mightas well"(56), he is dumbfoundedandfurious at her refusal.Men aware of the role theyplay accepttheirdesirability s "catches."They be-lieve that women desire ives of "babiesandsewing"(LO, 159). These thoughtsareparrotedby PeterinTheEdibleWomanwhen he proclaims,"Peoplewhoaren'tmarriedget funnyin middleage"(EW, 102).Men upholdthe values of the patriarchy ndwomenconform,few trespassing nto gardensof their owndesign.In Alias GraceGrace'saspirations or a brighterfuture also dwell on findingthe rightman: "It wasthe custom for young girls in this countryto hirethemselvesout, in order o earn the moneyfortheirdowries,and then they would marry . . and oneday ... be mistress of a tidy farmhouse"(AG,157-58). In the employmentof Mr. Thomas Kin-near in Richmond Hill, Grace quickly ascertainsthat the handsome,dark-haired ousekeeper,NancyMontgomery,enjoysmanyprivilegesas the rewardfor being her master'smistress.Yet, althoughmenmaybe the only way to elevatestatus,Grace learnsthat they cannotbe trustedwhen their advancesarerejected.Grace,on trial for the murdersof Kinnearand Montgomery, s incredulouswhen she hears aformer riend,JamieWelsh,testifyagainsther.



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GOLDBLATT 277

Then I was hoping for some token of sympathy fromhim; but he gave me a stare filled with such reproachand sorrowful anger. He felt betrayed in love. ... I wastransformed to a demon and he would do all in hispower to destroy me. I had been counting on him tosay a good word for me ... for I valued his good opin-ion of me, and it was a grief to lose it. (AG, 360)

Women,it seems,must be made malleable o men'sdesires, accepting their proposals, their advances.They must submit to theirsociallydetermined olesor be seen as "demons."

She learnstheir torturedsecrets and uses their con-fidences to spirit away the men each woman be-lieves to be the cornerstonen her life.From little girls to sophisticatedwomen, At-wood's protagonistshave not yet discerned thattrust can be perverted, hat they can be reeled in,taken advantageof, constantlyabused, if they arenot carefulof lurkingpredators n theirlandscapes.Joanin LadyOracle,ongingfor friendship, nduresthe inventive ormentsof her Brownie riends:dead-ly ploys that tie little girls to trees with skipping

Margaret Atwood

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a

However,it is not only men but also women asagents of society who betray. In The RobberBrideCharis,Roz, andToni are tricked n theirfriendshipby Zenia, an acquaintancefrom their universitydays.Eachsuccumbs o Zenia'sweb of deceit.Play-ing the partof a confidanteand thoughtful istener,Zenia encourages he threewomen to divest them-selves of their tales of their traumaticchildhoods.

ropes, exposingthem to strange eeringmen undercavernousbridges.Her assassins eer, "How do ya'like the club?" LO, 59). ElaineRisley n Cat'sEye,like Joan, is a young girl when she discoversthepowerof betrayalby members of her own sex. Foryears she passivelysuccumbs to their games. Per-haps,because she has grown up alone in the Cana-dian North with her parents and brother, Elaine



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278 WORLDLITERATURE ODAYseeks the warming ocietyof girls. OnlywhenElaineis deserted,left to freeze in a disintegrating reek,does she recognizeher peers' malevolence that al-most leads to her death. Elaine knows that she is adefeated human, but rather than confrontinghertormentors, she increases her own punishmentnightly:she peels the skinoff her feet and bites herlips.Unable to turnoutward n a societythatperpetu-ates the ideal of a submissive emale, these womenturn inward o theirbodiesas shieldsor ploys.Eachhas learned that a woman is a commodity,valuedonly for her appearance.Therefore t comes as nosurprisethat Atwood's protagonistsmeasure theirworth in terms of body. Joan in Lady Oracle eesherself as "a huge shapelesscloud" (LO, 65); shedrifts.However,her soft edgesdo not keepher fromthe bruisingaccusations of society. Although sheloves to dance,Joan'sbulging body is an affront oher motherand ballet teacher'ssensibilities,and soat her ballet recital she is forced to performas amothball,not as a butterflyn tulle andspangles.Joancertainlydoes not fit her mother'sdefinitionof femininity.Because her ungainlyshapeis reject-ed, Joandecides to hide her formin a mountainoffat, food servingas a constant to her mother's re-proaches:"I was eating steadily, doggedly, stub-bornly, anything could get. The warbetweenmy-self and my mother was on in earnest: he disputedterritorywas my body" (LO, 67). Interestingly,Joan'sloving, supportive,and also fat aunt Louisabequeathsto Joan an inheritancewith the stipula-tion that she lose one hundredpounds.Atwood her-self was fascinatedby transformationsn fairysto-ries: a personcould not become a swan and departthe dreadedscene that mocked the tender aspira-tions of an awkwardngenuein real life; she could,however,don a new mask and trick those peoplewho hadpreviouslyprofferedharm.In TheEdibleWomanMarian'sbody is also a bat-tlefield. Unable to cope with her impendingmar-riageto Peter,Marian inds herselfunableto ingestanyfood that was once alive.Repulsedby her soci-ety's attitude of consumerism,Marian concludesthat herrefusal o eat is ethical.However,her mindand body have split away from each other. Hermind's revulsionat a dog-eat-dogworld holds herbody hostage: captiveterritorywhen a woman dis-agrees with her world. Marian "tri[es] to reasonwith [her body], accusfing] it of having frivolouswhims." She coaxes and tempts, "but it wasadamant" EW, 111). Marian'smind expressesherdisapproval n the onlylevel on which she possessescontrol: ronically,herself.Her punishment s circu-lar: first, as a victim susceptiblebecause she is awomansubjectto her society'svalues;and second,as a woman only able to commandother women,

namelyherself. Her sphere s so smallshe becomesboth victimand victimizer.This view of a woman who connects andprojectsher image of self onto her body also extendsto thefunctionsof a femalebody:the ability o control ifeby givingbirth.Sarah n the story"TheResplendentQuetzal"(1977) is drainedof all vitalityand desirewhenherbabydies at birth.Her conceptof identityis entangled with her ability to produce a child.When this biological function fails, Sarah'sbeingebbs. Lesje in Life BeforeMan also observesthat,without children,"officially he is nothing"(LBM,267). Offred's dentityandvalue as a childbearer swell, in TheHandmaid'sTale> reproclaimedby herclothesin her totalitarian ityof Gilead.She is "twoviable ovaries"(HT, 135). She no longer owns aname; she is "Of Fred,"the concubinenamed forthe man who will impregnateher. Everystep, everymouthfulof food, everymove is observed,reported,circumvented,or approved or the sakeof the childshe might carry o term. Her only worthresidesinher biologicalfunction. Her dreamsand desires areunimportant.Hergoal is survival.The women describedhere do not lashout open-ly. Each who once trustedin family, marriage,andfriendship discovers that treading societal pathsdoes not result in happiness.These disillusionedwomen,with abortedexpectations, urntheirmiseryinward,acceptingresponsibilityhat notsocietyandits expectationsbut they themselves are weak, un-worthy,and have therefore ailed.

Who has laid prey and why? "Sometimesear ofthese obstaclesbecomes tselfthe obstacle" Sv, 33). At-wood'sgirlsare a vulnerableot, manipulated,pack-aged, and devastatedby the familiar acesin uncar-



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GOLDBLATT 279

ing, dictatorial irclesthat reinforce ocietal mpera-tives. Those once free to roam and exploreas chil-dren as well as those repressed rom an earlyage aresubjectto the civilizing orces hat customizeyounggirlsto the fate of females. Ironically, his process,for the mostpart, s performedby mothers.Mothers, rather than alleviating heir girls' dis-tress, increase their children's alienation. WhenElaine'smother n Cat'sEyeventures o discuss thecrueltyof Elaine'sfriends,her words do not fortifyElaine; they admonish her: "Don't let them pushyou around.Don't be spineless.You have to havemorebackbone" CE, 156). Fearingherweakness scomparableo the tiny crumblingbones of sardines,Elaine malignsherself: "Whatis happeningis myown fault, for not having more backbone"(156).Joan'smotherin LadyOracledoesn't mince words:"You were stupidto let the othergirlsfool you likethat" (LO, 61). Instead of offering support, themothersblame theirdaughters,aligning hemselveswith the girls'accusers.Mothers who themselveshave not found accep-tance, success,or ease in society persist n transmit-ting the old messagesof conformity.Joan'smotherin Lady Oracles dumbfounded hat "eventhoughshe'd done the rightthing, . . . devoted her life tous, . . . made her familyher careeras she had beentold to do,"shehad been burdenedwith "asulky atslob of a daughterand a husbandwho wouldn'ttalkto her" (LO, 179). Joan echoes her mother's com-plaintswhenshe murmurs,"How destructive o mewerethe attitudesof society" 102).Even the work women do conspiresto maintainthe subjectionof theirown kind. In her job, in TheEdibleWoman,Marian nvestigateswhat soups, lax-atives,or drinkswillpleaseand be purchased.Sanc-tioned femaleactivitiesalsoreinforce he impositionof correctvalues. In Surfacing nd Cat'sEye littlegirls are engrossed in cutting up pictures fromEaton's catalogues that offer labor-savingdevicesalong with fashionableclothes: childrenpiece to-gether a Utopia of dollhouse dreams. So brain-washedarethese girlsthat when asked to indicate apossiblejob or profession, hey answer,"Alady"or"A mother" CE,91).In Cat'sEye Elaine Risley'smother does not fitthe stereotype.She wearspants, she ice skates,she"does not give a hoot" (CE, 214) about the rulesthatwomen aresupposedto obey. Rendered mpo-tent as a role model in her daughter'seyes becauseshe does not abideby the Establishment's ode ofcorrectdeportment,Elaine's motheris an outsiderto a woman'sworldthatcaptivatesElaine.Instead of her own nonconforming mother,Elaine is most deeply affected by the indictmentsfrom her friend Grace Smeath's mother. Mrs.Smeath, spreadout on the sofa and coveredwith

afghans every afternoon to rest her bad heart,damns Elaine for being a heathen:there is some-thing very wrong with Elaine's family,who ignorethe protocolof properwomen'swear, summercityvacations, and regular church attendance. Worseyet, Mrs. Smeath,awareof the cruelgames nflictedon Elaine, does not intervene.Instead she invokesdeserved sufferingwhen she decrees, "It's God'spunishment or the way the other children reather[Elaine].It serves her right"(CE, 180). With Godon her side, Mrs. Smeathrelieson the Bible as theoldest and surestwayof prescribing female denti-ty andinstilling ear.In TheHandmaid'sTale the Bible is likewisethechief source of female repression.Words are cor-rupted,perverted,or presentedout of context to es-tablisha man'sholyvision of women: Sarah'suse ofher handmaid,Hagar,as a surrogatewomb for anheir for Abrahambecomes the legalizingbasis forfornicationwith the handmaids.Acts of love arere-duced to institutionalized apes,and randomacts ofviolence,banishment o slag heaps, public hangings,endorsed public killings, bribery, deceit, andpornography ll persistunder other names in orderto maintaina pioushold on women endorsedby theGilead Fathers.In spite of the fact that Gilead is praisedby itscreators as a place where women need not fear,carefullychosen "aunts"persist in treachery hatrobs women of trust.To perpetuate he statusquo,women arekeptvulnerableand treated as children:girls must ask permission,dress in silly frocks,areallowed no money, play no part in their own self-determination.Yet Atwood'sgirlstire of theirrigid-ly enforced placement that would preservesomeoutdatednotionof femaleacceptability.

The escape. "She feels the needfor escape" (Sv,131). After enduring, accepting, regurgitating,denying, and attempting to please and cope, At-wood's protagonists begin to take action and changetheir lives. Atwood herself, raised on Grimms'FairyTales, knew that "by using intelligence, clevernessand perseverance" (Sullivan, 36), magical powerscould transform a forest into a garden. However,before realizing their possibilities, many of Atwood'sprotagonists hit rock bottom, some even contem-plating death as an escape. In Surfacing he narrator,fed up with the superficiality of her companions,banishes them and submits to paranoia.

Everything can't break .. I throw on the floor. ... Itakeoffmy clothes .. I dip myhead beneath he water... I leave my dung, droppingson the ground... Ihollow a lairnearthewoodpile .. I scramble n handsand knees ... I could be anything,a tree,a deer skele-ton, a rock.(Sf, 177-87)



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280 WORLD LITERATURE TODAY

She descends to madness, stripping herself of all thetrappings of civilized society.Although often consumed with thoughts of sui-cide in Cat's Eye and The Handmaid's Tale, At-wood's heroines never succumb. Instead they con-sciously assassinate their former identities throughritual deaths by water. Joan in Lady Oracleorches-trates a baptism in Lake Ontario. Pretending todrown, she relinquishes her former life. With sun-

glasses and scarf, she believes herself reborn, free tobegin anew in Italy. Elaine Risley, after her bone-chilling encounter in the icy ravine in Cat's Eye, isfinally able to ignore the taunts of her friends. Res-urrected after two days in bed, a stronger Elaine af-firms that "she is happy as a clam, hard-shelled andfirmly closed" (CE, 201) against those who wouldsabotage her; she announces, "I'm ready" (203).Fortified by a new body image with a tougher ve-neer and a protective mask, Elaine no longer heedsher former tormentors. She has sealed herself fromfurtheroutrage and invasion.Marian's revelation in The Edible Woman s expe-rienced at the precipice of a ravine, where she com-ments, "In the snow you're as near as possible tonothing" (EW, 263). Perhaps the fear of becomingone with the ubiquitous whiteness of the landscapeand forever losing herself motivates a stand. Similar-ly, Sarah in "The Resplendent Quetzal" forges amore determined persona after her trial by water.Instead of throwing herself into the sacrificialwell inMexico as her husband Edward fears, she hurls aplaster Christ child stolen from a creche into thewater. Believing the tribal folklore that young chil-dren take messages to the rain god and live foreverin paradise at the bottom of the well, Sarah pins her

hopes on a representative facsimile that she hopeswill bring her peace for her lost child in the nextworld as well as rebirth, freeing herself from anxietyand guilt regarding the child's death.Rather than resorting to the cool, cleansing agentof water, Grace Marks, the convicted murderess inAlias Grace, reconstructs her life through stories ofher own invention. She fashions a creature alwaysbeyond the pale of her listeners' complete compre-hension. As told to Dr. Simon Jordan, who hascome to study Grace as a possible madwoman, herstory ensnares him in a piteous romance. Grace ap-pears outwardly as a humble servant girl always atperil from salacious employers; however, whenGrace ruminates in her private thoughts, she revealsthat she is worldly wise, knowing how to avoid badimpressions and the advances of salesmen. She isknowledgeable, stringing along Dr. Jordan: "I saysomething just to keep him happy. ... I do not givehim a straight answer" (AG, 66, 98). After ramblingfrom employ to employ in search of security, Graceconstructs a home for herself in her stories. Her

words, gossamer thin, have the power to erect afacade, a frame that holds her illusions together.In an attempt to discover the missing parts andprove the veracity of Grace's story, her supportersencourage her to undergo a seance. Although sherecognizes Dr. Jerome Dupont, the man who willorchestrate the event, as a former button peddler,she does not speak out. When a voice emerges fromthe hypnotized Grace, it proclaims, "I am notGrace" (403). As listeners, we ponder the speaker'sauthenticity. Just who our narrator might be, mad-woman or manipulator, is cast into doubt. We canonly be sure that the young innocent who arrived onCanada's shores penniless and motherless has beenaltered by the necessity to cope with a destructivehierarchical society unsympathetic to an immigrantgirl. Rather than persist and be tossed forever at thewhim of a wizened world, each saddened young girlmoves to reconstruct her tarnished image of her self.

How? "One way of coming to termsy making senseof one's rootsy is to become a creator" (Sv, 181). At-wood's victims who take control of their lives dis-cover the need to displace societal values, and theyreplace them with their own. In Lady OracleJoanponders the film The Red Shoes, in which the moralwarns that if a woman chooses both family and ca-reer, tragedy ensues. Reflecting on childbirth, thenarrator in "Giving Birth" (1977) hopes for somevision: "After all she is risking her life. . . . As for thevision, there wasn't one" (GB, 252; italics mine).Toni in The RobberBride and Grace Marks in AliasGraceacknowledge that it is not necessary to procre-ate. Each is more than her body. A grown-up ElaineRisley in Cat's Eye and the narratorin Surfacingac-



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GOLDBLATT 281cept motherhood,but not as an outcome of theirgenderthat will foreclose the possibilitiesof a cre-ative job. In fact, Roz in The RobberBride s quiteable to combine motherhood and a successful ca-reer. Dissatisfied with traditionalknowledge, At-wood's women again turn inward, now avoidingmasochistictraps, fully able to deviate from soci-ety's dicta. Freed from constraining ears, they lo-catetalents,wingsthat free them.Rather hanbecomingcynicaland devastatedbysociety's visions and its perpetrators,Atwood'swomenforgeon. Roz, Toni, and Charis n TheRob-berBride,who have been betrayed by Zenia, puttheir faith back into friendship, allowing mutualsupport o sustainthem. It is solid;it has been test-ed. They have turned to one another, cried andlaughed, sharedpainful experiences, knowingthattheirfriendshiphas endured n a labyrinthof twist-ed paths.Offred n TheHandmaid'sTale also begins to re-shapeherworld. She envisionsa betterplace in herthoughts, recordingher words on tape. She hashope. Consciously,she reconstructsher presentre-ality, knowingshe is makingan effort to projectanoptimistic picture. She says, "Here is a differentstory,a better one. . . . This is whatI'd liketo tell"(HT, 234). She relates that her trystwith Nick thechauffeur,arrangedby her commander'swife, iscaringand loving, enhancedby memories fromherearlier ife in order o conjurean outcome of happi-ness. In the shortstory"HairJewellery"1977) At-wood's narrators anacademic,a writerwho warns,"Becareful. . . Theres a future" 113). With thepossibilityof a new beginning, here s a chance thatlife can improve.In Alias GraceGrace's abricationsin her storiesprovidean escapehatch, a version ofreality ailored o fit her needs. For both OffredandGrace,storiesareways of rebelling,of avoiding hetentacles of a society that would demean and re-mold them. Their stories are outwardmasks, be-hind which they franticallyrepair their damagedspirits. Each alters her world through language.Each womanspeaks reconstructedworld into exis-tence, herself the engineeringgod of her own fate.Offred confides that handmaids ive in the spacesand the gaps between their stories, in their privatesilences:only alone in their imaginationsare theyfree to control heir own destinies.However,Atwood'sprotagonistsnhabitnot onlytheir minds in secret, but also their bodies in theoutside world. Joan, after her disappearance romToronto in Lady Oracle,decides that she must re-turn home and supportthe friendswho have aidedherdisguise.In the past, justas she had wielded herbulk as a weapon, so she has used her writinginorder to resolverelationships.She has indulgedinGothic romances,positing scenarios;she has even

playedout roles withlovers n capes.In the end, sherejectsher formercraftof subterfuge:"Iwon'twriteany more Costume Gothics."Yet we must ponderher choice to "try ome sciencefiction" LO,345).Although it is difficult to extirpate behavior,women trust the methods that have helped themcope in the past in orderto alter the future.In TheEdibleWoman he womanlyart of bakingprovidesMarianwith a way to freeherself:she bakesa cakethatresemblesherself.Offeringa piece to Peter,sheis controlling he tasty imageof a woman,allowinghim and,moreimportantly, erself o ingestand de-stroyit. "Itgave me a peculiarsense of satisfactionto see him eat,"she says,adding,"Ismiledcomfort-ablyat him" (EW,281). Her pleasure n theircon-sumptionof her formerself is symbolicof the deathof the old Marian.One might saythatMarian's ngestionof herownimage,Joan'sadoptionof science fiction, and bothOffred's and Grace's stories "in the head" do notpromisenew fulfilling ives, only tactics of escape.However,their personalgrowththroughconsciouseffort representsa means to wrest control of theirlives from society and transformtheir destinies.These women become manipulators ather han al-lowingthemselves o be manipulated.In Cat'sEyeElaineRisleydeals with the tormentof her earlylife in her artby movingto Vancouverand exerting power in paint over the people whohad condemnedher. She createssurrealstudies ofMrs. Smeath:"IpaintMrs. Smeath. . . likea deadfish. . . . One pictureof Mrs. Smeathleads to an-other. She multiplies on the walls like bacteria,

standing,sitting,withclothes,withoutclothes" CE,338). Empoweredby hersuccess as an artist,Elainereturns o Toronto for a showingof her work,ableto resist the pleas of her formertormentor,Corde-lia, now a pitifulpatient n a psychiatricacility. n adream,Elaine surpassesher desirefor revengeandoffers CordeliaChristian harity:"I'mthe stronger.... I reach out my armsto her,bend down. . . . It'sall right, say to her. You cango home" CE, 419).Elaine s reinforcedby the verywordsspokento herin the vision that saved her life years before. Herwork fosters her liberation.By projectingher rageoutside of herself,she confrontsherdemons and ex-alts herselfas a divineredeemer.Conclusion. "Youdon'teven have to concentrateonrejectingheroleofvictimbecauseherole s nolongera temptationor you" (Sv, 39). The creativeaspectthat fortifieseach woman enablesher to controlherlife: it is the triumphant ool that resurrectseachone. As artists,writers, riends,eachameliorates ersituation and her world,positivelymetamorphosingreality in the process. In societies tailored to thesubmissionof females,Atwood'sprotagonists efuse



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282 WORLDLITERATURE ODAYto be pinneddown to the measurements f the per-fect woman. Instead., hey reconstruct their lives,imprinting heir own designsin worlds of patternedfabric.Atwoodhas observed hatallwriting s politi-cal:"The writer implyby examininghow the forcesof societyinteractwith the individual . . seek[s]tochangesocial structure"Sullivan,129).Literaturehas alwaysbeen the place wherejour-neys have been sought, battles fought, insightsgleaned.And authors have alwaysdallied with theplight of women in society: young or old, body ormind, mother or worker, traveler or settler. Thewoman has been the divided or fragmentediconwho,brokenanddowncast,hasgazedbackforlornlyat us from the pagesof hertellingtale.MargaretAt-wood has reconstructed his victim, provingto herand to us that we all possess the talent and thestrengthto revitalizeour lives and reject society'swell-troddenpaths that suppressthe human spirit.She has shown us that we can be vicariouslyem-poweredby our surrogate,who not onlynow smilesbut winks back at us, daringus to reclaim our ownfemale dentities. Toronto

BibliographyAtwood,Margaret.Alias Grace.Toronto. McClelland& Stewart.1996. (AG) . Cat'sEye.Toronto.McClelland&Stewart.1988. (CE) . "GivingBirth."In DancingGirls.Toronto.McClelland& Stewart.1977. (GB) . "HairJewellery."n DancingGirls.Toronto.McClelland& Stewart.1977. (HJ) . Lady Oracle.Toronto. McClelland & Stewart. 1976.(LO) . LifeBeforeMan. Toronto.McClelland& Stewart.1979.(LBM) . Surfacing. oronto.McClelland& Stewart.1972.(Sf) . Survival:A ThematicGuide to Canadian Literature.Toronto.Anansi. 1972. (Sv) . The Edible Woman.Toronto. McClelland & Stewart.1969. (EW) . TheHandmaid'sTale.Toronto. McClelland& Stewart.1985. (HT) . "TheResplendentQuetzal." n DancingGirls.Toronto.McClelland& Stewart.1977. (RQ) . TheRobberride.Toronto.McClelland& Stewart.1993.(RB)Sullivan,Rosemary.The Red Shoes:MargaretAtwoodStartingOut.Toronto.HarperCollins.998.

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Reconstructing Subjectivities in Atwood