Essay Example on John and Mary's Happy Ending: Love, Marriage, Family, and Death

Introduction

Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood is a story with two primary characters John and Mary, who are in love in case A, they get married and die afterward. Options B to F have different cases involving John and Mary with a result of death. The married couple in A being happy and interested in one another distinguishes the case from the others. The couple has a family with children, and they age together until they die.

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'John and Mary fall in love and get married… The children turn out well. John and Mary have a stimulating and challenging sex life and worthwhile friends…They retire… Eventually they die.' (pg. 1)

The story is delivered by Atwood, the narrator. The narrator, not being a character in the story, acts as an individual present in the lives of the characters. Therefore, since the author Margaret Atwood uses third-person, she can easily play the role of the narrator. Atwood speaks openly about all the characters in the story. The use of the third person in the narration of Happy Endings digging into each character distinguishes the point of view of an all-knowing narrator. As a result, the author uses the third person's point of view to shine light into the type of relationships people lead by using John, Mary, Madge, and Fred.

Theme Based Argument on Mary

The story views relationships as a streamline without happy endings and always leads to death. Throughout the story, the beginning and the course of the story is not as important as the end, which indicates that happy endings do not exist. However, looking at the story and the characters, specifically Mary, it is important to view their relationships with other people as important as their relationship with themselves. Death is a standard event for every individual and is not a happy ending.

'The only authentic ending is the one provided here:

John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die.' (Pg. 3)

For that reason, Atwood could instead relate happy endings to the type of life an individual lived before their death. When one has a good relationship with themselves, they associate with people who help them grow. In case B, once Mary realized John did not love her, she should have chosen herself to mend her relationship for a happy ending. In case C, since Mary knew she was in love with James, she could have been honest with John and spend the little time with inadequate resources happily.

'John, who is an older man, falls in love with Mary, and Mary, who is only twenty-two, feels sorry for him because he's worried about his hair falling out. She sleeps with him even though she's not in love with him. She met him at work. She's in love with someone called James…' (Pg. 2)

Conclusion

Happy endings are not outcomes of excellent relationships and marriages but with oneself first. Finding what suits you and makes you happy is the ground for a happy ending, just like John and Mary fall in love with each other in case A.

References

Atwood, Margaret. "Happy endings." Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft (1994): 279-81.