Atwood's "Happy Endings"

⭐⭐
The underlying message of Happy Endings was very insightful. However, I disliked the method Atwood used to convey it. All of the stories seem somewhat similar. Mary and John meet each other. John mistreats her or makes a mistake. Mary is put upon. John is always at fault. The message seems to be that the same ending will always be achieved, but this effect is drastically dampened by the fact that the same person is making the mistakes. It would have been much easier to convey this message if Mary had made a mistake that caused John's disappointment. For example, a replacement middle that would have improved the story would have been something like: John fell in love with Mary, and Mary fell in love with John's credit card. He loved her unconditionally, as she loved it unconditionally. She simply uses him for his financial assets. For a while, she enjoyed it. She eventually grew bored with him. She was still excited by the vacation, the elegant meals, and the massive house. Soon enough, she met James. James knew about Mary's marriage, but he didn't care. He figured that it took two to truly cheat on someone, and he thought he wasn't responsible for her actions. Little did Mary know, John was also bored with her. He had fallen for a woman named Madge. He felt she actually loved him for his personality, because she didn't even know about his wealth. One day, Mary decided to go through John's phone without his knowledge. She came across his messages to Madge. She smashed his phone in anger. When he came back, she threw his smashed phone at him. He was terrified to ask her why she smashed his phone, but he knew the real reason. He made a horrible mistake. He apologized, but she declined the apology and told him that she didn't care because she had been cheating on him. They both lived seemingly peaceful, happy lives. However, each of them regretted ever meeting the other. After that event, they were both emotionally scarred. Eventually, John and Mary died." Given the insightful message of Happy Endings combined with Mary's lack of true character flaws that could compare to John's in every situation, I would give this story two out of five stars.

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