Happy Endings

Mary, like John, is seen “in-scene” in Sections A, B and C of the narrative. She and John are happy in Section A. Mary is very much unhappy in Section B. In Section C, she takes pity on John and sleeps with him, her rationale for which is that he’s going bald (which, in keeping with postmodernist thought/theory, is a reason that exists without the notion of reason). Mary and her love interest, James, are killed by John in Section C.

The Mary in Section B is an out-and-out victim of sexual objectification and patriarchy at the hands of John. In Section C, Mary is momentarily afforded her own sexual fantasy (her time with James, where it is at least arguable that she objectifies him), before John arrives and kills them. 

James is Mary’s love interest in Section C and is shot to death by John. Mary seems most interested in him because of his material things. James may be to Mary, in Section C, what Mary is to John, in Section B, though the terms are different: James and Section C Mary smoke pot and it is unclear whether or not they are actually sexually intimate (there is not explicit mention of this being the case). James is afforded no inner monologue, and, past his motorcycle and record collection, no other details are offered about him. 

Madge is John’s second love interest in Section B. After the Mary in Section B takes her own life, John marries Madge. There is also a Madge in Section C, though Atwood purposefully doesn’t distinguish whether the Section C Madge is or is not the same as the Madge in Section B; in Section C, Atwood offers: “John is married to a woman called Madge” (44), and while the reader will obviously make the connection to the Madge in the prior section, in keeping with the notion of simulacra, it is highly possible this Madge is a reproduction of the last Madge: the same, and yet separate or different.

After the John in Section C takes his own life, Madge marries Fred. In Section D, there is a Madge married to a Fred; the couple is marriedand owns a house near the beach. A tidal wave comes, and while the natural disasters kills thousands, Fred and Madge survive. After Fred dies, Madge “devotes herself to charity work” (45).