The Speaker in the Works of Margaret Atwood
The reader receives an intimate, more detailed understanding of the relationships among the narrator and other characters due to Margaret Atwood’s use of the first person narrator ultimately enabling her to place significance in the value of relationships in her works. It is very apparent that the relationships are extremely valuable to Atwood's purpose in Cat's Eye and “Weight” from her book of short stories Wilderness Tips which is fueled by her use of the first person narrator.
The purpose of the relationships in Margaret Atwood’s works is often to show how a female can use that relationship to her advantage. In Cat’s Eye, Elaine is in relationships with two different men: Mr. Hrbik, or Josef, and Jon. Atwood writes from Elaine’s perspective, “I feel that Mr. Hrbik needs protecting, or even rescuing” (Atwood,1989, p. 300). By writing this in the first person perspective, the reader understands one of the many reasons Elaine chooses to be with Mr. Hrbik, or Josef, is that she feels he needs protection not necessarily that he wants protection or to be rescued. The reader additionally gains the knowledge that Elaine is intentional with her choice to be with Mr. Hrbik which make reveals that it is valuable to her. Atwood is further able to show the purpose for this relationship using the first person narrator because the reader is able to see the thoughts and emotions that guide a narrator’s choice to be in said relationship.
Margaret Atwood also applies this same technique in the short story "Weight" to establish the value of the relationship between the narrator, unnamed, and Charles. In this story, the narrator is trying to be in a relationship with Charles, who is wealthy, in hopes that he will donate a large amount of money to the women’s shelter that was created in the name of the narrator’s best friend, Molly, after she was brutally murdered by her husband. Given that Atwood’s purpose in many of the relationships she writes about is to show the advantages a women can gain from them, Atwood writes on behalf of the narrator’s indecisiveness to further the relationship with Charles for the money, “Right now, I don’t even know whether I’ll go as far as dinner on Wednesday. It occurs to me that I don’t really have to, not if I don’t want to” (Atwood, 1981, p. 178). Atwood's intention in writing this in the first person perspective is to reveal the thoughts and feelings of the narrator that guide decisions in regards to her relationship. By doing this, Atwood grants the power to the narrator to show the reader that the woman has the power to decide what she wants to get out of the relationship. Ultimately, Atwood is able to place significance in this relationship in regards to a feminist approach because she uses the first person perspective.
In Cat's Eye and "Weight", Margaret Atwood uses the first person perspective is to reveal the reason each woman is in a relationship which ultimately places value in that relationship.