Short Fiction of Margaret Atwood Literary Elements

Short fiction

"Rape Fantasies" take place in various settings, and they depict the women in the story being raped by strangers. “The Man from Mars” is geographically set in Canada.

Estelle narrates "Rape Fantasies" in the first person.
"The Man from Mars" is told by a third-person omniscient narrator.

The tone in "Rape Fantasies" is fanciful, whereas the mood is petrifying.
The tone in "The Man from Mars" is suspenseful, whereas the mood is perplexing.

The women describing their imaginations about getting raped in "Rape Fantasies" are their protagonists, whereas their imaginary rapists are the antagonists. The protagonist in "The Man from Mars" is Christine, whereas the antagonist is "the man from Mars."

The conflict in “Rape Fantasies” relates to how the women would disentangle themselves from rape.
The conflict in "The Man from Mars" relates to Christine's attempts to get rid of the shadowy Asian male stalker.

There are multiple climaxes in "Rape Fantasies," which occur when the women come face to face with imaginary rapists.
The climax in “The Man from Mars” occurs when Christine learns that she was not the only woman that “man from Mars” trailed or stalked: which implies that Christine was not utterly attractive to the uncanny man.

Estelle employs a foreshadow in the fantasy where she tells her rapist that she is “going to give birth to the reincarnation of St. Anne who in turn has then Virgin Mary and Right after that comes Jesus Christ.” The foreshadowing, which is unlikely to come true, is based on religious teachings.
In "Happy Endings," Atwood incorporates foreshadows of events that would culminate in fairy-tale-like endings for the romantic story of "John and Mary."

Chrissy's description in "Rape Fantasies" of her good time with a handsome stranger is an understatement that cannot be equated to rape.
In "The Man from Mars, "Christine defends her stalker when she claims, " he was not dangerous, he had never hurt her." The policeman argues that Christine's assessment of the man is an understatement: "That kind don't hurt you…they kill you." Christine is naïve to conclude that the man was harmless, yet in reality, he was a maniac obsessed with her and could have wound up murdering her.

Estelle alludes to pop culture when she mentions Derek Cummins and June Allyson.

The title "The Man from Mars" is an allusion to a proverb. The allusion underscores the strangeness or otherness of the antagonist who trails Christine and other women in the story.

The descriptions in rape fantasies give imageries on how women are the victims of rape. The women narrators do not fancy themselves raping males.

In “The man From Mars,” Atwood offer offers imageries of races. For example, through Christine, she uses the looks of “the man from Mars” to conclude that he is “a person from another culture…Oriental without a doubt.” The conclusions are based on the man’s physical appearance.

Chrissy's calmness in "Rape Fantasies" while facing an imaginary rapist is paradoxical because she does not imagine she would scream. Naturally, a woman would not stay calm upon realizing a male intruder in her house. The politeness of the rapist in Estelle's rape fantasy is paradoxical as well, given the violence inherent in most sexual assault cases.

In "The Man From Mars," it is paradoxical that Christine's male friends treat her as if she is one of them ( like she is male). Their treatment of her is attributed to her body form, which is masculine.

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Estelle states that she would tell her rapist: "It'd be like raping a bottle of LePage's mucilage the way my nose is running." This remark is a covert personification of the bottle; bottles cannot be raped. Estelle would use this argument to discourage her rapist from raping her on the grounds of her runny nose.

In "Death by the Landscape," Atwood personifies the pictures which Lois keeps: "Despite the fact that there are no people in them or even animal, it's as if there is something or someone, looking back out." The use of "someone" is tantamount to personifying the pictures representing a person, probably Lucy, whom Lois wants present in her life.