Happiness is Achieved Only Through Death
.... “She breathed a quick prayer that life may be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.” (p. 327) Her husband had obviously influenced her life in a negative way. A day before he died she had thought that life may be long, but with a feeling of regret and disgust. Now she wants life to be long, because this is her chance to begin a new life with the feeling of oppression by her husband. Her life was finally wonderful; her husband was not oppressing her anymore and she was free to do what she wanted to do. However, as soon as this bliss hit her, an enormous wave of distress struck her when she found out her husband was alive. When her husband walked in the door; her surprise is immense. This news was too much for her heart to handle and she died upon seeing him. People who were with her think that she had died from the joy of seeing her husband; in fact she died from the stress of seeing him. She is the only one who knows the truth about her cause of death, but Louise Mallard also lets the readers know her true self. This story ends ironically, because she felt free when her husband was “dead,” but now that she finds out he is alive she can only be free and happy by dying. In “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood, the ultimate goal is to be happy. This story is written in a very unique way: it begins with a vignette of the perfect scenario of life. A boy and girl meet, they fall in love, get married, have children, live a fulfilling life, and die after a long happy life. This is considered the ideal life for practically everyone. Our society today has pushed this ideal of the perfect life because it is seen as the only true way to achieve happiness. However, as this story continues the ideal way of life is put more into perspective by the true way of life because Atwood writes many alternative endings to this story that shows the reader how life is more likely to pan out. The other endings to this story seem more likely when dealing with the troubles and problems of today’s society. In ending B, a young woman kills herself in order to get the affection of a man. This is false love and in the end she is better off dead than alive. Ending C involves lying, cheating, and deceiving. In the end three people end up dead and one ends up a widow. Ending D describes how outside forces press on a relationship. A tidal wave washes out the couples entire house, but “…Fred and Mary are virtuous and lucky. Finally on high ground they clasp each other, wet and dripping and grateful…” (p. 71) This is the only other ending besides Ending A...