Introduction
Discussion
Atwood’s Main message
As a visionary writer, Atwood has authored many books. What is common in Atwood’s books is that she attempts to put across one message over and over again. This is the message on the woman’s voice in the society. Atwood effectively passes this message in a unique manner by reconstructing her version out of ancient myth stories. Old pieces of literature were synonymous with stories of feminist exploitation. The society of the time was characterized with giving a woman no chance whatsoever. They had no say in most society matters even by a little margin. However, things have changed; environment and society has evolved. Women have risen up to occupying a significant space in today’s society. As a result, today’s literature and artistic work portray women with a much-improved perspective, although this landmark is yet to be achieved or reached throughout the world.
In “The Penelopiad”, Atwood gives the woman a significant position and place in the society. This is clear because first of all, Penelope, who Odysseus’ wife is the main character in the book. Penelope’s life is a long journey like any other woman in the society. However, her marriage faces several ups and downs, perhaps a clever tactic by the author to give an opportunity to critics to present their view. As the head of the family, especially when Odysseus has not returned from the war, Penelope controls everything with intelligence and brilliance (Atwood, 87). She utilizes the maids as “spies” to get information and know-how on the various suitors before she makes any full engagements. Instead of being seen as an opportunist, Penelope comes across as a woman warrior who knows what to do in order to benefit out of every situation. Even when Odysseus appeared/returned from the war looking confused and deteriorated, Penelope controls the situation superbly. This depicts the power that women can possess in the society. This message among others is clearly communicated by Atwood especially through the use of conflict, events coordination and structure of the book.
Conflict
Communication is effectively enhanced through the use of conflict. Conflict is a powerful tool in poetry and the world of literature. Atwood’s communication development is based on conflict between characters. For instance, Penelope relationship with her first family was not desirable. Her father’s attempt to murder her and the level of negligence by her mother was not something soothing. This bad relationship led to Penelope’s choice to get married, noticeably at the age of only fifteen years. There is a lot that can be talked about in regards to this marriage incidence. Fifteen years is barely enough age to get married. Conflict continues even during the early days when Helen could come to Penelope and mock her about the decision to be married by Odysseus, a man of short stature. The conflict being addressed by Atwood without a shadow of doubt catches the eye of the audience Atwood and therefore makes the early chapters of the book quite interesting.
Conflict is seen to revolve around Penelope’s life. First, she does not relate well with Odysseus mother. Furthermore, her husband’s nurse also does not entertain or like her in the first place. Penelope struggles to fix her situation. Immediately after settling, conflict only increases. The raising of the only child – Telemachus – is also accompanied by a lot of conflicts. The life with the maids brings the conflict at the center of every action. Atwood goes ahead to describe what type of people the maids were; Atwood focuses on Penelope’s life during the early stages of marriage (Bahun et al., 54). Evidently this includes the building of a close relationship with the close associates – Maids – to the extent that they would be spying for her. Then with the different suitors, Penelope intelligently encourages her servants – maids – to monitor each and every one of them close. Some of the maids are tortured, raped and even killed.
Atwood usage of conflict is imperative as it catches the attention of the audience of the book. The importance of conflict is that, unlike any other strategy, it reflects what the current society is all about. By interconnecting conflicted relationships from one phase to another, the reader acquired or is trapped in by the fluency and anxiety to know more about the story. Conflict is interesting, and sometimes, very attractive to the eye of the reader. The reader does not, at any point get bored since they follow up to realize the resolution among other events associated with the conflicts. Therefore, the conveyance of “The Penelopiad” message is effective through the use of conflict in another dimension. The author essentially brings out conflict issues that are a reality in the society.
Today’s society, which is the audience of Atwood’s book is characterized with the exact conflicts portrayed in “The Penelopiad”. For example, when one looks into things such as family, marriage, and even that life after divorce/married, conflict is well known to exist in them in the current society (Bahun et al., 37). Therefore, even though the author uses the myths of the past days, she catches the ear of the current generation. There is no other way that the author can communicate with the public effectively without touching things that concern them in their daily routine. In this way, Atwood is effectively engaging the audience hence passing her message smoothly.
Events Coordination
The Penelopiad’s coordination of events is also paramount to its effectiveness in portraying the author’s message. Revolving around gender issues, Atwood consistently develops a smooth transition between events. From the first chapter, Penelope is seen as miserable girl plagued by family related issues. The reader is able to observe the scenario or the fact that a young girl has no chance even when it comes to her own family. There is negligence from the mother and, even worse, the murder attempts by her father. As time goes on however and after finding a suitor, life changes. The manner in which the suitor – Odysseus – gets the upper hand to marry Penelope is a smooth transition that acquires readers/audience’s attention. Atwood explains that Odysseus success in marrying Penelope was not a real “fairy-tale” because he was only able to do so after rigging the contest.
Thereafter, the events at Penelope’s new environment create more anxiety to the audience. Penelope struggles but finally settles into life. The relationship with Odysseus mother and close associates develops the transition to project future events. Much of the story happens at the time when Odysseus is at war leaving her to take control of the kingdom and the family. Although in a feminist perspective, Atwood develops events thereafter to tell how women can manage the opportunity to control the society. The message that Odysseus is not coming back presented Penelope with more troubles. This included various seduction attempts by suitors that who were was not in actual sense very much interested in her and who did not love her. Their aim was to gain control of the Kingdom and remove the woman – Penelope – out of power. Anything else does not happen until Odysseus appears. Penelope chooses to hide him from the public with the help of the maids. This action later made the maids earn their execution later something that Penelope greatly disappointed by Odysseus.
The development of the events as seen above is very fundamental. Atwood makes the reader take the initiative to know about the next step and event. Atwood is seen as shaping the story in different accounts. This is because each of the characters plays their role in their own accounts. For instance, in Penelope’s case, she deals with life issues the way they come, but importantly, she does that with a lot confidence and intelligence. In Odysseus case, he sees the maids and everyone else as an obstruction to his way of life. This is the reason he ordered their execution. On the maid’s case, they view themselves meaningless people who are meant only to serve. This organization of events and situations is indeed, very effective in portraying Atwood’s ideas.
Book’s structure
The organizational structure of “The Penelopiad” is also instrumental in reinforcing Atwood message. The book is uniquely structured to capture every reader’s consciences and full attention. It is divided into a total of twenty-nine chapters. The introduction section gives the audience a summary of the book and prepares them to what they should expect from the book. Then, the “notes” section provides insights of the story developments, notably giving comprehensive translations that the reader will benefit from. Thereafter, the book goes into the storytelling alternates (Wisker, 81). These are dialogues and narratives of Penelope and maids. Choral commentary of maids is also facilitated heavily in the first 18 chapters. Penelope takes the center of every action since the chorals are a reflection of her life deeds across the book. This makes the audience/reader not only read easily but also understand the message without the need for complex translations.
The first person’s narrative is incorporated throughout the story. More so, a simple prose is deliberately used to make the reader master the content easily. The story is also developed in a wandering, casual, or you may call it street-wise tone. The reason is that, Atwood aims at making everything clear enough for the audience to grasp and understand the message portrayed. Even with the first person’s narration being primarily used, Penelope sometimes addresses the audience with a second person pronoun. In each chapter, Atwood made sure that the intelligence of Penelope comes out clearly. More so, this was measured against the elaborations of Odysseus. In the end, it is accurate to state that Atwood message was clear to the audience having taken the initiative to structure the book in such a manner.
Ultimately, the above-discussed structure plays a vital role in understanding “The Penelopiad”. It has proved that Atwood is an intelligent narrator who can catch the attention of many people. Unlike other myth stories, “The Penelopiad” has got millions of positive reviews conforming to what Atwood had to convey. Evidently, structuring the book in such a manner has given the chance to every reader to catch-up with the content and interpret in accordance with the situation of our society today. For instance, when you go to the commentary part, one is able to get the message clearly. There is no obstruction or any sort of hindrance that the reader can complain about. Atwood focused on the audience's diversity to make the book popular. Indeed, “The Penelopiad” is interesting and most importantly, it is structured in the right form to accomplish its goal.
Conclusion
As discussed above, Atwood ideas in “The Penelopiad” have been received well by the targeted audience. The incorporation of various techniques by the author to bring points home is unique. Atwood does great in exposing what she has in mind to the public domain. As mentioned in the essay, it is through the appropriate utilization of conflict, coordination of events and the structure of “The Penelopiad” that the author communicates effectively and efficiently. The overall message about the order of the society and woman’s place in the community can be derived clearly out of the book. Therefore, it is no doubt that Atwood’s way of communication in “The Penelopiad” is effective enough to accomplish the objective completely.
Works Cited
Atwood, Margaret. The Penelopiad. New York: Canongate, 2005. Print.
Bahun, Sanja, and V G. J. Rajan. Myth and Violence in the Contemporary Female Text: New Cassandras. Burlington: Ashgate, 2011. Print.
Wisker, Gina. Margaret Atwood: An Introduction to Critical Views of Her Fiction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Print.
