A READING OF MARGARET ATWOOD'S COPING STRATEGIES IN WILDERNESS TIPS

Abstract

This dessertation starts from the view that the wilderness has traditionally been used in Canadian literature as a symbol for the unexplored world. Like many writers in Canada, Margaret Atwood explores that tradition and shows a preoccupation with the theme of survival. Chapter One examines the coping strategies by pioneer women when confronted with an unexplored and hostile land. They tum to 'fantasies', reconciling deep psychic needs with the harsh environment they find themselves in. This may result in schizophrenia as in the case of Susanna Moodie, whose 'public voice' affirms the myth of Canada as a land of promise and plenty, and whose private voice expresses her inadmissible feelings of failure. The over-riding tone of these works is of fear of the unknown. In Survival, Atwood studies Canada's concern with the theme of survival in her literature. The wilderness here is not merely that of the physical environment but symbolic. Atwood concludes that Canadian writing is basically about victims. Chapter Two looks at Wilderness Tips, a collection of short stories and how Margaret Atwood situates different characters in various predicaments. This study is concerned with how these protagonists cope with experiences that are new and beyond their understanding and scope. Adolescent protagonists face growing sexual awareness. Some experiences are inimical. Adults, especially career women face discrimination in their working lives. Others are confronted with traumatic experiences, the unexpected deaths of close friends. At the same time these protagonists face aspects of themselves they previously did not know about. There is a general fear about the relentless passing of time and growing old. Like the pioneer women in facing unknown terrains, the protagonists in Wilderness Tips use 'fantasy' to cope with their fears. Basically all of them are Susanna Moodies. Each individual story is linked to the other by parallels and correspondences in the inadequacy of the coping strategies of the protagonists. Their coping strategies show their past experiences are inadequate to cope the present. Chapter Three examines the aptness of the form of the short story in conveying Atwood's concerns in Wilderness Tips. Chronological displacements in the plots reveal the protagonists' coping strategies. They cope by suppressing information to themselves. The device of flashbacks is widely used to show the importance of the past to the protagonists. This is because hopeless of the present, fearful of the future, they cling to the past. However, past experiences reveal how inadequate the coping strategy is. Atwood also utilises the endings of short stories to show whether the protagonists have undergone any decisive change in attitude or understanding. Generally, Atwood reveals that they are victims who cope by evading and suppressing. In Wilderness Tips, we may conclude that Atwood focuses on 'epiphanies', a perceived moment of truth or revelation for the reader. Atwood views the role of a writer as a moral responsibility, not to come up with solutions but to make readers conscious of the problems so as to reflect and to act accordingly.