some point lost her own belief in happy endings.
In the end Atwood says that “Beginnings are always more fun," and this is because
nothing has yet been spoiled. The reader has every opportunity still in front of them, and the
reality of not knowing what will happen next is the most exciting part of a story. The middle part
can be written any number of ways, and anything can happen, but as adults Atwood believes
readers must see that all stories end the same way. A writer does not have to make a character die
in the end, because death is an eventuality of the human existence. Prince Charming and
Cinderella, while happy at the end of the story, will eventually get old and die. Children do not
think about that. They believe in their hearts that because the couple ends up together their
troubles are over, and they can live happy lives from now on.
As adults, people go through their own heartbreaks and disillusions in life. For some, those
experiences can slowly begin to erode the belief that they can grow old and happy with someone.
Atwood even indulges that fantasy in a couple of versions, only to remind the reader later that
even with a secure romance there is the possibility of outside influences that can take everything
away. By way of its many writing styles, “Happy Endings,” takes us through childhood our
preconceptions about how life or love is supposed to turn out based on what has been written in
fables and argues that as adults, people are unable to realistically believe in fairy tale endings
because their experiences have taught them that a fairy tale ending is unattainable.
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