Margaret Atwood; Cat's Eye Analysis- Refraction and Self

?Our common wiz explanations of the instauration and ourselves ar problematised by Atwood do her bracing. aught is quite as it externalisems, when we look at anything (in a mirror, in the past, at others) it is refracted as if by means of peeing.? address the nouss and issues in the bracing in relation to this democracyment, paying point attention to the techniques and archives elements functiond to show this. Our common finger explanations of the world argon base on the commandings in our lives. Ways of geting stimulate been socially constructed embedded with values and attitudes that influence our behaviour and come forther of the world and ourselves. Reality fucking non be captured and is interpreted contrastingly by each soulfulness as if refracted by means of water. rub down?s kernel is a work of influential side by germ Margaret Atwood. The novel?s central airfield of exploration is of different pas seuls of truth, and the accuracy and tru thfulness of our experience visions of how we arrest the world and ourselves. These visions are problematised by Atwood, as she uses respective(a) techniques that appropriate her to discretely proffer her idea of ? nonhing is quite as it seems? to federal agency the audience. This results in our consume conclusionorsement of these beliefs, and leads us to motility our pop disclose lives as unspoilt a rgoalering of truthfulness, with a champion of disillusionment. Our world and our testify lives are scrapd by Atwood?s novel, as in oppugn the idea of no commandings and constants in our lives, we as well as begin to hesitancy the other constants in our society much(prenominal)(prenominal) as morality being just other version of domain and not an absolute. This distresses many people and problematises our lives. Measurable, cognisable, constant, and absolute qualities of demeanor will shelter in our beliefs and mind of the world and our get into within it . Absolutes encourage us make sense of the! world, and provide a linkup to the world and our own inner selves generating a sense of belonging. Atwood challenges the construct of absolutes, fixed/ cognoscible identities, and common truths by means of and by dint of various techniques. She uses floor elements to proffer her ideas, such as autobiographic writing to aline a offer us to scruple the angiotensin-converting enzyme and exclusively version of existence that is being told (through Elaine and her life). Imagery/symbolisation and intertextuality are recurring techniques, for spokesperson her repetitive use pondering surfaces such a spyglass, water and mirrors are all symbols employ to capitulum reflection, and how we see ourselves; is what we see what we get? These techniques are utilize in order to awake self-doubt and in trade protection, to un stationtle and dilate the elan we see ourselves and our world, through the provocative questions that it asks of us. put?s eye challenges the naturalized an d socially constructed views and encourages the reader to question the prevalent views of the world and themselves. Refraction is the distortment of light, as it travels, it?s mazed-up as it variegates and moves through different mediums. Atwood uses refraction as a symbol re opening the key belief that our vision of life and ourselves is refracted, broken up, distorted, and that as a result our perceptions aren?t eermore accurate. Atwood uses Elaines moment encounter at the bridge to imply that our views, curiously on other people are refracted, and not necessarily as they seem to be. Cordelia is seen to effect Elaine the most signifi re rusely, and it is not until the end of the book, when Elaine is at last coming hazard to herself (the bridge) that Elaine realises that Cordelia was not what she seemed to be. ?There is the akin shame, the downcast feeling in my body, the comparable friendship of my own wrongness, awkwardness, helplessness; the same wish to be loved ; the same l unmatchedsomeness; the same fear. But t! hese are not my own emotions anymore. They are Cordelia?s; as they always were.?It is only at the end of Elaine?s life when she realizes that her emotions that hurttized her puerility (and adult life) were in concomitant Cordelia?s, who in order to escape them and cope transferred them to Elaine. Elaine feels stronger with this discernledge and ultimately releases Cordelia, as the Virgin Mary once released her ?Its ok, you hobo go home now.? Elaines mourning is over and she is free of Cordelia, she house see clearly now- ?The snow in my eyes withdraws uniform sens? and is st wileing to make sense of her past. Atwood also uses Elaines mis apprehensionion of Cordelia to symbolise how our ?refracted? view of others substantially affects our view of ourselves and the world; our experience of the attest is glum by our past events. Elaine realises that all these years, she still did not ?know? Cordelia, supporting Atwood?s dispute of the notion that at that place can reall y be a ?fixed? and ?cognizable? identicalness. Atwood employs this metaphor in order to position the reader to be receptive to the idea that our views on others, the world, and ourselves are not absolute but equivocal. In redact?s nerve the sign person limited narration is unreliable in the sense that Elaine cannot ?see? enough - either because of her own maturation and desires and the forces charter them, or of the consequences of her choices. The novel questions whether ?lives?, ?stories? or autobiographical accounts can ever be accurate. A novel that puzzles a straightforward parallel of latitude narrative that moves through events sequentially and constructs a complete set of ideas about life that seem elementary. It accepts that our experience of life, our thoughts and feeling, motivations, movement through time - our very representation in a literary text, can be captured accurately. It implies order, coherence, unity and stability; a healthy basis for our action s and thoughts thus presenting a conservative worldvi! ew. The organise of spue?s Eye serves as a critique of this mere(a) view of the world. The novel constantly shifts between past and present and her narration as a young Elaine and an old Elaine. This change represents Elaine?s life, as she feels it is barley comprehensible. Because the story is written in first person, its only presents one version of reality- Elaines version. This leads us to question Elaine?s version and its accuracy. Atwood?s purpose behind this is to withdraw for to light the complexity of character in Elaine, and highlight her regurgitate out in coming to terms with her own identity. This challenge on the common qualities of autobiographical narratives even leads the reader to question Cat?s Eye as just another version of reality that is presented to us in life. Atwood questions the belief that the individual is knowable and that appearance corresponds with fixed reality; she critiques the notion that reality can be ?captured?.

This is shown through her questioning of autobiographical writing, and is perpetuated through the use of Elaines paintings at her veranda Sub-versions. Cordelia subjected Elaine to subtle, psychological boss about as a child, and destroyed her self-confidence, which lasts well into her adult life. Her art is a way of expressing these bottled-up emotions and a means of dealing with her trauma; her art presents a different version of reality of her life, one that she is unable to give in her everyday life. ?I can no longstanding control these paintings, or tell them what to mean. whatsoever energy they hold up came out of me. I?m what?s left over.? done her art she exerts a power that she! did have in her puerility, victorious revenge on Mrs. Smeath and confronting other issues such as her bullying in the painting Cat?s Eye, where Elaine appropriates the idea of the bob glass reflecting figures external the frames of the main picture. This glass hangs behind a self-portrait that shows only half of Elaine?s head and incorporates signs of aging. In her childhood the three girls watch her from behind nonetheless the young Elaine in the picture is turned around, facing her tormentors. The painting symbolises the claiming and relinquishing of control. The child, Elaine looks foul at the three girls, the adult Elaine looks hindquarters at the outside viewer. The back of the head is crucial: a mirror that shows only the ruined half of your face. Elaine?s art reflects the psychological state she is in and has faced in her childhood. This is emblematical of Elaine looking back on her life and seeing her childhood in a different light-?Nothing is what it really seems.? The gallery is appropriately named, contribute to Atwoods hypothesis; Life is a serial publication of different and strange versions of reality, identity and reality are not fixed and the concept of ?exact truth? can neer be captured. Atwoods novel Cat?s Eye shapes the reality by which we view the world and ourselves. Our lives operate around security (especially of ourselves) and we generate and understanding and connect ourselves to the world through various versions of reality that we fortify to become believed ?absolutes? upon which we base our lives Without the ?fixed reality? we create for ourselves and the absolutes that structure our lives, our sense of purpose, and meaning diminishes. Distress is brought upon us through Cat?s Eye because Atwood critiques our quest for identity as she suggests that we lead never ?know ourselves? and will never have a fixed identity. It is therefore the reader?s choice on weather to comprehend the notions Atwood is proffering. Atwood u ses varied techniques and narrative elements such as ! imagery, symbolism, and the narrative point of view to mention her beliefs. Through the particular employment of these techniques Atwood strengthens her case to the reader and positions them to support her indited criticisms of a knowable identity, and a fixed reality and truth. Cats Eye challenges the measurable, and the way we particularize things as knowable and existing and a truth. Bibliography:Atwood, Margaret, Cats Eye, Penguin, Montreal 1968 If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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