Jason+Cho

Point of View “Happy Endings” is a short story that has a message, which is made possible by the use of its specific points of view. Margaret Atwood used the third-person omniscient to narrate the actual story part of her work and also used the second-person to let the reader know the purpose of her short story. These two points of view allow information to be understood more easily by the reader in this particular story. The point of view is obvious as soon as the story begins. No character is saying anything, but an unnamed narrator is giving information regarding the story. The unnamed narrator doesn’t have to make any introductions of any sort, and this allows the story to be concise and succinct. As part B begins, the true benefit of using the third-person omniscient along with the second-person is revealed. Atwood gives John’s motive for using Mary as a tool, and that “you'll notice that he doesn't even consider her worth the price of a dinner out” (Atwood 1). By giving we, the readers factual information that is not bias, we are able to come to our own conclusion, but instead of giving the reader the opportunity to misunderstand her writing, she tells you the meaning directly. If Atwood had used the first person or the third-person limited point of view, it would be impossible for factual information to be given to a critical reader. Instead, Atwood used the combination of the third and second person omniscient, which doesn’t take pages upon pages to lay out information for the reader to digest without throwing up due to bad writing. The correctly named final part, part F, uses only the second person to convey Atwood’s opinion on the topic, and also to sum up what her entire story means. Her use of the second person in part F serves the same purpose as her use of the second person in the rest of her story, like tell you that “You'll have to face it” (Atwood 2). But the difference is that in the end, it is much more important because unlike the use of the second person in the parts before, it sums up the entire purpose into a nutshell, and not just a few sentences. Her previous use of the second person is not completely necessary as well, but it allows her to use the second person the way she did at the end. Had she not desensitized the reader to the second person, the story would have become strange and lacked flow. As point of view also does for other stories, Atwood’s point of view serves her purpose. Atwood wanted to have depth and conciseness in her story, so she chose to use the second and third person omniscient.

Good point about her directly telling the meaning. 10/10