Identity In The Incredible Woman

Words: 2048
Pages: 9

A living space reveals a lot about its inhabitants. Home is traditionally proof of the owners’ lives. One’s domain can be a giveaway for his or her interests, behaviours, emotions and identities. Margaret Atwood clues into this fact of life and uses living spaces in her novel The Edible Woman to inform the reader indirectly of her characters’ personalities. Settings are used by this writer to contrast and compare the characters, their losses of identity, their drastic life changes, all contributing to the novel’s plot and theme of self discovery. Sharing a living space can be difficult at times as Atwood displays in her novel. Once terms and rules are established sharing can be done a little easier. Marian and Ainsley are a great example of the above problem. Their personalities are quite different which makes living together challenging. This is …show more content…
Therefore concentrating mainly on their studies is all they do. For some, schooling extends into their late 20s. The build up of stress and constantly learning more information can take its toll. Students may let basic chores fall between the cracks. The reader has a clear example of this real life situation in Atwood's description of Duncan and his roommates who share an apartment in which, “All exposed surfaces of the room were littered with loose papers, notebooks and books opened face-down and other books bristling with pencils and torn slips of paper stuck in them as markers” (Atwood 49). The space is very unorganized containing papers and books scattered around much like its inhabitants who are, scatterbrained. They're priority is schooling and the living space is simply for sleeping and studying. Duncan is a very unique individual who has strange characteristics. He can appear difficult to figure out, much like the papers throughout the mess of the apartment. Discovering the true Duncan is a big challenge. His bedroom displays his bizarre