Atwood’s short story “Bluebeard’s Egg” Essay

Atwoods Bluebeards Egg is a narrative that supports the theme of scholarship being a human characteristic which only presents the fair play the particular person wants to believe. The first usher of this appears in tornados description of Edward, her keep up, who by her thoughts is a dumb blond that need her security department and intelligence to survive. At set intervals an angel appears, bringing him food. Thats fine with Ed who hardly notices what he eats, except the angel is getting tired of being an angel (168, prgh1) We get this image of the caring married adult female protecting a not-so-intelligent husband out of love and pity.This is Sallys perception of the truth. On the early(a) hand we see her immaturity in her diction (heart-men fix their hearts, looked like a giant-fig) which shows her ignorance of her husbands line of work which is substantially difficult and requires intelligence and dedication that few people possess. This is why the readers start to doubt Sallys truth and at this point we side with the other any(prenominal) who say that he is intelligent and even brilliant, otherwise how can he be so winning? (151, last pgh) This first conflict that takes place in the readers themselves furthers the theme of the story. Who can we trust and why?Sallys perception is the lense that we see the story through, but without it we wouldnt have a sight at all. So we have to take her reality and decide which truth we want to believe. Eds truth of a middle-age well-off physician with a beautiful, young wife who doesnt care lots for anything except the nice routine of his life. Or Marylynns perception of a liberal, independent and confident woman who doesnt need a husband to enjoy her life. Or finally Sallys horrific attempt to hold on to her perfect life married to a wealthy handsome but not-so-smart husband who provides a normal happy life for her.The point in the story where Sally catches her husband and her best friend crossing that lin e of appropriateness, is when she realizes that her perception of what was real was actually all wrong from the begging. This sharp crack in her perfect life threatens the very foundations of an her seemingly stable universe. Sally has been wrong just about Ed, for years, forever. (182) This is a crucial moment in the story as it shows Sallys epiphany and provides a opaque moment as to what she was going to do face her husband and her best friend, or try to treat it in order to save her marriage, her security blanket. Sally puts down the spatula, wipes her hand on the hand-towel, puts her arms well-nigh him, holds on tighter that she should. (183, 3rd prgh) This is the image we get of Sally trying to hold on to her illusory reality.In a way the egg in the story is the truth that humans seek but the truth is covered by the hard protective shell and only people who go beyond the get along and look for change can get to the core to the truth which provides liberation. The struct ure of the story with the old Bluebeard statement in the middle of this new story reminds me of the egg which was once created and now has a life at bottom itself and go forth create in its turn. Sally thinks the egg is alive, and one day it will hatch. But what will come out of it? (184, 1st prgh)This relates to Atwoods contemplating of the creative process. Like in other poems by her, we see the birth of new concepts from the roots of our very own creation. This also compares to the ways in which our naming with a text, the act of reading literature, corresponds to reading reality. Atwoods story suggests that in both instances, guesswork or intuition is as fundamental as close analysis. But whether our interpretation of the story is intuitive or analytical, the outcome is an unending quest after an illusory truth because nothing is what it seems.