Essay topic: In Dark Humor and Social Satire in the Modern British Novel (Gordonsville, VA:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), Lisa Colletta argues that dark (or black) humor "is generally defined by
ambivalence, confused chronology, plots that seem to go nowhere, and a conflicting, or even
unreliable, narrative stance. It presents violent or traumatic events and questions the values and
perceptions of its readers as it represents, simultaneously, the horrifying and the humorous....[D]ark
humor defies any system that does not match with personal experience or intuition, whether that system
is political, ethical, religious, or even narrative. At the same time it imposes a comedic order on the
chaos and oppression represented in the text and refuses to endorse an all-encompassing ideological or
philosophical view of the world" (2). Discuss the relevance of Colletta's definition of dark humor for
Margaret Atwood's “Happy Endings.” Note: it may help to think of other examples of dark humor that
you know about, even if you don't actually discuss them in your essay.
The Relationship between Reader and Writer: Dark Humour in Margaret Atwood's
“Happy Endings”
With its confusing narrative structure and juxtaposition of the mundane with the tragic,
Margaret Atwood's “Happy Endings” fits in many ways Lisa Colletta's definition of dark or black
humour. According to Colletta, dark humour is generally characterized by ambivalence, a conflicting or
unreliable narrative stance, and the portrayal of violent or traumatic events as humorous – all of which
are found in “Happy Endings”. Atwood uses this dark humour to both mock cliches in other literature
and emphasize the importance of reader interpretation in fiction.
Dark humour is evident in the ambivalence of part A, the “happy ending”. At first glance, Part A
seems the epitome of a happy life; John and Mary have a good relationship, a charming house,
successful children, and many friends. However, their lives are described in such a way that the reader
experiences no sense of happiness. Nearly every sentence in this section begins with “they”, creating a
lulling, monotonous tone:
They both have worthwhile and remunerative jobs which they find stimulating and
challenging. They buy a charming house... They go on fun vacations together. They retire.
They both have hobbies which they find stimulating and challenging.
John and Mary's lives seem more a rote list of achievements than truly happy or fulfilling. Their
careers, their sex lives, and their hobbies are all described with the neutral phrase “stimulating and
challenging”, the repetition of this phrase suggesting the monotony of their lives. Even the use of the
word “charming” to describe their house can be seen as a euphemism. As such, Atwood subverts a
supposedly happy ending into a boring and unfulfilling existence. John and Mary become a parody of a
pretentious, cliched lifestyle perhaps often used as a happy ending in other literature.
Dark humour is also evident in the narrator's irreverent treatment of tragic or dramatic events. In
part B, Mary decides to commit suicide when she learns that John is seeing another woman. She
decides this not out of despair that he will never love her, but rather in the hope that he will rescue her
from the brink of death, realize his great love for her, and live with her happily ever after. However, her
plan fails; John never comes and she dies. Thus, her death becomes more comic than tragic, merely
another failed attempt to make John love her rather than the final act of a tragic heroine. John's death in
part C also mixes the tragic with the comic. In love with the shallow and carefree Mary, he falls into a
murderous rage when he discovers her sleeping with another man. He purchases a gun, claiming he
needs it for target practice, shoots them both and then himself. Yet the narrator makes light of the
situation by acknowledging its absurdity, noting that “this is the thin part of the plot, but it can be dealt
with later.” This statement reminds the reader that these events are, after all, a creation by the author,
and the tragedy of the suicide and double murder is diminished.
Here the dark humour serves to mock cliched plot devices, challenging the typical associations
of death with sadness and love with happiness. Both John and Mary's deaths are tragic; in any other
piece of literature, they could sustain numerous pages of dramatic, emotionally-involving prose. Yet
here they are summarized in a few matter-of-fact sentences, such that they are more humorous than
saddening. In a typical example of postmodern writing, Atwood demonstrates that suicide or murder is
not inherently tragic, nor does love or marriage lead to happiness; indeed, it is Mary's desire for love
and John's dissatisfaction with his marriage that lead to their respective suicides. By describing these
traumas in such an offhand manner and highlighting the negative results of love and marriage, Atwood
challenges more traditional views of death as unhappy and of marriage and love as a source of meaning
and comfort. In accordance with Colletta's definition, the dark humour here forces the reader to
question his or her values.
Not only does the reader begin to question his values, but he is also forced to confront the
question of truth in fiction. The story's structure, which fulfils Colletta's description of dark humour as
having a conflicting narrative stance, essentially forces the reader to choose an ending. The story is
divided into six sections from A to F, with each section describing a different ending to the beginning
statement, “John and Mary meet”. Version A is the “happy ending”, describing their long and happy life
together. In versions B and C, their relationship is rife with insecurity and despair, ending in suicide
and even murder. Versions D and E deal with another set of characters altogether, Fred and Madge. All
these sections end with a couple “[continuing] as in A”. Despite this apparent commonality between the
different sections, tying the various sections to this “happy ending” only leads to a narrative paradox. In
part C, for example, John is described as being married to Madge with two children, a “charming
house”, and “hobbies which they find stimulating and challenging” in a direct repetition of part A. Yet
John is unhappy, causing him to have an affair and eventually commit suicide. Is his unhappiness the
depressing reality behind the “happy ending” of part A, or part of a different story altogether? By
creating various, contradictory endings, Atwood quickly dispels the idea of there being an ultimate
truth in fiction. Rather, it seems the reader must decide the endings by his or herself.
By involving the reader and continually the revising the plot, Atwood introduces an element of
chaos and volatility into her story. Yet she presents a final conclusion about fiction in general, thus
imposing the “comedic order” that Colletta discusses in her definition of dark humour. According to
Atwood, there is only one authentic ending: “John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary
die” (emphasis in original). To Atwood, what matters in fiction is not so much the events of the plot, as
they all lead to same end anyway, but the treatment and the interpretation of these events – the “How
and Why”. Writers cannot depend simply on romance or melodrama to create true fiction, as
demonstrated by sections A to E in the story. These sections are filled with romance, despair, and
tragedy, yet seem mundane, cliched, and unsatisfying. Readers, for their part, are an essential element
to fiction; it is partly their interpretation that creates a story. Plots, according to Atwood, are merely a
“what and a what and a what”. It is duality of the writer's treatment and the reader's interpretation that
defines good fiction.
Thus, the dark humour throughout Atwood's short story serves to present and reinforce her
views on fiction. The dark humour derives primarily from Atwood's refusal to pander to reader
expectations, creating an uncertain, mercurial plot and reversing the associations surrounding comedy
and tragedy. By paring down the story to skeletal plots, and inviting the reader to try different endings
and characters, Atwood highlights the roles of both the writer and reader in creating fiction. To Atwood,
fiction is not unidirectional storytelling, but an active interaction between reader and writer.
Works Cited
Atwood, Margaret. “Happy Endings”. Introduction to Literature. Ed. Isobel Findlay, Wendy R. Katz,
Kenneth A. MacKinnon, Richard J.H. Perkyns, and Gillian Thomas. Toronto: Nelson-Thomson,
2004. 511-513. Print.