On Artistic Devices Used In Atwood's Novels

Margaret Eleanor Atwood (1939- ) is a prestigious contemporary Canadian woman writer, poet, and critic with international reputation and she is famous for her prolificacy and experimental techniques. Up to now, Atwood has published eleven novels. As Atwood is familiar with new theories of literary criticism, her creations are distinctively technique-oriented which is shown in her skilful use of symbolism, metaphor, irony, parody, stream-of-consciousness, unreliable narrator, uncertainty, open ending, meta-fiction, and other modernist and post-modernist techniques and fully present her outstanding writing talents.This thesis first surveys in brief the history of the Canadian novel in the English-language, then introduces the growth of Atwood as a novelist, and then in the third chapter, explores her creative techniques frequently employed in The Edible Woman, Surfacing, Lady Oracle, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Blind Assassin, and their artistic effects. These techniques include mirrors, mazes, underground / underwater journeys, gothic elements, and different voice-patterns, which all serve to enhance the theme of female protagonists' journey to insight and self-knowledge.