Reading The Edible Woman In Light Of Martin Buber's Philosophy Of Dialogue

Margaret Atwood's first published novel The Edible Woman is regarded by many as a feminist work though the writer herself denies that. Many critics have analyzed the novel from the feminist point of view through which they see how the protagonist Marian, the victim,"the edible woman"as oppressed and consumed by the patriarchal society represented by her fiancéPeter. The male characters are seen mainly as victimizers. However, this thesis will look at the novel in a different light. It will explore the different relationships between the main characters using the Philosophy of Dialogue, a theory developed by Martin Buber.According to the Philosophy of Dialogue, humans exist in relationships, that is, either in what Buber refers to as"I-It relationship"or in"I-Thou relationship". In I-It relationship, the"I"or the individual sees others as objects. They are used and experienced by the individual. The individual's life is a life of monologue. While in an I-Thou relationship, the individual and others are both subjects. Such kind of relationship is immediate and mutual. It is like a dialogue. What matters is our"meeting"and what Buber calls"the sphere of the between".This thesis proposes that the characters in The Edible Woman mainly exist in I-It relationship and can thus be examined and interpreted from this point of view. I-It relationship can exist between women and men, women and women, and men and men."I-It relationship"is equally a problem of men and women. This thesis shows the predominant modern philosophy of, development of and concentration on self and points out that there is another way of living, that is, the dialogical I-Thou relationship. Buber offers some applicable philosophical views needed to untangle the chaos of victimization and monological relationships.