Cat’s Eye (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Margaret Atwood
- First Published: 1988
- Type of Plot: Didactic
- Time of Work: The 1940’s to the 1980’s
- Setting: Toronto, Canada
- Principal Characters: Elaine Risley, Cordelia, Stephen, Grace Smeath, Carol Campbell, Jon, Josef Hrbik
- Genres: Long fiction, Didactic literature
- Subjects: Girls, Children, Friendship, Canada or Canadians, Painting or painters, Cruelty, Behaviorism, Middle age, Time
- Locales: Ilium, NY, San Lorenzo, Caribbean
The Novel
Cat’s Eye is the deeply disturbing story of a young girl whose life is scarred by the cruel treatment she receives at the hands of her friends. The novel follows the girl from childhood into middle age, tracing the effects of her early experiences on her adult life.
Atwood moves her narrative back and forth through time to tell Elaine’s story, intercutting the years of the girl’s troubled childhood with scenes from her later life. As a very young child, Elaine lives in relative isolation with her parents and her brother, Stephen, as their father...
[The entire page is 2096 words long]
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