The Sin-Eater (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Margaret Atwood
- First Published: 1977
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The 1970's
- Setting: A North American city
- Principal Characters: Joseph, The unnamed narrator
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: 1970’s, Sin or Original sin, Doctors, Dreams, Accidents, Death or dying, Funeral rites or ceremonies, Psychiatry or psychiatrists, Patients, Eating customs
- Locales: North America
The Story
The title of this story refers to a Welsh tradition in which a “sin-eater” was a person who sat up with the body of someone who died and ate a meal in the presence of the deceased in order to transfer the dead person's sins to himself or herself so that the soul of the dead could go to heaven. This symbolism is the focus of this tale about a modern psychiatrist who dies unexpectedly, leaving several former wives and many female patients feeling betrayed.
When the narrator first hears about the psychiatrist's death, she—like his other women—is horrified,...
[The entire page is 1432 words long]
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