Cat's Eye

The central motif that governs the entire novel, and one that is well worth analysing in depth, is that of the cat's eye that gives the novel its title. Let us remember that as a child, Elaine and...

Elaine discusses a number of her paintings in the novel. The paintings include earlier pieces and those created specifically for the art gallery. Elaine's paintings reflect her childhood trauma and...

Cat's Eye is, at its core, a story about self identity and the struggle that sometimes exists between personal autonomy and needing the acceptance of others. The story's protagonist, Elaine, is...

This is the only painting Elaine does of Cordelia. In the foreground, you have Cordelia's whole face, even though it's called Half a Face. In the background, you have another painting of Cordelia's...

At the age of eight, Elaine moves to Toronto where she is mercilessly picked on by other girls, effectively ruining her self-esteem.  As a result, she begins to develop...

This experience comes in Chapter 35 of this excellent novel. As a natural result of the increasingly sinister games that Cordelia and Carol play with Elaine, where she is regularly verbally and...

Cat's Eye explains many of the characters by way of their mothers: we learn that Carol's mother, for instance, wears twin sets and cares a great deal for appearances. Grace's mother views twin sets...

I would argue that it is rather difficult to identify one dominant mood in a work of literature. The majority of texts have a number of different moods as the story is told, which can range from...

I think that one approach to take in demonstrating how Cat's Eye reflects the difficulty people might possess in coming to terms with their past can be seen in the memories of bullying that Elaine...

It is interesting to compare these two characters and identify similarities, because on the one hand Elaine and Cordelia could not be more different. It is, after all, Cordelia that leads the...

All I can find on the book points to Elaine's mother being referred to by her last name only, Mrs. Risley. All of the parents are called Mr. or Mrs. in the book. I think it's because Elaine doesn't...

Completely! I think that this excellent novel in a sense is proof of how we take events in our childhood on with us into the rest of our lives. I am no psychologist, but I am sure I remember...

If you look carefully along the left hand side of the web page when you click on all of the links, you will see that the Chapter Summaries link has an arrow to the left of it, which indicates that...

Three notable traits of Elaine Risely throughout the story include neuroticism, vengeful attitude, and dependent. She is neurotic because when she attends school her friends tell her that she is...

While Elaine disliked some of her teachers, she did enjoy positive interactions with others. On the whole, Elaine remained emotionally detached from her teachers, even those who took the trouble to...

Risley is a child from a modest financial background and not used to cities. Her parents are more on the gentle than the stern and strict side. She is happy with her life until outside forces...

This is a brilliant novel, and Margaret Atwood is certainly one of my favourite authors, so I really hope you enjoy reading this! Please do not just have a look at my summary of the plot and use...

Some of Elaine's paintings are inspired by British colonialism, as she believes that some of the challenges in her life parallel those experienced by Indians being forced to adopt the social norms...

In a sense, you could say Elaine's art is distinctly Canadian because it's informed by her personal experiences growing up in Toronto. Her art takes place in a specific location that has its own...

Cicero gives the following definition of friendship: "in order to have a true friendship with someone one must have complete honesty, truth and trust. Also, friends do things for each other...