Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood
Cat’s Eye was written by Margaret Atwood and first published in 1988 and tells, in an autobiographical sort of way, the life story of Elaine Risley. The book starts with Elaine talking to her best friend, Cordelia, about something she had learned from her older brother, Stephen. The story then jumps to Elaine as a small child, playing in the woods with Stephen. This takes place during World War II. When Elaine and her family move into an unfinished house in Toronto, Canada, she meets and makes friends with Carol Campbell and Grace Smeath. Later on, she meets Cordelia. Atwood goes back and forth between Elaine’s past and present, which can be confusing at first; however, the reader soon gets used to it.
Elaine eventually learns that Cordelia and the others may not truly be her friends after all. They constantly tried to point out her flaws, saw her more as a problem that needed fixing than as a close friend. Cordelia created an analogy to plates: “Think of ten stacks of plates. These are your ten chances”; Elaine mentions that she can “see the plates”, and that if she makes a mistake or does anything to anger the others, “a stack of plates comes crashing down” (Atwood 182). These plates symbolize the unseen pressures of being young, the futile attempts at fitting in. They are an impossible burden that no one can carry alone.
At first, I hated Cat’s Eye. It made me feel depressed every time I picked it up to read; I had felt lied to by the reviews on the back cover that led me to believe it was a lighthearted story. As soon as I reached a climax, however, I was hooked. I began to realize that the only reason I disliked it was because I had gone in with the wrong expectations. I would recommend Cat’s Eye to more mature audiences, and I suggest reading it over a long period of time to reflect the timespan of Elaine’s entire life. That said, Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye is a work of art much like Elaine’s works in the story; whether or not it is disgusting or beautiful is up to the reader.