Margaret Atwood’s latest work of fiction lives up to the praise it has received.
It is no secret I am a fan of Atwood’s work – a good portion of my personal library is filled with Atwood’s novels and other works of fiction. The Heart Goes Last is a story that asks an important question: if the economy plummeted and there was an increase of homelessness/joblessness for a significantly long period of time, similar to what the United States and Canada experienced in 2008, what would we do?
In her recent novel, Atwood has an interesting answer to this question that she shares through her main characters, a married couple named Stan and Charmaine. They recently lost their jobs and are living in their vehicle. Charmaine picks up work at a bar where she sees the commercial for a potential answer to their problems. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience is a place where people live their lives as normal citizens in Consilience for one month then spend another month in prison. The participants commit to the project for life and are provided with housing and job security. It seems like the answer to Stan and Charmaine’s prayers, but as always, not everything is as it seems – especially in an Atwood story.
The Heart Goes Last presents a very real possibility for what the future of our communities could be. In Atwood’s book, she shows how absolute power does indeed corrupt absolutely. The good intentions the founders of the Positron Project had are nonexistent once they realize what kind of power they have over people’s lives. The lure of money becomes too much for them and ultimately leads to the downfall of what was once a life-saving project.
Atwood’s novel left me unsettled. After completing it, I realized I was looking at a copy of what could be my future, or my children’s future, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Atwood has always had the ability to look at what was going on in today’s society, analyze it, and critique it through her fictional stories. It’s what drew me to her Maddaddam trilogy (if you have not read it, I highly recommend it).
I encourage readers to not take Margaret Atwood’s The Heart Goes Last lightly. Seriously consider what she is saying with her new novel and think about what you want the future to look like for you, your family, and the global community.
It is no secret I am a fan of Atwood’s work – a good portion of my personal library is filled with Atwood’s novels and other works of fiction. The Heart Goes Last is a story that asks an important question: if the economy plummeted and there was an increase of homelessness/joblessness for a significantly long period of time, similar to what the United States and Canada experienced in 2008, what would we do?
In her recent novel, Atwood has an interesting answer to this question that she shares through her main characters, a married couple named Stan and Charmaine. They recently lost their jobs and are living in their vehicle. Charmaine picks up work at a bar where she sees the commercial for a potential answer to their problems. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience is a place where people live their lives as normal citizens in Consilience for one month then spend another month in prison. The participants commit to the project for life and are provided with housing and job security. It seems like the answer to Stan and Charmaine’s prayers, but as always, not everything is as it seems – especially in an Atwood story.
The Heart Goes Last presents a very real possibility for what the future of our communities could be. In Atwood’s book, she shows how absolute power does indeed corrupt absolutely. The good intentions the founders of the Positron Project had are nonexistent once they realize what kind of power they have over people’s lives. The lure of money becomes too much for them and ultimately leads to the downfall of what was once a life-saving project.
Atwood’s novel left me unsettled. After completing it, I realized I was looking at a copy of what could be my future, or my children’s future, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Atwood has always had the ability to look at what was going on in today’s society, analyze it, and critique it through her fictional stories. It’s what drew me to her Maddaddam trilogy (if you have not read it, I highly recommend it).
I encourage readers to not take Margaret Atwood’s The Heart Goes Last lightly. Seriously consider what she is saying with her new novel and think about what you want the future to look like for you, your family, and the global community.