Insights

Cat's Eye is a 1988 novel by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood about controversial painter Elaine Risley, who vividly reflects on her childhood and teenage years. If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. Plot Summary. Find the quotes you need to support your essay, or refresh your memory of the book by reading these key quotes. Elaine's childhood story is told in the first person narrative in flashbacks with brief snippets from her present adult life. Her last exchanges with Cordelia in high school are bleak when Elaine sees Cordelia is depressed and her behavior has prevented her from graduating on schedule. Despite her guilt and latent anger, Elaine refuses to help Cordelia. Her strongest memories are of Cordelia, who was the leader of a trio of girls who were both very cruel and very kind to her in ways that tint Elaine's perceptions of relationships and her world — not to mention her art — into her middle years. The narrative describes Elaine through early adulthood as an art student and a burgeoning feminist artist, although Elaine's feminist label is media engineered, not self-proclaimed. At the heart of Cat’s Eye ’s harrowing story of childhood cruelty are the contrasting personalities of Elaine and Cordelia. Towards the end of the novel, owing to her retrospective exhibition and her return to Toronto, she eventually faces her past and gets closure. and in-depth analyses of Atwood began Cat's Eye in 1964 but put away the novel until the late 1980s. Our Teacher Edition on Cat’s Eye can help. However, Atwood has rarely, if ever, commented on the similarities directly. Elaine feels a mix of triumph, contempt and pity when she realizes she has outgrown Cordelia. Get ready to write your essay on Cat’s Eye. Cordelia, She begins to find herself and develop her artistic identity, fumbling her way through her art and personal relationships. Visit BN.com to buy new and used textbooks, and check out our award-winning NOOK tablets and eReaders. We are introduced to Elaine’s teenage friend Cordelia, who has “grey-green eyes, opaque and glinting as metal”. Due to childhood bullying and being victimized by girls her age, Elaine… Cordelia, it appears, is experiencing her own crisis and has trouble applying herself to her studies and begins to act out. Written by Elizabeth Shaw The protagonist of this novel is Elaine Risley, who experiences bullying as a child. The cat's eye later appears as a common motif in Elaine's paintings, linked with those she perceived to be an ally, although she does not remember why it is associated with those feelings. Upon her return, Elaine finds the dynamic of her group has been altered with the addition of the new girl, Cordelia. After a four-month absence, Elaine returns home to her friends for the next school year. Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. The novel unfolds in mid-20th century Canada, from World War II to the late 1980s, and includes a look at many of the cultural elements of that time period, including feminism and various modern art movements. However, throughout this time, she continues to be haunted by her childhood and has difficulties forming relationships with other women. Elaine Risley, Cat's Eye is Margaret Atwood's 1988 novel about a controversial artist who reflects on her past trauma. Although initially awkward and naive of childhood politics and social structure, Elaine is accepted, even admired by her new friends. Upgrade to A + Download this LitChart! Introduction. The English monarchy is featured as a vivid childhood influence with a young Queen Elizabeth II's perceived bravery and aplomb after World War II. Afterward, realizing she allowed herself to be a victim all along, Elaine is finally able to make a break and makes new friends. (PDF) Teachers and parents! Her strongest memories are of Cordelia, who was the leader of a trio of girls who were both very cruel and very kind to her in ways that tint Elaine's perceptions of relationships and her world — not to mention her art — into her middle years. At the age of eight she becomes friends with Carol and Grace, and, through their eyes, realises that her atypical background of constant travel with her entomologist father and independent mother has left her ill-equipped for conventional expectations of femininity. A few weeks after their meeting, Elaine receives a return-to-sender letter she sent Cordelia in the hospital. SparkNotes is brought to you by Barnes & Noble. After being lured back to her childhood home of Toronto for a retrospective show of her art, Elaine reminisces about her childhood. Cat’s Eye It appears Cordelia found a way to escape without Elaine. Cat's Eye explores the construction of identity; it is written mostly as flashbacks, as Elaine reflects on the forgotten events of her childhood that shaped her personality and struggles to integrate lost aspects of her self. While cleaning out the cellar, she finds her childhood cat’s eye marble, which unlocks her memories of the ravine incident from elementary school. Cat's Eye study guide contains a biography of Margaret Atwood, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Hijackers kill Elaine’s older brother, Stephen, en route to a physics convention. In the book Cat’s Eye, written by Margaret Atwood, Elaine Risley, who is the main character in the book, is an artist living within the Second World War to the late 1980’s, and participates in the modern art movement. Elaine is first drawn in by Cordelia but after a period, sensing her inability to recognize the cruelty, Elaine is bullied by the three girls, her supposed "best friends.". Overmedicated and desperate, she begs Elaine to help her escape from the hospital. Not knowing it, this would be Elaine's last time seeing Cordelia. Read a Plot Overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter Summary and Analysis. Her lifestyle, even now, is exotic to the others. She continually complies with the demeaning demands of the group and considers the worst transgression she could ever commit would be to tattle on her "friends," a sick loyalty Cordelia nurtures and feeds. Elaine's story is detailed in rich visualizations and descriptions of her art reflecting her childhood influences, not only by the trio of girls, but also by her rootless untraditional upbringing, and relationships with her parents who remain nameless and unidentified throughout the story; her genius brother and his strange ways and fate; her comforting secret alliances with the male gender; kind and stern female teachers; art instructors; peer artists; the media; motherhood and mid-life confrontation of self. Stephen Risley, Please can you describe a motif in Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. The country of Canada itself also has a prominent role that acts as an additional character with her experiences in Toronto. After a couple years, Elaine again meets with Cordelia who has completely fallen off the tracks and has been committed to a mental facility by her parents. After her first full year of attending traditional grade school, during her summer break, her parents return her to their previous life of travel and insect exploration. Later, now in high school, and earlier events somewhat repressed, Elaine reestablishes a friendship with Cordelia but without Carol or Grace, who have both moved out of the area. Although she increasingly becomes a known and influential artist, Elaine is berefted by anger, guilt, confusion and bewilderment of the lasting effects of Cordelia's behavior and her eventual disappearance from Elaine's life. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Explore a character analysis of Elaine Risley, plot summary, and important quotes. Elaine is much tougher now than when she was as a child, and the tables turn as she often taunts Cordelia. On the brink of panic, Elaine sees a vision of the Virgin Mary, whom she learned about in Grace's church. Struggling with distance learning? Summary & Analysis Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8; Part 9; Part 10; Part 11; Part 12; Part 13; Part 14; Part 15; Themes. The bullying escalates that winter when the girls throw Elaine's hat into a ravine and then abandon her to climb out of the ravine river water, half-frozen. Elaine, despite her parents' concern, even accompanies Grace and her family to their church, which, to her amazement and curiosity, is Elaine's first exposure to mainstream religion. Continue your study of Cat’s Eye with these useful links. and Mrs. Smeath. [2] In Elaine's self-portrait, a pier glass reflects three little girls who are not in the painting, demonstrating their simultaneous absence from Elaine's past and their presence in who she has become. • The novel unfolds in mid-20th century Canada, from World War IIto the late 1980s, and includes a look at many of the cultural ele… Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood. After mostly destroying any self-esteem Elaine has developed in her new life, she gradually becomes depressed and feels helpless unable to stand up to them or rescue herself. The book was a finalist for the 1988 Governor General's Award and for the 1989 Booker Prize. Cat's Eye Homework Help Questions. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. Performance & security by Cloudflare, Please complete the security check to access. In a haze, an illusion of the Virgin guides Elaine to safety. Elaine, after fantasizing about having girl friends during her nomadic brief existence, begins to settle in and enjoy her new life and new school. After Cordelia is sent to a private school for delinquent girls, the two girls lose touch with one another after high school.

Who Played For Man Utd In 1999, Eric Braeden Net Worth, Selenite Mineral, Monkey Cartoon Characters, Summer Storm (2004 English Subtitles Watch Online), Arsenal 2002 Kit, Supercoppa Italiana Trophy, Langoliers Hulu, Bare Truth Meaning In Malayalam, Steve Burns Album,