Atwood

Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin (2000)

1. Dates mentioned in the novel (in date order)

2. Other references
1870s. Button factory built by Benjamin Griffen (grandfather) (67).
1889. Avilion built (77)
1899. Report on button factory (64)
1901. Factory visited by Duke of York (65)
1913. Adelia, Benjamin's wife, dies (81)
1914. Norval marries Liliana (wife is daughter of lawyer for Chase Industries) (85)
1915. Aug. Norval to Halifax en route to war in France (90)
1916. June, Iris born (92)
1918, Nov 11. War ends (94)
1920c. Laura born (106)
1924. Liliana (mother) will die (101)
1928, Nov. Memorial, The Weary Soldier, unveiled; by Callie Fitzsimmons (186)
1929, Nov. Iris becomes 13; begins menstruating (198-9; cf. 92)
1933, March. Norval Chase donates to depression relief ; Griffen objects (135).
1934. Button factory picnic (215).
1934, summer. The honeymoon, 64 years ago (378).
1934, June. Father dies during honeymoon (387)
1934, Oct. Labour unrest at factory (255); Dec, factory shut down (257)
1934, Dec. Griffen's speech on depression and politics (142-3)
1934, Dec. Rioting at Chase factories; one burned down (152).
1935, Jan-Feb; Winter. Sale of factory to Griffen being negotiated (281).
1935, May. Reception for Iris, who is engaged to Richard Griffen (159).
1935, Aug. Laura on the way to Toronto disappears (409; 417).
1935, Aug 28. Laura missing, announced that she is found with family friends (324).
1936, Jan. Xanadu ball (423).
1936, Feb. Xanadu ball given by the Griffens in Toronto (344).
1936, April. Iris learns about Laura's behaviour at school (472).
1936, Spring (465)
1936, July. Maiden voyage of The Queen Mary (439).
1936, July. On maiden voyage of The Queen Mary (476).
1936, Sept 19. Griffen warning on Spanish Civil War (451).
1936, Oct. Iris announces her pregnancy (534).
1937, Feb. Laura misbehaves in hospital visit; is confined (536-41).
1937, April. Aimee born (541).
1937, May 12. Laura in mental asylum, letter from director (510-11).
1937, May 26. Spanish Civil War report (516).
1937, May. Iris now has daughter, Aimee Adelia (508-9).
1938, Oct 7. Griffen speech praises Munich accord (569).
1939, June. Griffen's attend tea for King and Queen in Ottawa (571).
1945, May. War ends; Laura reappears; claims she had been pregnant by Alex (606).
1945, May. Laura dies, aged 25 (3)
1947. The Blind Assassin by Laura Chase, published in New York (7)
1947, June 4. Richard Griffen, industrialist, found dead in his sailboat (17)
1975, Aug 25. Aimee Griffen, niece of Laura Chase, found dead, aged 38 (24)
1998, Feb 19. Winifred Griffen Prior, sister of Richard Griffen, dies, aged 92 (30)
1998, May. Laura Chase memorial prize announced (39)
1999, May 29. Iris Chase Griffen dies, aged 83 (651).

Benjamin Chase sons: Norval, and Edgar, Percival who die in WW I (79)
Monfort, Adelia: married Benjamin (75).
        Norval married to Liliana; daughters Iris and Laura;
        Iris marries Richard Griffen (his sister: Winifred); daughter Aimee; her daughter Sabrina
Reenie is mother of Myra (66)
Reenie is aged 13 in 1913 (81)		 (Warning: spoilers near end)

Laura's novel (7)
Picnic; talk of science fiction (12-13)
Ambiguity of history (14)
Richard Griffen dead (17)
Iris's narrative (43)
Laura's book, reputation (48-9)
Cemetery (56-7)
Sabrina (59)
Button factory, 1899 (64)
Relations (67)
Adelia (69)
Horrors of 1st World War (97)
Mother dies (116)
The blind assassin (164)
Alex Thomas, at picnic (221)
Dinner with Griffens, Alex (234)
The beginning? (239)
Laura seen with Alex (249)
Zycron in word list (276)
Griffen proposes to Iris (284-5)
Alex's room, writing (313)
Story resumes (320)
Iris's trunk, copies of book (360)
Academics in pursuit (362)
Sabrina (363-4)
Sabrina doesn't know Iris (372)
Iris meets Alex in Toronto (405)
Xanadu -- poem (422)
Laura sees Alex (425)
Emma Goldman in Toronto (430)
All stories are about wolves (436)
Alex leaving for Spanish Civil War (455)
Winifred and Iris arguing, c. 1947 (467)
Father appears as Santa Claus (486)
Laura fantasizes about Alex (513)
Alex's return envisaged (517-9)
Aimee's upbringing, problem (544)
Aimee dies (545)
Aimee thinks she is Laura's child (546)
Laura's lover -- Alex? (554)
Laura disappears from asylum (556)
Alex returns; to a hotel (573-9)
Alex dead in war, telegram (584)
Dream conflates Zycron and Alex (587-9)
Marriage foundering; Richard's mistresses (601)
Laura pregnant by Alex? (610)
Iris and Alex had been lovers (613)
Laura's death (617)
Laura's notebook (627-8)
Iris leaves Richard (630)
Richard was having intercourse with Laura (635)
Laura's book is published (639)
Book was written by Iris (643)
Stories are made only from unhappiness (650)


3. Some web resources

Some issues, borrowed from two of the web sites above (note: page numbers updated)

When the second wave of feminism emerged in the 1960s Atwood agreed with a lot of what it said, but at the same time she didn’t want her art to become a front for an ideology. . . . Without espousing any particular ideology Atwood has created female characters who escape or reject the rigid roles that society sets for them. Her characters take action to change their lives and do this by destroying a former identity that was imposed upon them, and in the process, create a new one.

The Context

1. Where is the story set? Think in terms of both time and space.

2. What social issues are brought up in the course of the book?

3. How did Atwood find out about the time and place in which her work was set?

4. When asked about why she insists upon historical accuracy Atwood said: “You want to have it be the way that it should be. You want people wearing what they would have worn and eating what they would have eaten.” Why is this necessary? What does historical accuracy add to a piece of fiction? It is, after all, fiction.

5. What distinction does Atwood make between the citizen and the artist?

6. According to Atwood what is the danger in an artist structuring his or her art around an ideology or a cause?

7. From what she says in this report, what do you think Atwood believes to be the primary responsibility of an artist?

8. Atwood relates a story about someone doing an experimental video who complained that Canadian celebrities (namely her) were not glamorous enough. What is the implied comparison here? What is Atwood saying about the character of Canadians?

Power Politics suggests that the idea of romantic love where a woman searches for a soulmate to complete herself is a cultural tool for keeping women in place, and that relationships, even romantic love, involve power. Do you agree with this point of view?

On The Blind Assassin [review]: “Three days in a row, reading it gave me a headache, but it did so because I was forced so hard to think. Atwood’s prose is so expert, so clear and unimpeding, that not for a moment does one escape the feeling of being in the author’s supervising company.” Discuss!

How accurate is Iris's declaration, "Long ago I made a choice between classicism and romanticism. I prefer to be upright and contained--an urn in daylight" [p. 55]? How was this "choice" affected by the distinctions Iris and Laura's parents made between the two girls when they were children? What incidents show that Iris has ambiguous feelings about the roles she and Laura assume as children? What signs are there that Iris has a romantic side she keeps hidden from the adults? What cost does this exact?

Throughout her life, Laura is considered a special, unusual person, more sensitive than most. How does Laura exploit the impression she makes on other people? Are her motives and intentions always as innocent as people assume?

Is Iris purely a pawn in a plan conceived by the men, or does she have reasons of her own for agreeing to marry Richard? In what ways does the marriage fulfill Iris's conception of herself and her approach to life?

Several childhood experiences foreshadow Laura's ultimate fate, including her plunge into the river [p. 188-9] and her accusation that Mr. Erskine sexually molested her [p. 206]. What do these incidents indicate about Laura's personality?

How does the science fiction story constructed by the unnamed lovers mirror the story of the lovers themselves and the circumstances surrounding their affair? In what ways does it parallel events in Iris's life, both as a child and as an adult?

What are the various meanings of the title The Blind Assassin? Which characters act as blind assassins by uncomprehendingly causing the demise of other characters?

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Document created March 28th 2007 / updated March 30th 2009