The short story "The Sin Eater", written by Margaret Atwood, exemplifies many of the techniques that are considered conventional for the writing of short stories. Brisk movement of plot, rapid-fire characterisation, the brevity and concision of the diction, as well as judicious use of literary devices such as symbolism combine to form a story that is meaningful and memorable; very near to the archetypical short story.
It is written in much the same style as many of Atwood's novels. The female narrator has been given no name, which is consistent with some of Atwood's earlier works that are written from the first person point of view; this immediately draws attention to stylistic similarities between this and novels such as Surfacing. Immediately apparent is the elegant simplicity of the style; Atwood wastes few words in her depictions of character, setting, and plot development.
The narrator is female, though feminist sympathies do not have a primary role as they do in The Handmaid's Tale. In fact, the character Joseph's comment about the practice of being a Sin Eater as "a sort of geriatric spiritual whoring" carries a faintly misogynistic undertone. The narrator is made slightly uncomfortable by this comment, and it causes her to reflect on Joseph's relationships with women: his three wives, with whom she is quite familiar through his detailed descriptions, and his flirtatious behaviour as he tries "to help [her] on with [her] coat too lingeringly" that catches her slightly off guard. Atwood's suggestion through Joseph of the Sin Eater being female allows the reader to consider this perception of Joseph-as-misogynist; it is imperative, however, that this not be misconstrued as the story's aim.
As detailed in the early stages of the plot, Joseph's approach to psychotherapy is somewhat unique; rather than maintaining an indulgent silence when his patients run out of things to talk about, he would speak himself on any number of subjects, namely the growing of calla lilies in one's basement. Evidently the protagonist often finds herself at a loss for words during her sessions, as she claims to be able to give guided tours of Joseph's own cellar from detailed descriptions given to her during her periods of silence.
"Being awake, according to Joseph, was more important than being asleep. He wanted me to prefer it." This is another sign that Joseph's psychotherapy differs from the norm; often when one thinks of sessions with a psychiatrist, one thinks of dream analyses touted as the cure for whatever ails. Typical of this impression are Edward David Staunton's sessions with Dr. Johanna von Haller in Zurich in Robertson Davies' novel The Manticore, in which he is instructed to keep a log of his dreams to refer back to during appointments.
Characterisation of Joseph is achieved largely through physical description; through the eyes of the narrator, the reader sees Joseph as a rather eccentric gentleman who tends towards odd fashions such as "maroon leather bedroom slippers, flattened at the heels, scuffed at the toes, wearing also a seedy cardigan of muddy yellow that reeks of bargain basements, sucking at his pipe, his hair greying and stringy". Atwood begins the story with this description, not wasting a moment in providing some insight into Joseph's character through his external appearance. This is in keeping with the accepted stylistic conventions for writing short stories; characterisation must be swift and decisive so as to avoid excessive verbosity.
The method used to provide insight into the character of the narrator is more subtle than the characterisation of Joseph. This is partly a function of point of view; the narrator can hardly be expected to describe herself physically in the same way as she describes those around her. Her character is developed through her conversations with Joseph, her detached and remote observations of her mental and emotional state during her therapy sessions and during Joseph's funeral and wake, and through her interactions with others, namely the three wives of Joseph.
When the circumstances surrounding Joseph's death are called into question by his second wife (whom the narrator suspects of being a former patient), who implies that his fall from the tree was not accidental, the narrator makes a conscious choice to dodge the issue, saying: "I want Joseph to remain as he appeared: solid, capable, wise, and sane. I do not need his darkness." This decision shows that the narrator was either unable or unwilling to go beyond herself to help rectify the problems of others; this selfishness comes back to haunt her later on in her dreams. Atwood uses the narrator's self-observant nature to further develop her character. Certain traits are stated overtly, such as her comments on her cynicism and on her expectations for life: "I'm supposed to be the cynical one..." and "We've spent a lot of time on it, this anger of mine. It was only because I found reality so unsatisfactory; that was my story. So unfinished, so sloppy, so pointless, so endless. I wanted things to make sense."
These pieces of information combine to give a quick overview of the character of the narrator; she is a woman who is frustrated with the life she lives and wishes for change, but does not know how to go about effecting it. Her predicament is best summarised by an exchange between she and Joseph during one of their sessions: "'Think of it as a desert island,' he said. 'You're stuck on it, now you have to decide how best to cope.' 'Until rescued?' I said. 'Forget about the rescue,' he said."
The dream at the end of the story, after Joseph's death, may have been intended by the author to symbolise the guilt that the narrator felt for the perceived inadequacy of Joseph's funeral and its lack of a Sin Eater. This was duly noted by the narrator at the time of the funeral: "No destitute old creature, gobbling down the turnips and mash and the heavy secrecies of Joseph's life along with them." After her refusal to listen to one of Joseph's wives talk about his problems, the dream implies that the narrator feels some guilt; after all, she was able to unload all of her problems on Joseph during her time in therapy with him. She was never able to reciprocate by listening to Joseph's problems, and the guilt is made manifest in a dream through which she can hope to make up for this failing.
Another possible function of the dream could be that of a reversal of roles. As the narrator confessed her iniquities to Joseph, he functioned as her "Sin Eater" on a metaphysical level; once she had gotten things off her chest, so to speak, they were no longer cause for distress. Joseph implied near the beginning of the story that psychiatric therapy was a waste of time, and the end of calm serenity could be achieved far more easily through the services of a Sin Eater: "A couple of hours per patient, sum total, as opposed to twice a week for years and years, with the same result in the end."
The dream allows the narrator to exchange places with Joseph; it is now her turn to absorb and deal with his sins, instead of the other way around. Atwood foreshadows this reversal earlier in the story with Joseph's statement "I've got all the time in the world." The statement becomes ironic when Joseph's death is revealed in the next paragraph: Joseph, "who didn't have all the time in the world." The irony here is employed as foreshadowing, because it is now the narrator who has "all the time in the world" compared with Joseph who no longer has any time left on this mortal coil and can now only make appearances in dreams and in memories.
Imagery and descriptions of tangible things are not seen in "The Sin Eater", outside of the realm of characterisation through physical appearance. Atwood seems to have chosen to focus more on the thoughts and emotions of the characters than their physical surroundings; imagery does appear from time to time, however, and it serves to accentuate certain plot events. An example of this technique appears at Joseph's wake, after the funeral; the narrator notices that "the tree branch, the one that broke, is still on the lawn." This reminder of Joseph's death, this reminder of the past, suggests to the reader that the narrator is fixated on her history with Joseph rather than on her future without him.
This is accentuated by the narrative technique of flashbacks as devices for exposition. The question of a future without Joseph is touched on when the narrator is preparing for the funeral, but she quickly pushes it out of her mind: "What am I going to do? is one question. It can always be replaced by What am I going to wear? For some people it's the same thing." At the funeral and the wake following (an aside from the author tells us that it's no longer properly referred to as a "wake"; "now it's coffee and refreshments", which trivialises the event), the narrator seems focused on the clothing of the people that surround her; three wives in pastels, Karen in an Indian-print dress. These impressions are interrupted by another flashback of Joseph. This contributes to the idea that the narrator is dominated by thoughts of the past, when faced with a seemingly impossible future.
"The Sin Eater" ends in profound loneliness. The narrator describes herself wandering aimlessly around the small apartment that she shares with her two sons; they are away for the weekend, and she is entirely alone. Atwood paints a mental image in the mind of her reader of an unhappily solitary existence: "This is a room at night, a night empty except for me." There is no need here for poetic descriptors ornamented with flowery language; the stark simplicity of the text serves to drive home to the reader the emptiness and loneliness felt by the narrator before she falls asleep and dreams of Joseph.
The desolation of the narrator's loss is more keenly felt here than it is at any other point in the story. Devoid of human companionship, she is left alone in her empty apartment with her memories and her dreams. The resolution is unclear; this seems to be a trademark of Atwood's works, wherein the reader is allowed to draw his or her own conclusions about what might happen next. The symbolism implicit in the dream serves to conclude the story without resolving the internal conflict plaguing the narrator. It's the sort of story that leaves you feeling vaguely unsettled, without knowing why.
Source referenced: "The Sin Eater" by Margaret Atwood.
This essay began its existence as an extremely open-ended oral commentary prompt from an IB English class. Node your homework.