The Blind Assassin By Margaret Atwood Summary

“Should is a futile word. It’s about what didn’t happen. It belongs in a parallel universe. It belongs in another dimension of space.” Despite the past’s permanence, it still elicits the temptation to dwell upon what might have been should one have acted with the insight of the present, haunting the conscious. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood tells the story of the wealthy and eccentric Chase family from the account of Iris Chase. A novel-within-a-novel, the book weaves multiple narratives across different time periods. An autobiography detailing the coming-of-age-story of Iris and her younger sister, Laura, follows brief glimpses into Iris’ contemporary life. Complementing these two plotlines is the subplot of Laura’s posthumously published

Avilion was the conception of Iris’ grandmother Adelia Montfort, a wealthy and refined woman of the late 19th century. Due to her own prominent family’s financial struggles, Adelia married crude money in the form of Benjamin Chase and his procured wealth manufacturing buttons. However, despite her marriage to “new money”, Adelia’s family name nurtured her need to maintain traditional, high class appearances. As such, Adelia orchestrated the construction of Avilion which would exude nobility and mythicality like its Arthurian namesake, Avalon. It was an imposing, merchant’s palace where ladies in flowered hats drank tea, string quartets performed for garden parties, and twelve-course dinners fed visiting Prime ministers. Although Adelia died before Iris was born, her reputation and legacy remained immortal, influencing the granddaughters she would never met. In Iris’ own words, “Laura and I were brought up by [Adelia]. We grew up inside her house,” and as such, “her conception of what we ought to be.” Adelia’s influence on Iris becomes apparent through Iris’ romanticization of her deceased grandmother. Iris recalls admiring Adelia’s portraits in Avilion. In particular, the portraits of her grandparents, Benjamin and Adelia, on their wedding day. The portraits depict only what they are meant to portray; they hide intricate relationships

She allows her husband and sister-in-law, Richard and Winifred Griffen, to abuse both Laura and herself with their condescending words due to the sisters’ dependency on the Griffen’s finances. Despite her inheritance upon her father’s death, “[Iris] was still a minor, and was Richard’s wife. The laws were different then. What was [hers] was his.” Though progressively discontent with marriage to Richard, “he kept up appearances” and so, Iris followed suit. “[They] attended cocktail parties and dinners, [they] made entrances and exits together,” maintaining the image of the wealthy businessman and his young, blushing wife. However, in seeking refuge from her unhappy marriage, Iris indulges a lengthy affair with childhood acquaintance, Alex Thomas, chronicled in Laura’s book. Although he has no status and no money, Alex offers Iris a life of passionate love and freedom from the expectations Richard places on her. Similarly, Laura, and her growing spite for the Griffens, implores Iris to abandon Richard and the lifestyle thrusted upon them as children. She goes as far as running away and obtaining a meager job as a vendor’s employee to prove they can survive without the wealth and toxicity of Richard and Winifred. However, Iris is reluctant to leave the riches she has known since childhood too frightened of the uncertainty. Instead, she chooses the appearance of wealth and so called