municate with the males that they would not be able to rape them, if they had any heart at all. The females communication with each other is also another way to show that women wish to have a voice too. They are tired of letting the men do all the talking, and they are ready to be heard too. One of the most powerful themes in “Rape Fantasies” is the power of women over men. Although Atwood shows this in some of her other stories, it plays a major part in this particular story. By the end of the story, when Estelle is telling about the different “fantasies” that she has had, the whole idea behind rape is not the prevailing idea of the story. Estelle in each instance that Atwood gives is either equal to or better than the man that intended to rape her. At one point in reading the story, a reader could almost get the impression that Atwood is making a mockery of rape. The whole idea of rape is played off as if it is a very natural thing. There is a very serious underlying meaning to the whole idea of the way rape is portrayed that is best portrayed by the way the story begins: “The way they’re going on about it in the magazines you’d think it was just invented” (“Fantasies” 244). Atwood is very clever in the way she addresses serious issues in her writing, yet keeps it comfortable enough to get a laugh out of simply by reading. Most of her writing does have a serious issue that goes hand in hand, with what the story ultimately deals with. Although Atwood is not as consistent with her last technique, “Rape Fantasies” can still be compared to her other works. The use of symbols and metaphors is important. Turbide suggests, “in her [Atwood] novels eating is employed as a metaphor for power and is used as an extremely subtle means of examining the relationship between woman and man” (45). Atwood mostly uses metaphors in this particular instance w...
