ine, 42)The irony in Estelle’s personality and the story itself becomes clear as Estelle tells of an adage of her mother’s.My mother always said you shouldn’t dwell on unpleasant things and I generally agree with that, I mean, dwelling on them doesn’t make them go away. Though not dwelling on them doesn’t make them go away either, when you come to think of it (35).As Estelle dwells on the idea that one shouldn’t dwell on things, the humor and satire in the story become even more evident. The last few sentences of the story express much of the essence of the irony of the main character and the story in general: Bloom, 7Like, how could a fellow do that to a person he’s just had a long conversation with, once you let them know you’re human, you have a life too, I don’t see how they could go ahead with it, right? I mean, I know it happens but I just don’t understand it, that’s the part I really don’t understand (36-37).These two sentences capture the irony of a woman giving her interpretation of the rapist when she readily admits that she does not understand the feelings of someone who would actually do it. It is the irony of a situation that could never be pleasant, yet the potential victims of the violent act of rape happily daydream and converse about participation.But this allows us to accept Estelle as a genuine person with both clear and faulty thinking, and both good and bad personality traits. Atwood lets us know all of this about Estelle without directly saying that she is competitive, gossipy, nice, talkative, silly, domineering, funny, etc. She creates a well- rounded character that expresses her within the framework of her own fantasy world. Lisa Tyler says,” Estelle is a likable character with whom they can readily sympathize. She is frightened at the prospect of dating potentially dangerous strangers, but she id frightened, too, by the prospe...
