Margaret Atwood's Death By Landscape

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Margaret Atwood’s Death by Landscape narrates the recollections of Lois’ childhood at Camp Manitou during the summer time. One of her life changing moments was meeting Lucy who becomes her best friend. Death by Landscape is full of emotions ranging from nostalgia and admiration to regret and sorrow. Unfortunately, the disappearance of Lucy leaves Lois traumatized, showing readers how even a childhood event can definitely leave a mark on one’s adult life and potentially alter ones persona.
Lois becomes infatuated with Lucy, almost to the point where she would try to please and impress her. After knowing how wealthy Lucy was, Lois proceeded to give her a tour of the camp, already accepting that the camp would “not measure up” to her level [2972]. Furthermore, Lois is willing to mask her appreciation for the camp activities in order to emulate Lucy’s feelings; during her first canoeing trip, Lois is excited but …show more content…

Lois notices how in Lucy’s first year she had a photo of herself dressed as a ballerina, the next year she did horseback riding, the following year her parents divorced, later on she began menstruating, and on her final year Lucy appeared “slower, more languorous” [2973] Lucy later confesses her unhappiness back home due to her parent’s divorce. Like Lois, readers can also observe the sudden change of events and how these changes alter Lucy’s personality. Since her parent’s divorce, Lucy appears to show signs of unhappiness. According to Lois’ observations, Lucy “is pensive and hard to wake in the mornings”, a slight indication of depression or gloominess; at one point she confesses she wants to “run away from home” [2973]. The thought of living with her stepfather or perhaps the divorce is definitely the turning point in Lucy’s life, a young 13 year old. Atwood, within a page, demonstrates how divorce has changed Lucy, clear for Lois and readers to take

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