What are the major themes running in the novel Surfacing
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Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing (1972) is a complex novel that explores several key themes, many of which resonate with broader questions of identity, culture, and nature. The novel tells the story of an unnamed narrator who returns to the rural Quebec wilderness to search for her missing father. Through her journey, Atwood delves into psychological, social, and environmental issues that probe the complexities of Canadian identity, gender dynamics, and the human connection to nature. Below is a detailed examination of the major themes running through Surfacing.
1. Identity and Self-Discovery
One of the central themes of Surfacing is the narrator’s journey toward self-discovery. Throughout the novel, she struggles with a fragmented sense of identity, grappling with her past, relationships, and place in the world. The journey into the wilderness becomes symbolic of a deeper, psychological excavation, as the narrator attempts to reclaim her sense of self, which has been eroded by societal pressures, traumatic experiences, and emotional detachment.
The narrator’s search for her father parallels her search for personal clarity. As the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that she is not just searching for a missing parent, but also for the parts of herself that have been lost or suppressed. Her detachment from her emotions, particularly concerning an abortion in her past, signals a dissociation from her body and her true self. By the novel’s conclusion, she undergoes a profound transformation, rejecting societal conventions and attempting to reconnect with a more primal, authentic version of herself.
2. Nature and the Wilderness
The Canadian wilderness plays a central role in Surfacing, not just as a setting, but as a thematic element. The landscape is depicted as both a physical and psychological space where the narrator confronts her deepest fears and desires. Nature, in Atwood’s novel, is not simply a backdrop but an active force that shapes the narrative. The wilderness is portrayed as pure, uncorrupted by modern civilization, and offers the narrator an opportunity for rebirth.
The narrator’s immersion in the natural environment contrasts sharply with her life in the city, which is marked by artificiality and disconnection. The wilderness serves as a metaphor for the unconscious mind, where she must confront buried memories and repressed emotions. Her decision to strip away her modern clothing and live as part of nature in the novel’s final stages reflects her rejection of society and an attempt to return to a more elemental state of being.
Atwood’s depiction of the wilderness also touches on environmental concerns, critiquing the destruction of nature by human hands. The narrator’s father, who was a botanist, embodies a harmonious relationship with the land, while other characters represent exploitation and degradation. This tension between the preservation of nature and its destruction is a key concern throughout the novel.
3. Feminism and Gender Roles
Atwood’s exploration of gender dynamics and feminism is another central theme in Surfacing. The novel critiques traditional gender roles, particularly through the relationships the narrator has with the men in her life. Her relationships with Joe, her boyfriend, and David, her friend’s husband, reflect patriarchal attitudes that the narrator comes to reject over the course of the novel.
The narrator is constantly navigating her role as a woman in a society that imposes restrictive expectations on her. Her relationship with Joe is particularly fraught, as he expects her to fulfill traditional roles of emotional intimacy and partnership, while she remains emotionally distant. Her past relationship with her ex-husband, who forced her to undergo an abortion, serves as a symbol of male control over women’s bodies, a violation that deeply scars her psyche.
As the novel progresses, the narrator’s rejection of both Joe and David signals her desire to break free from patriarchal control. She seeks to define herself outside of the expectations imposed by men, particularly in terms of reproductive control and emotional labor. Atwood’s feminist critique is woven throughout the novel as the narrator seeks a new way of being that is not defined by societal norms.
4. Trauma and Memory
Trauma and the suppression of memory are recurring themes in Surfacing. The narrator’s journey is largely an attempt to confront and process her past trauma, particularly the emotional fallout from her abortion. Throughout the novel, she suppresses her memories of the abortion and her former marriage, only gradually allowing herself to recall the events.
The fragmented nature of the narrator’s memories reflects her fractured sense of self. Her inability to confront her past directly has led to a state of emotional numbness and alienation. The wilderness, with its raw and primal qualities, forces her to confront these repressed memories, particularly as she searches for her father, who symbolizes both a literal and metaphorical missing piece of her identity.
In addition to personal trauma, the novel also explores collective trauma, particularly in the context of Canadian history. Atwood hints at the colonization of Indigenous lands and the erasure of Indigenous identities, although these themes remain more peripheral. The narrator’s personal history is thus embedded within a larger historical and cultural context of displacement and loss.
5. Cultural and National Identity
The question of Canadian national identity is an important theme in Surfacing. Atwood, who has often written about the complexities of Canadian identity, uses the novel to explore the tension between Canadian and American cultural influences. The presence of American tourists in the novel represents the encroachment of American culture, which the narrator views with suspicion and hostility.
This cultural conflict reflects a broader concern about Canadian identity in the face of Americanization. The narrator’s disdain for Americans and their consumerism is tied to her critique of modern civilization and its disconnect from nature. The novel suggests that Canada, with its vast wilderness and untamed landscapes, represents something distinct and worth preserving, in contrast to the commercialized, destructive influences of the United States.
6. Isolation and Alienation
The theme of isolation runs throughout Surfacing, both in terms of the narrator’s emotional state and her physical environment. The narrator feels alienated from the people around her, including her boyfriend Joe, her friends Anna and David, and even from her own emotions and memories. Her emotional detachment and inability to connect with others mirror her sense of being lost in a world that she finds increasingly meaningless.
The physical isolation of the wilderness amplifies this sense of alienation, but it also offers a space for introspection and potential healing. The narrator’s ultimate rejection of human civilization and her retreat into nature is an extreme response to her isolation, but it also represents her desire to reconnect with something authentic and uncorrupted by society.
Conclusion
Surfacing is a richly layered novel that tackles themes of identity, nature, feminism, trauma, and cultural conflict. Atwood’s exploration of the narrator’s psychological journey is deeply intertwined with her critique of societal expectations and environmental destruction. The wilderness serves as both a literal and symbolic space where the narrator confronts her past and attempts to redefine herself. Through these themes, Surfacing reflects the complexities of personal and national identity, while also critiquing the destructive forces of modern civilization and patriarchal control.