The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Heart Goes Last is a dystopian science fiction novel set after the financial system has crashed and left the whole of the east coast of the United States in a deep economic depression. The main characters Charmine and Stan were average middle Americans with decent lives that seemed to be going somewhere before the collapse. Now they are living in their car and trying to make ends meet with one bartending job between them. They are vulnerable and adrift, so it is no surprise that they seek any way to gain a semblance of order. When offered they take an offer from a company called Positron, a pilot facility for a proposed re-structuring of the prison system: a closed city and prison complex where the inhabitants spend half their times in nice middle class suburban life and half their time as inmates in the prison, sharing home and cell with other individuals turn in and out on an alternating schedule.
The premise of the proposed corrective system that works this way is ridiculous, but the framework serves to criticize the misaligned incentives and power dynamic between corporations, government and individuals in need of assistance. In this structure everyone is presumed to be guilty and freedom is sacrificed in the name of ‘safety’. And as the story progresses the experiment falls into all the corruption and problems that you would expect. It serves its purpose and I feel like it is answered sufficiently by the text. It thematically ties to the rest of the story and amplifies the disaffected personal lives of the main characters, but otherwise the action could have taken place without the necessity of this setup.
Something I thought the novel did particularly well is showing us a marriage from both sides. It is one of the better fictional representations I have seen of a marriage as a collaboration of two individuals with different needs and goals that do not line up completely. In this case it is a broken marriage, but aren’t all marriages in some form or another.
After the somewhat slow setup of the world and the initial situation the novel makes a sudden descent into a rapidly unfurling sequence of surreal psychological thriller. The initial setup collapses into a bed of infidelity, betrayal, intrigue and blackmail as the structure of capitalism and the prison start devouring their respective populations. Biotechnology and neurotechnology are introduced, and identity becomes a central point of question as the plot deepens. Margaret Atwood is as always excellent at weaving a complex web of different narratives and voices together with characters that feel real in their vibrant brokenness and tying everything together around a philosophical exploration of difficult questions.
In some ways the conclusion leaves these questions unanswered, it asks the reader to make their own choice about the nobility or despicability of the characters actions, desires and intentions at the end. Are we culpable for our actions if we are coerced or overcome with passion? Is our love valuable if it is routine or without passion? Where in a relationship (between lovers, between employer and employee, between citizen and government) is manipulation and force okay? Is marriage a prison? Where is the line between give and take?
There are no heroes in this story. Most of the characters end up doing despicable things because of their circumstances, some to manipulate others and some because they are themselves being manipulated. The novel is brutal in its depiction, and tore at my heart in its portrayal of brokenness. It does not shy away from depicting broken sex and is woven throughout with adult themes. It is a surreal and dark comedy that cuts to close to home to laugh at. Even dressed up as it is with gay Elviss, knitted blue teddy-bears and over-the-top corporate greed.