''Bodily Harm'' is a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...

. It was first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1981.

Plot introduction

The novel's

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

Rennie Wilford is a travel reporter. After surviving breast cancer, she travels to the fictional

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

island St. Antoine to carry out research for an article. The island, however, is on the brink of revolution. Rennie tries to stay away from politics, but is drawn into events through her romance with Paul, a key player in the uprising, and ends up in a survival struggle.

Themes

A major theme of ''Bodily Harm'' is power. As in many of the heroines of Atwood's novels, Rennie is addicted to negative relationships. She feels "hooked like a junkie" to her relationship with Jake, and becomes unable to distinguish between

sadomasochism Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

and genuine aggression.

References

External links

Atwood discusses ''Bodily Harm'' with Fay Weldon
- a British Library sound recording 1981 Canadian novels Novels by Margaret Atwood Novels set in the Caribbean McClelland & Stewart books {{Canada-novel-stub