The Taming of Externals: A Linguistic Study Of Character Transformation in Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman is written in both first-person singular and in the third person, and the entire narrative is presented through the protagonist's point of view. Therefore, the novel can be interpreted as a reflection of her changing psychological constitution. Initially, the character of Marian perceives both food and her body as kinds of packaging. As the novel progresses, she learns to take control of herself and of the environment of consumerism of which she is a part. The Edible Woman is an indictment of consumer culture, and of our acquiescent response to it