“So much for endings. Beginnings are always more fun. True connoisseurs, however, are known to favor the stretch in between, since it’s the hardest to do anything with. That’s about all that can be said for plots, which anyway are just one thing after another, a what and a what and a what. Now try How and Why.” (Artwood, 299) I must say that after reading “Happy Endings” by Margaret Artwood, it struck me how painfully true everything was.
What I got most out of her closing statement was that every story is virtually the same. The ending is always happy and heartwarming despite the problems that were faced earlier in the story. That is not what she thinks makes a good story and neither do I. It becomes boring and predictable when you see a heartwarming happy ending, but what is truly interesting is a story’s rising action.
When Artwood says “Now try How and Why”, she is contrasting against the typical outcome of a story. “How” and “Why” represent the equation that “What” is made out of. “How” and “Why” make the rising action that gives a story its outstanding characteristics and originality. “How” and “Why” give an endless amount of room to move around so a story can develop into an interesting tale of fortunate and unfortunate events, a process of building relationships, a struggle among protagonists and antagonists, and striving to reach a goal which ultimately ends in a generic ending that ties up the story so the reader/viewer can finish with a smile that he or she knew was going to come from the beginning. What I think Artwood was trying to say was that “How” and “Why” are the most interesting aspects of a story that make up for the bland and ongoing “Whats”.