I was very interested in reading Margaret Atwood's short story, Hairball.

The main character of this

story is, Kat, a contemporary woman in her thirties who undergoes a loss of identity. Kat has the
qualities to become an independent person but focuses more altering her image to suit wants and trends
of society. The story begins when Kat has an unusual ovarian tumor (containing teeth, hair, and bones)
surgically removed; she names it "hairball" and places is on her mantelpiece to show it off. Throughout
the story Atwood gives hairball humanistic traits to reflect Kat true identity. Atwood also uses a
feministic point of view to describe Kat's past and the life outside of the "hairball."
One of the major themes in this story is search for identity, and I believe that Kats hairball is
supposed contain the identity that Kat wants to show to the world. Once the hairball is removed the
doctor notices that it has hair, bones, and teeth; which leads the reader to believe it could have been
some sort of human formation. Later in the story it is revealed that Kat has had many abortions, which
lead me to believe that the cyst was a malformed baby, which is the stressor for Kats obsession with
hairball. The way the narrator describes hairball, resembles the way the she explains Kats background.
Unique is the common term between the two of them, but when Kat explains to people her surgery she
exaggerates about the qualities of hairball. Its almost like Kat is starting to live her life through how
people view her and her cyst. One of her main struggles is finding a voice for herself instead of trying
to impress society. An interesting piece of information that I found was that Atwood originally named
this story Kat but then changed it to Hairball. This is important because it shows the versatility of the
references, meaning that they are interchangeable because of the traits each one has.
This story also has a very feminist vibe to it. The feminist critique highlights the relationships between
men and woman in a working situation, and how the writer conveys the female experience instead of
focusing on the male perception. Atwood uses this style critique throughout the whole story. The
relationship between Ger and Kat is definitely a great example of how this critique is used. Ger only
wants Kat to prove to society that is has edge. Their relationship throughout the story doesnt really
have any complexity to it, obviously its only an business affair but the way that Kat describes it, it
almost seems that she wants more; she wants to conform to society almost in way. Atwood also
emphasizes feminism by having the story told from Kats point of view. She expresses the female want
and drive and shows there is complexity to females than the male literary world allows to be seen.