WHEN IT HAPPENS by MARGARET ATWOOD Explained | Summary | Analysis | Historical Background | Themes

'When It Happens' by Margaret Atwood is a dystopian short story set in 1969, focusing on Mrs. Borge's preparations for an uncertain future threat. The story reflects anxieties from the Great Depression (1929-1939) and the Cold War era (1947-1991), where economic crises and wartime propaganda fueled a desire for self-sufficiency and suspicion of media.

The story opens with Mrs. Borge, 51, meticulously harvesting green tomatoes to pickle due to an impending frost and rising prices. Despite her capabilities, she relies on her husband Frank for heavy tasks. Her mind is preoccupied with economic challenges, her husband's declining health, and the future uncertainties, including concerns for her daughters not bringing children into a difficult world. She yearns for the ability to prepare for this uncertain future.

Mrs. Borge's imagination takes over, predicting a future without airplanes, quiet highways, and censored television. She instructs Frank to retrieve an old wood stove and gather firewood. She envisions telephone wires falling, men heading north, and discreetly hides a shotgun. Gas conservation begins, and chickens become a food source. The absence of electricity signifies a grave situation, pushing her into darkness where she salvages what she can. Smoke signals trouble, neighbors seek help, and she withholds the shotgun from Frank, sensing his departure is final. She then gathers supplies and heads north, encountering a fire and two men, armed with a shotgun, reflecting on the unpredictability of actions in such dire circumstances. However, this entire scenario is revealed to be her imagination, as she returns to her drab reality, scribbling 'cheese' on a grocery list.

The story portrays Mrs. Borge's extreme attempts to control her future, meticulously managing her self-sustaining home. However, her efforts only heighten her anxieties, creating a paradoxical situation. She struggles with her own limitations, including Frank's inability to provide protection and her own hesitation to use a firearm for self-defense, even in her fantasies.

Mrs. Borge lives in constant fear and maintains a solitary existence, devoid of visitors and an unexecuted escape plan. She feels beleaguered and isolated, like someone shut up in a fortress. This extends beyond geographical isolation; she feels disconnected from other women and lacks close companions. Her marriage to Frank is marked by emotional detachment and a communication gap, with Frank's dominance rooted in traditional gender roles, leaving Mrs. Borge feeling trapped in a loveless marriage.

Mrs. Borge's worries about a threatening future are fueled by media reports, anxious townswomen, and apocalyptic visions. Her fantasies involve solo journeys, armed encounters, and abandoning Frank. These vivid survival scenarios occur while she compiles a grocery list, highlighting the contrast between her fantasy world and reality. Her intense desire for preparedness stems from past struggles during the Great Depression and war. The story suggests that these doomsday daydreams bring excitement to her tedious life, and her fixation on signs of an impending apocalypse reveals the impact of monotony on her psychological state. Even mundane tasks become exercises in apocalyptic survival thinking, showing the lasting influence of her fantasies.