Feminism is one of the most important themes during the 1970s. For centuries, women have been subjected to a male-dominated society. Recent history however, women start to struggle with what their roles should be in the society. As a female writer, Margaret Atwood develops the theme of feminism in her novel Surfacing, which was published in 1971. In the story, the unnamed narrator travels to a remote island that she grew up on to search for her missing father. Accompanied by her boyfriend, Joe and another young couple, David and Anna, she also begins a psychological journey. During the journey, she reveals the dualities in both her personal life and the patriarchal society. The individual relationships among the protagonist and the three secondary characters, reflect a world that oppresses and dominates femininity, and therefore, help readers better understand the protagonist's desperate need to reclaim her female identity.
             The relationship between Anna and David portrays the image of what a woman's role should be in a marriage. During her nine-year marriage, Anna lives a life of submission to David, constantly trying to please him. She always wear makeup, otherwise she is afraid that David will use sex as a weapon to punish her. She feels angry because David forces her to strip and has Joe shoot her with a camera. But when she sees the narrator dumping the film into the lake, she tries to stop her: " 'You better not do that,' she said, 'they'll kill you' " (166). She complains to the narrator about how David humiliated her by telling her his affairs with other women, but after she knows David propositions the narrator, she forms a temporary alliance with him. She also battle with her husband: "her body her only weapon and she was fighting him because if she ever surrendered the balance of power would be broken and he would go elsewhere" (154). But eventually, &qu...