Chapter summaries The Margaret Atwood 4-Book Bundle Margaret Atwood

Chapter 32: The Fur Coat – Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The chapter opens with the older narrator (Iris) experiencing a severe thunderstorm. Unable to sleep, she walks outside in her raincoat and boots. She passes Walter's garage and mistakes a young woman in the dark for Sabrina, feeling a moment of forgiveness before realizing it is a stranger. The narrative then shifts to a flashback: after their mother's death, Laura begins spending time inside their mother's sealskin fur coat, praying or trying to conjure her back. The coat is eventually given away. Laura asks difficult questions about the stillborn baby that killed their mother, but Reenie deflects with platitudes. Laura develops a fear of God after hearing that God is everywhere and never sleeps; she believes God lurks in the broom closet or roams the house at night. Iris comforts Laura but also feels desolate herself. The sisters explore every hidden corner of Avilion—the coal cellar, root cellar, attic, and damp grotto under the verandah. The seasons pass: they pick milkweed pods, go to the Jubilee Bridge, watch the river in spring when a woman jumps to her death from the bridge. Reenie and Mrs. Hillcoate discuss female suicides and the shame of unwanted pregnancies. Iris turns ten; Reenie makes a cake but questions its appropriateness. Laura refuses to eat, believing their mother's feelings might be hurt. Iris struggles to remember her grief accurately, while Reenie tells Mrs. Hillcoate that Iris is too quiet and Laura too odd. The chapter ends with the sisters eavesdropping on this conversation, enjoying the secret knowledge.

Key Events

  • Iris walks alone during the night after a storm, mistaking a young woman for Sabrina.
  • Flashback to after their mother's death: Laura uses the sealskin fur coat as a shrine.
  • Reenie evades Laura's questions about the stillborn baby and death.
  • Laura becomes terrified of an omnipresent, judgmental God.
  • Iris and Laura explore Avilion extensively—cellars, attic, grotto.
  • Seasonal vignettes: milkweed pods, ice on the river, a woman's suicide from the Jubilee Bridge.
  • Reenie and Mrs. Hillcoate discuss the suicide and hint at an unwanted pregnancy.
  • Iris's tenth birthday: Reenie makes a cake; Laura refuses to eat it.
  • Reenie confides to Mrs. Hillcoate that Iris is too quiet and Laura is odd; the girls eavesdrop.

Character Development

  • Iris Chase: The older narrator reveals her present vulnerability (fear of muggers, longing for Sabrina) and her past resilience. As a child, she suppresses her grief, becomes the responsible sister, and secretly enjoys eavesdropping. She struggles to remember her mother's actual presence, only her absence.
  • Laura Chase: Deeply affected by her mother's death, she seeks comfort in the fur coat and becomes consumed by theological fears. Her childish questions about God and death show her innocence and emotional rawness. She refuses the birthday cake, displaying guilt and loyalty to her mother's feelings.
  • Reenie: The pragmatic housekeeper who tries to shield the girls with platitudes ("least said, soonest mended"). She observes the children but keeps them at a distance, favoring simple explanations over emotional honesty.
  • Mrs. Hillcoate: A townswoman who shares stories of local suicides, providing a window into the community's attitudes toward women, shame, and death.

Themes, Symbols, and Motifs

  • Grief and Memory: The chapter contrasts Iris's present inability to fully recall her grief with her childhood experience. The fur coat becomes a tangible symbol of the lost mother—Laura's attempt to "conjure" her back failing.
  • The Omnipresent, Judgmental God: Laura's fear of God after her mother's death reflects a crisis of faith. The idea that God is everywhere and never sleeps makes Him a threat rather than a comfort.
  • Secrecy and Hidden Knowledge: The girls explore Avilion's hidden spaces (cellars, attic, grotto) and eavesdrop on adults. Their private discoveries parallel the forbidden truths about their mother's death and the woman's suicide.
  • Female Bodies and Suicide: The detailed discussion of how women drown themselves—passively, without rocks—contrasts with men's deliberate methods. The mention of "up the spout" links suicide to pregnancy and shame.
  • Seasonal Cycle: The passage of autumn, winter, and spring mirrors the slow processing of grief. The river, ice, and milkweed pods suggest impermanence and the release of memory.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 32 deepens the novel's exploration of how children process death and adult secrets. It provides crucial backstory for Iris and Laura's relationship, showing how Iris became the stoic caretaker while Laura retreated into fear and ritual. The recurring image of the fur coat and the discussion of female suicide foreshadow later events in the sisters' lives. The chapter also establishes the haunting, layered quality of memory that defines the novel's structure.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. What does Laura's use of the fur coat suggest about her understanding of death?
    Laura treats the coat as a vessel for her mother's spirit—she buttons it up and crawls inside, as if performing a ritual to bring her mother back. This shows that, like many children, she believes death is reversible and that objects can hold the essence of a person.

  2. Why does Iris feel "desolate" at night despite being the comforter?
    Iris suppresses her own grief to care for Laura. At night, alone with her thoughts, she feels guilt (assuming everything bad is her fault) and longs for a "happy ending" that seems never to arrive. She is the "brooding type," as Reenie later observes, internalizing her sorrow.

  3. How does the conversation between Reenie and Mrs. Hillcoate about the suicide reflect societal attitudes toward women?
    The women discuss female suicides as passive (walking into the river, letting the water take them) and link them to unwanted pregnancies and shame. Reenie's comment about men being able to "count" implies that the woman's husband would know the child wasn't his. The tone is matter-of-fact, suggesting a community that judges women harshly while accepting their suffering as inevitable.

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