This sample was a review of Margaret Atwood’s short story, The Age of Lead. The story uses two narratives to illustrate the self-destructive nature of mankind. One narrative is about Jane, the protagonist, who watches a television show about an anthropological discovery of a body in the North Pole. The body turns out to be of a member of the Franklin Expedition of 1845. It is then revealed that all the crew members of the Franklin expedition died of lead poisoning from the cans they used to store their food. The second narrative is based on Jane’s self-reflection of her life, mainly focused on her relationship with her friend Vincent who recently passed away. The essay drew parallels between the two narratives, which included the yearning for freedom and the self-destructive nature of human activities on earth.
