Surfacing is a 1972 novel by Margaret Atwood. The father of the unnamed female narrator has gone missing and, together with her lover and another couple, they return to her hometown to figure out where he's gone. Upon returning to her childhood home, the protagonist confronts her past, her memories and emotions and is eventually driven to insanity. The novel deals with political issues of Canadian nationalism, human alienation and feminism.
Separation is a major theme of Surfacing . This is established in the first chapter, when the narrator is shown to be politically dispossessed as an English-speaker in Quebec, at a time in which Quebec was aspiring to become an independent French-speaking nation. The narrator also feels disconnected from the people around her, equating human interaction with that of animals. For example, while overhearing David and Anna make love, the narrator thinks "of an animal at the moment the trap closes".
The mouthpiece for feelings of nationalism is extremist David, who claims Canada would be better without the "fascist pig Yanks" and suggests they be driven from the country by attack beavers.
Feminism, a theme in many of Atwood's novels, is explored through the perspective of the female narrative, exposing the ways women are marginalized in their professional and private lives.
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