The path to self-realization can take many routes and come in many different forms. Both Larry’s Party by Carol Shields and Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood deal with this central idea. Both novels revolve around one main character, Rennie in Bodily Harm , Larry in Larry’s Party and their individual paths through life. Both authors use similar character relationships and methods of symbolism to show the two very different paths of their character’s …showed first 75 words of 3048 total…

…showed last 75 words of 3048 total…his life spirals towards the center. However in the end, both characters end up at the same location. Rock Bottom, the Center of the Maze, either place the same thing occurs. Both are able to sort of mentally leave their body behind and look back on their life, for the first time seeing meaning in the past, solidifying their future, and giving them great hope for what is still to come in their respective lives.