107 pages 3 hours read

Margaret Atwood

The Year of the Flood

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.

Part 7

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 7: “April Fish”

Part 7, Introduction Summary: “Of the Foolishness Within All Religions”

Adam One gathers everyone for the April Fish Day—a day when the Gardeners make fun of each other by attaching a fish of recycled cloth to another person’s back and yelling, “April Fish!” The day is known elsewhere as April Fool’s Day, but the Gardeners celebrate it a little differently. On this day, they “humbly accept [their] own silliness” (234) and praise God’s playfulness by being playful themselves.

Adam One preaches that the fish used to be a secret symbol of faith for early Christians in times of oppression, and that Jesus’s first two apostles were fishermen. He emphasizes that humans shouldn’t consider themselves smarter than fish and should “wear the label of God’s Fools gladly” (234). During their meditation, Adam One asks God to bring to life “the Great Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Dead Zone in Lake Erie, and the Great Zone in the Black Sea” (235), which were devasted by human actions.

They end the gathering by singing a hymn called “Oh Lord, You Know Our Foolishness,” in which they acknowledge that humans often behave foolishly by doubting God’s existence and power, and ask God for forgiveness.

Related Titles

By Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood

Alias Grace

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Backdrop Addresses Cowboy

Margaret Atwood

Backdrop Addresses Cowboy

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Cat's Eye

Margaret Atwood

Cat's Eye

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Death By Landscape

Margaret Atwood

Death By Landscape

Margaret Atwood

Teaching Guide + Study Guide

logo

Hag-Seed

Margaret Atwood

Hag-Seed: William Shakespeare's The Tempest Retold

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Happy Endings

Margaret Atwood

Happy Endings

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

Margaret Atwood

Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Lady Oracle

Margaret Atwood

Lady Oracle

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Life Before Man

Margaret Atwood

Life Before Man

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

MaddAddam

Margaret Atwood

MaddAddam

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Rape Fantasies

Margaret Atwood

Rape Fantasies

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Stone Mattress

Margaret Atwood

Stone Mattress

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Surfacing

Margaret Atwood

Surfacing

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Circle Game

Margaret Atwood

The Circle Game

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood

The Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Heart Goes Last

Margaret Atwood

The Heart Goes Last

Margaret Atwood