Payback

essay by Atwood

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July 19, 2026

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"Payback" is an essay by Margaret Atwood that examines debt not as an economic or political issue, but as a cultural one. The essay explores various forms of debt, including personal, governmental, and societal obligations, and their broader implications. Atwood delves into the concept of retribution and the act of responding to an injury with another injury, which is a core meaning of payback. The essay is part of her broader body of work, which often features feminist perspectives and dystopian themes, as seen in her celebrated novel The Handmaid's Tale.123

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Margaret Atwood
Other fiction and nonfiction works
…at the University of Cambridge; Payback (2008; film 2012), an impassioned essay that treats debt—both personal and governmental—as a cultural issue rather than as a political or an economic one; In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination (2011), in which she illuminates her relationship to science fiction; and Burning…
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…at the University of Cambridge; Payback (2008; film 2012), an impassioned essay that treats debt—both personal and governmental—as a cultural issue rather than as a political or an economic one; In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination (2011), in which she illuminates her relationship to science fiction; and Burning…
Read More