The Age of Lead is a short story written by Margaret Atwood, a well-known Canadian writer. Most of her stories are, like this one, stories about society and people surviving in a tough world, for instance The Edible Woman and Surfacing. These are good examples of her criticism of society.
Jane, the main-character in the short story, is a woman who has changed a lot over the years. When we meet her she is a middle-aged woman who throughout the years has changed a lot. The early years of Jane's life we become acquainted with later on in the story. Of her life we are told that she had a very protective mother who could only approve of one of Jane's boyfriends, Vincent. When they are 16 years of age they are going out, but because they don't like the term "going out" they make fun of it. I think this is a good example of the way things have always been between them, that their relationship has been like that from the start. They are not comfortable with tying themselves down, so they are friends rather than lovers. They never have a deep-felt relationship and I think it is because of Vincent's very laid-back attitude to life and at first, also Jane's. One example is that their leitmotif, one of a tampon-ad, is "No belts, no pins, no pads, no chafing", meaning a life without consequences. But in comparison to Vincent, Jane matures in her own way whereas Vincent is still the same, even when lying in his deathbed.
Jane has learned from her mother that with boys come consequences such as babies and marriage, and sometimes in that order. Of course this has influenced Jane in a way which I believe is bad. At first she really wants a relationship, but then she has become afraid of getting attached to a man with all her heart and soul, because she has been taught that men means marriage, attachment and commitment, and this seen as a terrible thing.
Her maturity is seen in lines 128-130:.
"When she got past thirty she decided it might be nice to have a child, some time, later.
