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Title

The title of Margaret Atwood’s short story, “Happy Endings”, creates certain expectations in the readers. They might expect to read a story where everything ends well, with the protagonists satisfied about their lives. Since happy endings are often found in fairy tales, which often end with the formula “And they lived happily ever after”, readers might expect to encounter such an ending in Atwood’s short story as well. 

The title is, however, ironic, as Atwood suggests that there can be only one realistic final ending, in which the main characters die: 

You’ll have to face it, the endings are the same, however you slice it. Don’t be deluded by any other endings, they’re all fake. Either deliberately fake, with malicious intent to deceive, or just motivated by excessive optimism if not downright sentimentality.
The only authentic ending is the one provided here: John and Mary die. John and Mary die. John and Mary die. (p. 72, ll. 23-28)

This subverts the fairy tale idea and shows that, as long as the main characters are still alive, something can always interfere with their happiness. Since the only real ending is when the main characters die, one could, therefore,...