Metafiction, loosely defined as fiction about fiction, offers an intriguing perspective on literature. JM Coetzee's novel Foe and Margaret Atwood's short story "Happy Endings" are able to comment on fiction writing while retaining their own identities. Both authors offer a critique of fiction writing related to issues of gender, societal expectations, and the process and components of fiction writing itself. In order to become metafictional, Coetzee and Atwood had to make readers aware of what they were reading. Coetzee, by creating a story in which an author exists as the main character, personifies the act of writing fiction. Furthermore, by partially basing Foe on Robinson Crusoe, Coetzee makes it clear that his own book is metafiction. The very character of “Foe” represents a minimalist version of Daniel Defoe’s much longer Robinson Crusoe. Atwood, taking a different approach, directly addresses the conventions of storytelling in her own story. Plot, character development, setting, and form are all addressed in “Happy Endings.” And by creating multiple versions, each with its own ending, Atwood encourages readers to interact and assign meaning to the stories both separately and when linked. Not only does “Happy Endings” create a story about writing fiction, but it also makes that story interactive, which draws more attention to itself as a critique of traditional fiction. Both "Happy Endings" and Foe provide commentary on gender issues in modern fiction writing. . In “Happy Endings,” Margaret Atwood’s attack on gender stereotypes is revealed in the form of character interactions. Its different versions of stories describe how women are victims of conformism in a patriarchal society...... middle of paper ......sion, political oppression, social oppression, etc., Friday is a symbol of those who are left without the power of expression and therefore without an audience. Language, written or spoken, is a form of power and without it, we are powerless in the face of society. The concept of metafiction in Foe and “Happy Endings” is both engaging and difficult to grasp. While metafiction lends a sense of self-awareness to different writings, identifying exactly what authors are trying to say about fiction writing itself is complex and open to multiple interpretations. Nevertheless, both Coetzee and Atwood identify similar ideas in their works. Gender conflicts play a central role in both stories, as women like Susan and Mary are portrayed as inferior to their male counterparts. Their stories are dismissed in favor of a more conventional perspective.