Describe symbolism in Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood

The speaker of this piece of literature provides the beginning of a story, saying "John
and Mary meet. What happens next?" She also provides the ending, saying "John and Mary die." Symbolically, John and Mary represent all people. All people live and all people die. Just as story has a beginning and an end, so do lives. Atwood uses the analogy of a plotline to make the statement that it matters very little that all people are born and that all die. What matters is everything in the middle, the occurrences in the span of one's lifetime