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Gender roles in literature
Literary analysis of the handmaid's tale
Portrayal of gender issues in literature
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In the short story, “ The Scarlet Ibis,” the author uses symbolism to represent the story’s main ideas. Symbolism is represented by the Scarlet Ibis and Doodle. In the Scarlet Ibis, Doodle is a young boy who can’t walk by himself so his brother takes care of him. In the story, there are a lot of things that are red symbols because those represent Doodle. In the story, “ Even death did not mar its grace, for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers”
The Handmaid’s Tale is based in a futuristic world and it contains a strictly enforced control on all the people. This system is called The Republic of Gilead. All must follow the rules set in Gilead and not dare to overstep them. The laws are due to the decreasing number of fertile women and based on biblical teachings. The Handmaid’s roles in this novel are significant; however, their freedom and rights are viewed inferior towards men.
In a person’s life, many situations transpire and make them feel pride over one’s self. Readers can see this in the short story,” The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. “In his spare time Hurst wrote short stories and plays, but The Scarlet Ibis was the only work of his that become famous “(gradesaver.com)”. In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst uses red to symbolize warning, death, and guilt to show the change the older brother goes through, as he takes care of Doodle. The first instance when red is used, is to express warning and the older brother’s attitude, is at Doodle’s birth.
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was concluded in a way that it brought more questions to the mind of the reader than answers. This is not only because there are pieces of the story that are seemingly left unanswered, but it is also because of literary techniques used throughout the novel that serve to convey a meaning beyond the story's surface, therefore leaving the reader with what they feel is an inconclusive ending. However the ending does not inappropriately concludes the work; the way the book was finished helps the reader think for themselves, which is important because when people come to their own conclusions about something, they tend to possess a much stronger a belief than if it were just handed to them by the
The color red is a sign of fertility and youthfulness in women. While also holding the Puritan faith as a reminder of how Atwood took inspiration from the Salem Witch Trials. Innocent women and some men faced the justified systematic abuse simply because of blind faith to a machine, people were brainwashed into believing where evil lies back then much how Atwood’s portrayal makes the authoritative power paint women as sinful temptations, and those who don’t obey those in power who claim to be from “God”, are
In Atwood’s novel, symbolisms of sex, flowers, and color add to the development of the novel and the deeper meaning of the plot. In The Handmaid’s Tale, color is often mentioned while describing clothing. Each individual in Gilead wears a certain colored uniform that is symbolic of their role in
Atwood roots sensory imagery and color to insinuate class distinction, and how it shapes the personality of the narrator. Atwood chooses the predominant color of red to indicate that the narrator is of a lower class by linking it to the themes of blood and infatuation. As opposed to using another color as the Handmaid’s uniform, Atwood specifically uses the color red due to its strong connotations to danger and human impulses. This is evident in the narrator’s remembrance of the past and ‘yearning for the future’, and implies the influence that this uniform has on the thinking of the narrator. When the narrator makes reference to the fact that ‘almost everything she wears is the color red: the color of
The effect of the red tulips emphasizes Offred birth and fertility, how she’s afraid to give away a child. Power and education have been taking away from the handmaids. And even though they will “begin to heal”.
What would become of the world, if our current societal flaws, such as sexism, racism, and classism were ingrained and executed at a systematic level? This is exactly what The Handmaid’s Tale set out to explore. The novel, which claims to be speculative fiction, is set in the theocratic Republic of Gilead (formerly the USA), where birth rates are rapidly declining and women have been marginalized by the patriarchal regime, forbidden to read, write or love and valued only if they are able to procreate. They are separated into classes, including Wives, Marthas, Aunts, Unwomen, and Handmaids, distinguishable only by the color of their clothing. The Handmaids are renamed by combining ‘of’ and the name of the Commander that they have been assigned to, stripping them of any individuality.
The color red can represent sin, as stated in another analysis of the poem, “The wine and steak and newborn bloody child indicates perhaps this sexual act is sin; red often symbolizing sins in religion.” (Jessica Myers, Analysis of Sex Without Love by Sharon Olds, 2014) but what I find is that it has a double meaning which signifies lust as well. In the poem, red is a double edged sword to promote both the idea of lust and self enjoyment during sex, as well as sinful nature deeply rooted in different religions. It’s not difficult to imagine the speaker thinking often about such a situation in their
In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood demonstrates a quizzical protagonist, Offred, in a dystopian, totalitarian society where fertile women are only a mere vessel for child birth. Every month during Offred’s menstrual cycle her Commander, Fred, and his wife Serena Joy perform detached intercourse while Serena holds Offred’s hands. The handmaids of the Republic of Gilead are not allowed to use their mind for knowledge nor take part in formal society. They are but the vacuous-minded property to their Commanders and their infertile wives. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred discloses the day to day moments and her commicalOffred had once lived in a world where she was her own person with a job and a home with a family of her own but now she lives under unfortunate circumstances that disable her from being a true, soulful human.
This year is the 30th anniversary of the publication of Margaret Atwood 's dystopian classic, The Handmaid 's Tale. The novel is told from a first person account of a young woman, Offred. In an age of declining births, she is forced to become a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, the imagined future in the United States. The Handmaids are to provide children by the substitution of infertile women of a higher social status. Through the creation of different characteristics of female characters – ones who are submissive yet rebellious, and like to take advantage of their power - Margaret Atwood portray themes of love, theocracy, rebellion, and gender roles.
In this written text, the emphasis will be on Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale and as well as the way Atwood portrays women and how it can be argued to show the oppression of women. The main purpose is to analyze the way women are treated throughout this book and depict why they are represented this way in the society in Gilead. Then, comparatively, observe the men’s domination over women and how they govern this society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are stripped of their rights, suffer many inequalities and are objectified, controlled by men and only valued for their reproductive qualities. The Gilead society is divided in multiple social group.
The Handmaid’s Tale Essay-How does Atwood’s portrayal of women compare to modern conceptions of women? “I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it’s shameful or immodest but because I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely” (Atwood pg.82). This is a quote that the narrator and main character of the book (Offred) says as two other women give her her bath. How hard does a woman’s life have to be that she wouldn’t even want to look at her body.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margret Atwood is very descriptive when the main character, Offred, is describing color in the environment, and in particular the color red. The color red is the color that will decide the future of the handmaid’s. It is a color correlated with shame and with pregnancy, showing both signs of failure and success by the handmaid’s. The use of the color red and shame are often linked together through Offred describing blood in violence and death. The red in the blood relates to the female reproductive system, resulting in a failure by the Handmaids.
