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Margaret atwood the handmaid's tale characterisation
Margaret atwood the handmaid's tale characterisation
Margaret atwood the handmaid's tale characterisation
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1) Throughout our course, there have been some incredible and powerful women characters and writers. From Granny in “Jilting of Granny Weatherall” to Delia in “Sweat”, all of their stories had powerful connotations and influences in the readers. First of there was Phoenix from “A Worn Path,” she is the protagonist of this tale and is described in a lively way by the way she moves. Welty said, “Under the red rag her hair came down on her neck in the frailest of ringlets, still black, and with odor like copper.” The rag in her hair, her skin, and even the wrinkles on her face are deeply expanded upon in the story and accentuate her character.
Meanwhile, Penelope’s society has imprisoned her in another planet until she can see herself through the eyes of her fathers. Both governments use manipulative propaganda and the appearance of deliverance, to subjugate Moira and Penelope, resulting in different reactions from the women. Moira, in The Handmaid’s Tale, experienced manipulative propaganda during her time at the Red Center through the lessons taught by the Aunts who enforce the doctrine of Gilead on the Handmaids. The reader learns that Moira resides in an environment in which “The chances [of having a healthy baby] are one in four [and] the air got too full, once of chemicals” (Atwood, 112). The pollution in the air affects the Gilead birth rate and causes birth defects, resulting in the Gilead having to create and manipulate Handmaids through propaganda.
The novel, The Handmaid's Tale, centers on a woman named Offred. She is abused of her body when she gets constantly raped in order to provide a child from her Commander and his wife. It burdens her life daily. Many literary elements are revealed through the novel such as symbolism ….. That come together to affect the story, and the reader.
Just like Hamlet, Offred was also unable to trust anyone other than her best friend, Moira because of the situation she was placed in. Since Offred was a handmaid nearly all of her human rights were taken away, because of this she was unable to build relationships of trust with other people. She had lost all connections with people she loved, with the exception of Moira. Gilead, a world where all the citizens are obligated to obey those in power, none of the people had any meaningful relationships such as friendship or companionship. As shown by Offred 's statement: "We aren 't supposed to form friendships, loyalties, among one another" (Atwood 353), people were expected to not create new relationships.
Offred uses this relationship to placate her complacency but also to muster up her courage to run away when the time came. In another light, Offred is intelligent simply because she knows things. An early comment she says is that “Men at the top have always had mistresses, why should things be any different now?” (Atwood 163). Since Offres knows this it implies that she not only is acquainted with the culture of life before Gilead, but also that she is well versed in cultural norms from other time periods.
This theme of psychological manipulation is illuminated in the character of Moira. Moira was Offred’s friend from college, and they ended up at the Red Center together. After she escapes, she is described as a “loose woman” by Offred (133). A “loose woman” is typically a term used to describe a sexually promiscuous woman. This directly contradicts the ideals of fundamentalism that the Aunts are trying to push on the Handmaids.
Another technique that was used is when she parodies the way traditional families’ wives take on the names of their husband. In the story, handmaids are named “Of” plus the name of their commander, criticizing how changing the surnames makes it seem like the men are the owners of the women. The way these issues were satirized in the story are effective because of the role of the main character. It would be difficult to not sympathize with a victim of a totalitarian society that oppresses women to a much greater extent than to that of men. It is important to remember that the purpose of creating dystopian literature is not to prophesize but to warn us of what could
“12 ‘Kept Women’ Reveal What Their Life is Like” by “Jessica Winters,2015” is an online list on what different mistresses life is like having an affair with husbands. Kept women is a classification of mistresses who gets paid huge amounts of money 1. Life is easier as a Mistress Winters life is easier being a mistress, she doesn’t have to be troubled that the husband is cheating on her, because she is not the wife in the affair. In exchange with having sex with the husband once a week, she is given a free apartment with all the everyday expenditure funded.
Thus, this can also be seen as another example of how women are not equal since they belong to men. A quote to prove the Handmaid’s uniforms can be seen through a passage in Atwood’s novel titled The Handmaid’s Tale which
Offred is a rebellious individual who makes a habit of breaking rules just for her own pleasure. The novel takes place in the Republic of Gilead which is a totalitarian society. Has multiple rules that restrict the lives of many people in the Republic. The Commander or the highest one in control, is the leader of the Republic. Within the Republic there are Handmaids, Aunts, and many more.
Furthermore, contemporary feminism, in the time of Margaret Atwood and The Penelopiad, is based on equality and freedom of choice (Howells 2003). Finally, with both Classical Greek female and contemporary female views in hand, Margaret Atwood fuses them to create an identity for Penelope that goes beyond ‘woman’, ‘mother’, and ‘wife’ (Howells 2003). Homer does show improvement in his representation of women in The Odyssey through some of his descriptions of Penelope, however, Margaret Atwood took his small sacrifices to female worth and turned them into a story that gives Penelope power, choice, and a voice she was never given before (Vandamme
In the “Historical Notes,” it is revealed to the reader that The Handmaid’s Tale is a text that exists in the fictitious world it details when Professor Pieixoto states, “I wish, as the title of my little chat implies, to consider some of the problems associated with the soi-disant manuscript… which goes by the title of The Handmaid’s Tale,” (Atwood 300). The significance of this truth goes beyond merely putting the story into perspective, but it denotes a victory for Offred. Throughout the text, she discusses her reluctance to recount the past: “I am trying not to tell stories, or at any rate not this one,” (50). Her newfound lack of freedom to dispense her time without idling makes the past when that lack of freedom was an abundance of it seem all the more painful; she cannot abide remembering the life she now lusts for. Yet, she manages to do more than that; Offred is able to not only indulge in these thoughts that seem forbidden to her, but she is able to record them on tapes for other generations.
Offred initially feels a sense of loss due to her position as a fertile woman since the independence and individuality she once enjoyed has since been stripped from her by the Republic of Gilead. It is only through rebellion that Offred is able to slowly regain her sense of self and reject the role that Gilead forces her into. By rebellion, however, it is often more dangerous for the perpetrators than to the government’s grip on the people. Offred’s societal role as a handmaid in Gilead forces her to first obey, then causes her to question, which finally allows her to realize her
At the same time, the Historical Notes reveal that other records of those who lived in Gilead also exist (346). Though Offred has never participated in a coordinated regime subversive activity, her story, along with those of other survivors, now form a polyphony of resistance. Storytelling in The Handmaid’s Tale performs various functions: it is Offred’s way of resistance, her survival strategy, her intellectual pastime, and a testimony to the future. By telling herself stories she escapes into memories, shape and change her experience, and substitute the lacking communication. She uses storytelling to preserve herself, to validate her existence, to prove her life matters.
It isn’t love” (58). Offred reveals that she does not feel any love for her Commander, although she is supposed to hate the man she is forced to have sexual interccourse with, she knows its not not hate or love. The wives of the Commanders are present during the time of the sexual intercrouse, the humiliation the Handmaids are put through further reveal how women are oppressed in Gilead; however, the Handmaids are not the only women who suffer through this awkward moment, the wives must deal with other women having sex with their husbands. The narrator awaits for a letter that seems to be crucial to her as that message is what essentially keeps her
