ipl-logo

The Use Of Motifs In The Handmaid's Tale

1441 Words6 Pages

This gives the reader a greater understanding of one way in which the Party controls the citizens of Oceania, through the abolishment and manipulation of history. Perhaps the most significant literary device found in the novel is the use of motif. As the mathematical equation 2 + 2 = 5 is repeated throughout the novel it becomes a motif linked to the theme of psychological independence. ‘In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it.’ Winston considers the Party’s exploitation of its fearful inhabitants as a means to supress the intellectual notion of objective reality. ‘For after all, how do we know that two and two make four?(…)Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable – what then?’ This same concept is repeated throughout the novel and is once again used at …show more content…

Religious references are a recurring motif throughout the novel. As Gilead is a theocracy—a government in which there is no separation between state and religion - the Gileadean vocabulary repeatedly incorporates religious terminology and biblical references. This provides a ubiquitous reminder that the founders of Gilead act on the authority of the Bible. This then causes a manipulation of Christian values in order to fit the goals of the regime. For example the use of Handmaids is justified by a reference to the Old Testament where Abraham impregnates his domestic servant with his wife’s permission since she is unable to reproduce. The ultimate irony of Atwood’s fiction world is that Gilead is a theocracy where not one person is devout and where notions such as faith have no meaning. A supposedly profoundly Christian society turns every citizen into a sinner as in order to exist within the system each character becomes a liar and a

Show More
Related
249 Words | 1 Pages

The religious topics that O’Connor focuses on in her writings present controversial and confusing ideas. Many of O’Connor’s spiritual messages and biblical allusions

Read More
1068 Words | 5 Pages

Literary Analysis ENG2106 Student name: Li Michaela Bernice Student ID: 4002551 Word count: Grace and sins Flannery O’Connor was a Southern author from America who frequently wrote in a Southern Gothic style and depended vigorously on local settings and bizarre characters. Her works likewise mirrored her Roman Catholic faith and regularly examined questions of morality and ethics. She created violence in the end of both “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Everything that Rises Must Converge” to put the stories to the end. She asserted that she has found that violence is strangely capable of returning her characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace, and also violence is the extreme situation that best reveals who

Read More
1466 Words | 6 Pages

“Her characters, who sometimes accept and other times reject salvation, often have a warped self-image, especially of their moral status and of the morality of their actions” (Hobby). This addresses how some of the important lines in the story describe to the reader about the extreme exaggeration and the psychological realism of the church, which O’Connor wanted to express within her story. The extreme use of exaggeration and how the use of the characters bring a sense of an uncanny feeling of good and evil within each character, portrays how deep the meaning is seen in this short story.  “the story is filled with dark, grotesque humor created largely by the story 's many ironies” (Hobby). The author of this source highly emphasizes that O’Connor creates this dark humor for her characters to build on her meaning in the story and uses irony to create the distortion within her

Read More
856 Words | 4 Pages

One of the factors used by the characters in the two novels for their survival is conformity. An example of conformity that plays an important role in the two novels is clothing. In The Handmaid’s Tale, the classifications of each individual are conformed by different clothing. The Handmaids wear red dresses, Marthas wear green, Wives wear blue, Ecowives wear stripes dresses of the three colours, and Commanders and the Angels wear black clothing. According to Offred from The Handmaid's Tale, “The wings too are prescribed issue; they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen” (Atwood 9).

Read More
897 Words | 4 Pages

" This makes the readers think that Mrs. Hopewell will go through the same experience in order to destroy her confidence and control to use Mrs. Freeman. As readers, we should think differently when we read a story especially Ms. Flannery O’Connor's stories. We should not think that she is mocking religion, as she is a religious person herself. There can be instances where we feel like we want to be able to feel or experience the story itself. What we don’t see in the story is how Ms. O'Connor's characters used the idea of religion, how all are equally guilty and showing hypocrisy, at the same time become aware to their

Read More
1108 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the protagonist, Offred, expresses her wish that her “story [is] different,” that it is “happier,” or at least “more active, less hesitant, less distracted” than it is ultimately portrayed (267). However, as her story is told, these characteristics are evident in the way she talks and acts, especially around those with authority. Hesitant to express her true thoughts and feelings, and distracted by memories from her previous life, Offred attempts to piece together her role in the society that has taken her freedom. The result is a compilation of moments, of memories, both from her present, her past, and even speculation about her future.

Read More
1103 Words | 5 Pages

The topics of disobedience and death are still very much prevalent in the story, however, O’Connor gives them a much deeper meaning that the reader must search for. The meaning of both of these topics is in relation to sin and straying from the path of God. Flannery O’Connor, a faithful Catholic, makes use of deliberate symbolism and biblical references to illustrate a grotesque story that focuses on the sins of humankind and the hypocrisy of many churchgoers. Flannery O’Connor’s faith is an important element in the truth and meaning of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”. O’Connor was known to be a devout Christ-follower all of her life.

Read More
836 Words | 4 Pages

In face of severe situation, people often feel relief when they think of happier, simpler times in order to alleviate the severity. In the fiction novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, a theocracy government controls every aspect of life in order to produce the best result of its plans. At the beginning of chapter 12, Offred takes a required, but luxurious bath because she can take off the burdensome wings and veils. While she bathes, Offred remembers her daughter from the past and a time with her family. Atwood compares Offred’s past and present through imagery, tone, similes, and symbolism combined with parallel structure to highlight the vulnerability of women to their surroundings.

Read More
1888 Words | 8 Pages

The Fear Itself "Fear is a powerful stimulant" (Atwood 268). The novel Handmaid 's Tale is a story that takes place in a dystopian society where in order to increase the fertility rate women who are able to have children are distributed across the country and are encouraged to have babies from the Commanders. Like most of the dystopian novels, the focus of the story is how people are oppressed in the name of fear. Fear is used as a controlling mechanism to keep people in check and stop them from rising up. In the book, fear is too strong of a feeling that it creates the base of most of the emotions and actions.

Read More
1410 Words | 6 Pages

Symbolism can be defined as the use of symbols that an author uses to suggest more than the literal meaning of the object .Symbolism often allows the reader to understand the text better and connect with the story on a different level. In The Handmaid’s Tale, symbolism can be seen in various parts of the novel. One of the most common type of symbolism that can be identified in the text is through the use of colours. One of the most obvious symbols in the novel is the uniform that every Handmaid is supposed to wear.

Read More
2035 Words | 9 Pages

Works of literature often portray ideas relating to Marxist theory, this is why in a dystopian society, class distinctions dominate the social climate, using Marxist ideologies as a tool to define the lives of the narrator and those around her. In Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, ideologies from Marxist theory dominate the society in which Offred, the narrator, lives in, evidenced by the strict class systems and limited interaction between them. In writing the novel, Atwood makes a point to create a world that could exist using technology and ideas already accessible in today’s society, meaning the events that take place in The Handmaid’s Tale could happen in present day. Offred lives in a reality where class distinctions dominate society, and women, especially fertile women. These women are displaced downwards, although there are those women who attempt to resist the grip of society.

Read More
1837 Words | 8 Pages

This essay will discuss how The Handmaid 's Tale by Margaret Atwood and Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler represent religion. The Handmaid’s tale In the handmaid’s tale, The republic of Gilead is a fundamentalist Christian theocracy, meaning there is no separation between the state and religion. Gilead is built on the biblical idea that men are more important than women. The bible also has an important role in the naming of objects, buildings and people.

Read More
802 Words | 4 Pages

The majority of people ask the same question at some point in their life; who am I? The concept of identity is something many wrestle with their whole lives. Other individuals are confident of who they are. The Handmaid’s Tale follows a society that is stripped of individuality and identity. This question can no longer be asked because it cannot be answered.

Read More
988 Words | 4 Pages

In the 1980s, United States was experiencing the rise of conservatism. Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, conservative religious groups were gaining popularity. In response to the social and political landscape, Canadian author Margaret Atwood published a fictional novel The Handmaid’s Tale in 1986; a genre of dystopian novels. The storyline projects an imaginary futuristic world where society lives under oppression and illusion of a utopian society maintained through totalitarian control. Dystopian novels often focus on current social government trends and show an exaggeration of what happens if the trends are taken too far.

Read More
1472 Words | 6 Pages

Satire is used in literature to criticize and point out society’s flaws. The criticism is usually masked in humour. Irony is commonly used in satires to expose flaws, an effective example is John Smith’s A Modest Proposal, he effectively uses irony, to communicate his argument about the poverty in Ireland at the time. Similarly, in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale she criticizes the society that women live in. Atwood uses allusions to the Old Testament, Cultural Revolution, Salem Witch Trials, and the Taliban to satirize the oppression of women in political, religious and social aspects.

Read More

More about The Use Of Motifs In The Handmaid's Tale

Related Topics

Open Document