The van drives me to the edge of town to a cabin. A gruff voice tells me not to move. Was this where they kept the prisoners? Is this how it ends for me? All I wanted to do was to be with Nick, have him hold me every night and actually feel love once again. Now here I am in an old abandoned shack. Paint peeling off the walls, no air conditioning, and no toilet. There was an outhouse, but the sign on the door says “Out of Order.” I am in hell. I try to distract myself from wondering what will come of me in the morning. The sound of the dripping water from the faucet keeps me up for a little while, but I eventually fall to sleep. Suddenly I am awoken by a loud banging on my door. This is it. My life is over. Opening the door, I see …show more content…
We drove right out of of Gilead and made our own little home in California. If only that was actually how it ended. I wish it was, what a great story to tell my daughter, right? The day after my daughter is born, I am gone, dead. The only reason they are keeping me alive is for my daughter. Serna Joy will get to keep her, and Nick will never know that she was actually his. I am not surprised; I did not obey the laws and now I will have to face the consequences. I hope the next Offred finds my note, “La rébellion est parmi vous. Allez le trouver.” Rebellion is among you. Go find it. In Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale language, love, and rebellion are three of the most important topics discussed. All three show up throughout the book within almost every single chapter. Language was hard to find. Love was basically unattainable. Rebellion was among the entire city of Gilead. In my creative piece, I expanded on language, love, and rebellion to show that Atwood was trying to tell us that all three are factors of our everyday lives that we all take for granted. Offred was lucky to have had the ability to read, write, and spell throughout the story. I had Offred write another note because within the story she found the note left by the last handmaid. It was only fitting for her to write one to the next girl. Also Offred was highly intelligent throughout the entire book and never lost her sense of faith, the word to which she
In “The Handmaid 's Tale” by Margaret Atwood, there is the addressing of freedom, abuse of power, feminism, rebellion and sexuality. The audience is transported to a disparate time where things normalized in our current society are almost indistinguishable. Atwood uses each character carefully to display the set of theme of rebellion within the writing, really giving the reader a taste of what the environment is like by explaining detailed interactions, and consequences as well as their role in society.
The Handmaid’s Tale is about Offered as she shares her thoughts and experiences in a journal-like form and provides some advice. Offred is a lower class female who has been taken from her husband and daughter at 5 years old to be a handmaid for the red commander at the red center. The point of this center is to reproduce with the Commander
Rebellion of an individual occurs when there is a difference of opinion. This conventional trait among society allows diverse ideas to be suggested and added upon for a better future and eventually an all around Utopia. Rebellious attitude is depicted throughout George Orwell’s novel 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale in a subtle, yet powerful way. The faint, disobedient remarks made by their characters suggest their hope in the future generations opposed to the present one. When a rebellious mindset comes in contact with an oppressed society with strict rules and regulations, the outcome suggests a better future through the realization of mistakes and unity for a common goal.
The color red is used prevalently in Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale as a motif to emphasize the dystopia world. It also serves as a symbol to represent several meanings. Many connotations are associated with the color red. Red illustrates positive feelings from love and passion to negative feelings such as anger and hate. Not only that, as Moses (2007) describes, it is a color which represents blood and violence, creates emotional intensity, and to some extent also “evoke erotic feelings” (p.35). Overall it can be concluded that the color red is deeply related with humans and “epitomizes human vitality and most above all, power.” (Roland, 2013). The role of red successfully creates dystopia in The Handmaid’s Tale by incorporating several symbolic meaning including fertility and love—themes related to the core of the story.
One of the many sad aspects of The Handmaid’s Tale is that the women who are subjected to abuse and discrimination soon comply with the roles that have been assigned to them, permitting abuse and exploitation against and amongst themselves. Atwood is not particularly hopeful about women as a means of changing the conditions in which they are living in this society. Even Offred’s eventual escape from the perverted system is more of a luck luck thing than determined will. Paying particular attention to the ending of the novel, this essay will argue that the author wants to call the reader’s attention to the problems that women suffer, but that she offers no solution or hope for change. I will be addressing three different literary devices in this essay; Repetition, Characterization, and Foreshadowing. I hope you enjoy.
How does Atwood presents the importance of language in The Handmaid’s Tale? Throughout the novel, we see evidence of indoctrination in all of the characters. This indoctrination process appears to be primarily carried out by Gilead’s manipulation of language among its residents. Language is a powerful tool in shaping our thoughts and how we behave; the control and exploitation of discourse in the regime shows us not only this, but also how language can provide power as well as take it away.
Neologisms and Biblical Language help to give new meaning to words that were heard before and are scattered throughout the novel, from beginning to end. With language resulting in so much of the woman’s freedom, the story quite frankly could go two ways. After Offred has her child (assuming she has one), she may find a new perspective in all of this and find her place in society, something that she has been searching for since she became a Handmaid. This would result in no social change, but would end the story as her
Throughout the first 15 Chapters we are provided with information, as narrated by Offred, with glimpses of her past life and her journey to the life she is now facing. These glimpses are not logical in their sequencing or chronological in the narration, therefore creating a feeling of disorientation among readers, a feeling matching that experienced by those living in this society. This also provokes many questions in the reader’s mind along with creating tension and expectation as to the nature of the procreation which we have come to
In “The Handmaids Tale”, author Margaret Atwood vividly illustrates the repulsive society of Gilead, that is strictly regulated by a Theocracy. In a Theocracy both religion and the government is one entity that rules under the teachings of the Bible and God. In Gilead, every inhabitant has an occupation based on gender and class that they must entirely devote themselves too. The authoritarian rule of Gilead disciplines many characters into being docile, obedient and submissive in consequence of modified communication. Gilead is able to drastically change and maintain order in this society by the manipulation and alteration of phrases. Through the perception of color, defined phrases and biblical ceremonies is that Gilead is able to suppress an entire society. Gilead imposes compliancy to a Theocracy by the use of the colored uniforms, defines freedom, biblical references and objects such as a wall.
Offred's Narrative in The Handmaid's Tale "Writing is an act of faith; I believe it's also an act of hope, the
The feeling of being trapped and controlled like a puppet, with the strings possessing you are the governments evil fingers. This is what Margaret Atwood's use of language makes the reader feel from her writing in “The Handmaid's Tale”. The Novel throughout the book carries almost a nostalgic tone to the past of what the Narrator once had in her life, and that was freedom. Freedom in the the book is a major topic because some citizens in Gilead saying there rights are a blessing and some citizens saying it is corrupt. Margaret Atwood's use
In her novel The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood addresses the concept of different expression of romantic love through the eyes of Offred, a woman who has lost almost all her freedom to a repressive, dystopic society. Throughout her struggle against oppression and guilt, Offred's view evolves, and it is through this process that Atwood demonstrates the nature of love as it develops under the most austere of circumstances.
Within history, societies have to try to find a balance between gender and class. Margaret Atwood writes about a country called Gilead: a society where women are broken down into classes while men control all the power. Throughout her dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood utilizes gender and class to alienate the protagonist, Offred, illustrating how women and their position within society are used as a political instrument to gain dominance.
Though the English language has its roots in a male-dominated society where the true meaning of words are now taken for granted. In The Handmaid’s Tale, language facilitates power. In order to effectively rule over class and gender the level of censorship on literature and control of discourses runs high. Atwood uses word choice to expose the shocking structures of the Gilead society and how faulty its foundations are as it was built upon gender inequality. The repercussions of gendered language are evident throughout the novel, implying that the sexist structure of Gilead is a result of oppressive language modern Americans accept and use in every day talk.
In Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood writes about a dystopia society. Atwood used situations that were happening during the time she began writing her novel, for example, women’s rights, politics, and in religious aspects. Atwood’s novel is relevant to contemporary society. There are similarities between Atwood’s novel and our society today, which lends to the possibility that our modern society might be headed to a less intense version of this dystopia society.