Margaret Atwood's Duality

In the book “Dualed” by Elsie Chapman, we follow a 15 year old girl named West Grayer who lives in the city of Kersh. In this dystopian world, people are trained in advanced combat procedures and how to survive. In order to prove oneself that they are meant to live in this place, they are given an exact clone of themselves that is raised by a different family, that they must kill. West Grayer is your standard teen, long brown hair, average height, nothing to special. She lived with her brother Luc after the rest of her family died. And when Luc’s best friend, Chord, gets his assignment to kill his alt (his alternate) they go track him down. When they find him, Chord kills his alt, but not before Chord’s alt killed Luc. this sends West into

The example shown is able to prove that in the story Atwood’s personal views will affect the way the story is written and told. Overall, as shown in the story, Verna has had issues with her past husband showing a sense of revenge when she talks about him and how she felt, thus leading to emptiness and tiredness when thinking of these hard times. This sense of emptiness is the ending result of getting revenge. When Verna was assaulted by Bob when she was younger she remembers: '"it does leave an empty space, doesn’t it?' Bob says. 'A sort of blank.' Verna admits that it does.'" This example comes from when Verna was young and assaulted by her later admirer, Bob. Bob and Verna talk about how revenge will lead to emptiness later in life. Not only in “Stone Mattress,” but in Atwood's’ other stories she has the same central theme of needing revenge. Along with this work several of her other writing pieces are, “steeped in primal themes: the hero's journey, revenge, betrayal, gallantry, the outcast, the tragic” (Weller). Not to mention her most common themes all have to do with damage done to a character based on her themes of betrayal, tragedy, and most importantly revenge. Lastly, Atwood is able to use her point of view in her stories to bring out the most important and prominent themes that she is trying to reach.

'Stone Mattress' is a collection of short stories by Margaret Atwood that all have a very similar recurring theme. Though the four short stories analyzed are unrelated, they all examine the evils that exist in in modern society. Through this collection of short stories, both realistic fiction and fantasy, Atwood sheds light upon the evils that all people are capable of. Upon reading the short stories, the reader is able to connect with the characters, as the scenarios and characters are are relatable and engaging. The realistic fiction pieces within the novel such as The Dead Hand Loves You, Stone Mattress and The Freeze-Dried Groom narrate characters in situations that could very easily occur to anybody. It is no doubt that the internal dialogues

In “Gathering” by Margaret Atwood, the authors use imagery to describe the aging process of the people around her. She use many forms of imagery throughout her story, however there are some instances where her use of imagery really helps to portray her idea of what the aging process visually looks to her; this use of imagery is clearly seen when the author compares aging to” raw wood in a salt wind” (line 5). The authors uses the comparison of aging and the wood to create a image in the readers mind that is very recognizable, because most of her readers have either seen or know that when wood is left close to water especially salt water it becomes very soft and eventually disintegrates. The use of the wood near a salt wind this helps to give

Jeanette Winterson in her preface to Nightwood remarked “The language [in Nightwood] is not about conveying information; it is about conveying meaning.” It is hard to disagree with Winterson, especially taken in the context of Barnes not being able to communicate her feelings with people directly; it makes sense that she would communicate her feelings indirectly via her writing. In my attempts to explain Nightwood as a whole, that is its language, and the meaning that one can take from such a book, I find what draws me to this piece of literature aside from its complexity and richness are the way in which its characters, Felix Volkbein, Robin Vote, Dr. Matthew O’Connor and Nora Flood seek out one another in hopes that the one will fulfill the other’s desire. For the analytical discussion of the novel I would like to read the character Robin Vote, examine the locus of her abject, which is that place where the meaning between Object and Subject collapses the construction of the “I” (read: ‘identity’) and allows the character to experience and occupy the space of symbolic terror as she sleepwalks in and out of Felix and Nora’s

Primarily, their narratives are extremely technical, descriptive and yet deceptive- the sheer emotion, art and poetry in Atwood’s and Kent’s styles are enough to demand unconditional engagement from all audiences. Aside from the great literary standard of their stories, audience sympathy is also demanded as readers and secondary

Throughout her many years as a poet, Margaret Atwood has dealt with a variety of subjects within the spectrum of relationship dynamics and the way men and women behave in romantic association. In much of her poetry, Atwood has addressed the topics of female subjugation in correlation with male domination, individual dynamics, and even female domination over males within the invisible boundaries of romantic relationships. With every poem written, Atwood's method for conveying the message of the poem has remained cryptic. She uses a variety of poetic devices - sometimes layered quite thickly - to communicate those themes dealing with human emotion. In the poem, Siren Song, Margaret Atwood

One can suggest that Atwood has demonstrated a light and informal tone. The poem is more informal in its writing, leaning more towards intimate entertainment. In her writing, the author is able to capture the attention of her readers by giving real-life situations that one may relate to.

Atwood displays her feelings about not only the art of creative writing, but also the equally artistic act of living one's life to the

Also birth rates and sex are satirised in her novel with the same tactical precision as in the earlier satires. Margaret Atwood uses an indirect style comparable to an allegory to highlight important issues. “I am alive, I live, I breathe, I put my hand out, unfolded, into the sunlight. Where I am is not a prison but a privilege.”

The concept of dualism serves as the reason for the interconnection between women and nature. It is the process of forming identity through power. Analyzing western tradition of dualism, Val Plumwood(1993) states, “Dualism is the process by which contrasting concepts(for example, masculine and feminine gender identities) are formed by domination and subordination and constructed as oppositional and exclusive”(31). She puts forth certain key elements in dualistic structure, it includes culture/nature, male/female, master/slave, self/other, civilized/primitive, etc. According to her, Dualism is a relation of separation and domination inscribed and naturalised in culture and characterized by radical exclusion, distancing and opposition between

Margaret Atwood’s works have been categorized as feminist however she doesn’t consider herself a feminist, she argues that her work describes her art by the feelings she wants to portray in her stories.

There are many companies in the world today that put an idea of this perfect female body into the heads of women. These images lead to a faulty standard men hold of women and their bodies and that women strive to become. Margaret Atwood addresses the issue of the way men view the female body by writing her essay in the viewpoints of a male so the reader can better understand how the expectation men have of the female body is unrealistic. First, she uses an allusive comparison to show the male expectation of the female body and how it is objectified as if it were a doll that comes with accessories. Next, she uses an anecdote with defamiliarization to show how the way the father views a Barbie doll and the way it portrays the female body to young girls is hypocritical. Lastly, Margaret Atwood uses insidious diction to talk about how men not only view the female body as a product but how they also use the female body as a product which can be sold amongst businessmen. In The Female Body, Margaret Atwood uses many rhetorical devices to convey how the female body is viewed through the eyes of men.

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian poet and novelist. She was born in 1939 in Ottawa, Canada and has written over forty fiction books in addition to poems and critical essays (2013-17, Margaret atwood biography). Her book of poetry, The Journals of Susanna Moodie (1970) was inspired by a dream Atwood had of Susanna Moodie. Moodie was an English writer who immigrated to Canada in 1832 with her husband in order to secure a better life for her growing family. Atwood had read Moodie’s book Roughing It In The Bush prior to her dream that inspired her to write her own book of poetry about the immigrant woman. Moodie’s book is centered around six various stories that she wrote at different points in her life. Similarly, Atwood broke her book of poetry

Atwood portrays female gender of lacking dominance compared to men, thus conveying how women are used as a political tool for men’s advantage. In the novel, Offred is forced to quit her job allowing only her husband to work for both of them. She expresses