The Reconstruction Of Language In Gilead : The Reconstruction Of Language In The World

A “want” is often described as a strong desire for something while a “need” is a necessity or something required because of importance. In The Edible Woman and The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood explores the world in which men are the center, and women are merely extras in society. In both novels, the female protagonist has her practical needs met, but her more fundamental need for freedom and love is not met, at least not initially. It takes a willingness to rebel against society—a culture controlled by men—to secure those more basic needs. In the end, both protagonists attain complete freedom through the love they find during the novel.

One way she covers this is by highlighting Morrison’s disregard for censorship in her work. By presenting us with the raw truth, Morrison’s novel becomes all the more compelling. The author wants us to be condemned by her work; she inspires us to think deeper on its roots. Morrison accepts black history for what it is and therefore can use her work to express her opinion and take a stand for her beliefs. This article shows us the power of censorship and the strides we could potentially make if we were to cast it aside when dealing with things like

Inevitably, since the Standard English was as illimitable as any language even though it belonged to the oppressor, the need for exclaim to reclaim the language from the oppressor in order to rebound the community and have an identity again has bursted from the confinement, hence the Southern black vernacular has formed: it was the oppressors language twisted, bended and used against him ironically as a weapon. According to hooks, this ill-formed, incorrect version of English must be seen as a valuable uprising that bears the changing power. By embracing an intersectional approach to oppression, particularly focusing on feminism and gender, it can be said that hooks’ essay is an inspiration to understand and reshape the link between relations of dominance and language further. While the framework of her ideas on language corresponds with many aspects of women writers such as Helene Cixous and Adrienne Rich; there are certain points that her arguments stand out as more inclusive on the concept of oppression. Moreover, deriving from her ideas that Southern black speech as an illustration of reclaiming the language , one can see striking resemblances between the case of the vernacular speech and the Queer jargon as both movements are trying defatigably to tear the power relations that has deep roots in

In “Mommy, What Does Nigger Mean?”, author Gloria Naylor explains throughout her piece that reality shapes language and language can shape reality. Naylor explains this, “chicken or the egg dispute” (Naylor 1) through her experiences with the word nigger. Gloria explains how she starts on one side of reality and shaping her language, then comes to another understanding from the boy in her third grade class. Language can be how words are used, what their meaning is and the purpose behind that selection of words. Reality is everyday life and experiences. When in third grade Naylor encounters nigger as a racial derogatory when a boy said “nigger” to her while receiving graded tests back. To Gloria it was anything but a racial put down since

Esperanza’s neighborhood, home only to Mexican-American families, is separated from the rest of society. Many parents of these families were raised in Mexico, and although their children now reside in America, they still expect them to continue to practice the traditions of their initial culture. Esperanza, like many other young Hispanics, is thrown into this situation along with her siblings. She tries to balance holding on to the customs of her family with fitting in at school and among her peers. Despite her efforts to blend in, the severity of the segregation causes both the American and Mexican cultures to conflict each other. Esperanza senses the grudge between the two cultures and tells readers that “those who don’t know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we are dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives” (28). The Mexican-Americans in Esperanza’s community are regarded as lower class and threatening to the rest of society. As a result of this labeling, Esperanza will never be completely like her white American peers. The amount of influence coming from her home culture changes her in a way that is so unlike the Americans that she gives up trying to fit in. Instead, she decides to take the best of each culture and create her own way of living. To conclude, this novel distinctly explores the theme of two different cultures striving to mix together.

Control dominates all aspects of Gileadian society, from minor, seemingly petty normalities such as the clothes allowed, all the way up to how and who to have sexual relations with. Unimaginable in this day, Atwood represents modern society gone sour, something which is chillingly

In the civilized society that everyone lives in today, all languages and culture should be equal. That is the main idea in both Gloria Anzaldua’s essay, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, as well as James Baldwin’s “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?”. The authors in both these texts support their argument in various ways, and in doing so, manages to effectively persuade their audience. The ways that each author approaches their argument is different in their appeals, evidence, and styles. Similarities also exist between the texts of the two authors. The rhetorical strategies that Anzaldua uses makes her argument much stronger than Baldwin’s argument.

Moral behaviors, including taboos that are even are priority conflict areas in the modern world are highlighted in Margaret Atwood’s ‘created’ society. For example Gilead behaves in ways to increase tensions in the stories. Readers are therefore captivated by drawing them in to see the morals and the ethical values that they hold

It doesn’t take long to figure out that race and ethnicity issues continue to affect America - a quick glance at the news will show the latest riot, hate crime, or police brutality incident. This centuries old struggle has given rise to a number of literary works on the topic, many of which take a different approach to the issue. W.E.B. Du Bois, for instance, published the work The Souls of Black Folk in 1903, arguing for blacks’ right to equality in a horrifically segregated society. In these essays, Du Bois coined the term “double-consciousness,” wherein those with black skin must view the world both from their own perspective, and from the perspective of the predominately white society. The short story Recitatif by Toni Morrison explores this concept through the removal of the characters’ races, and the film Do the Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee, tells a story to demonstrate it. While the former shows double-consciousness through the usage of ambiguity, the latter almost directly references the concept. Taken together, these two sources argue a multi-faceted version double-consciousness, wherein society alienates the characters in ways that go beyond just the color of one’s skin.

Language is a communication system. It is one of the most unavoidable, as well as underestimated, elements of everyday life and it is questionably the most powerful medium by which humans interconnect with one another. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale demonstrates how language is able to facilitate power and in turn, dominate a society. In this novel Atwood creates Gilead, an imaginary futuristic society where women are completely stripped of their freedom. Although this type of society utilizes guards and spies to reinforce the regulations, the primary power relies in the government’s control of language. In the Republic of Gilead, Atwood uses an official vocabulary that is much different than the one we use today. This language is specifically designed to serve the needs of the society’s elite and it manages to overlook and distort reality. Not only does Atwood use a warped language, but she also color codes different groups because color is just as much of a language than anything that is said out loud. With the use of this coded language, Gilead creates a system of titles. Throughout this novel, Atwood assigns each group of characters with terms such as Handmaids, Commander, Aunts, Unwomen, as well as color-coding certain groups, and by doing so, she manages to exemplify the power of language and how it shapes and controls a society.

Millions of Jews faced persecution and death because of one man’s prejudice and his ability to convert much of the citizens of Germany to his destructive mindset. The sway words possess when a person wields them with the right amount of force horrifies the reader. Words culture hate and racism; they water the roots of bigotry. They cause humans to treat other humans as inferior trash. Words are a wild fire eliminating everything in their path.

This written task corresponds to Part 1: Language in Cultural Context, particularly about language and power. Inspired by a TV series aired on February 6, 2013 called Suburgatory ‘Body Talk’ written by Brian Rubenstein, this blog post titled “58% Broke, 42% Loaded” addresses one of the many uses of language, which is to exert power over others. This text type is chosen because a blog is tailored especially for teenagers and they tend to have more open opinions. Therefore, readers will get diverse standpoints that the traditional media, such as newspaper, radio, and magazines rarely offer. This task examines the way power is conveyed through language within spoken discourses to define identities and how the meaning of language is shaped by its

This demonstrates how Gilead’s enforcement of language causes both women to self-censor their speech, even when no one is watching. Rosch’s (1974) article of Linguistic relativity discuss how some individuals may feel trapped by their language into holding a particular worldview. In our third writing assignment it was required to observe an event that might be characterized as intercultural. Reading this novel feels most similar to the experience I had during the third writing assignment because as Offred is narrating her experience in Gilead, I am able to analyze the situation from an ethnographic perspective where a researcher would normally observe society from the point of view of the subject of the study. As a result, I discovered that differences among language contribute to how the world is constructed and in this case Gilead’s terminology limits what individuals can say and think in order for those with power to maintain control.

We have grown up surrounded by stories, stories about others, about the society, and about ourselves. However, we never truly considered the power behind narratives and why certain stories are told in certain ways. As Thomas King has written, “The truth about stories is that that’s all we are” (2). We, therefore, as a storyteller, has the power to shape our world using specific narrative, and our narrative of stories defines who we are. King’s comparison of narrative strategies between the aboriginal and Judeo-Christian creation stories demonstrated that our narrative not only dictates how we think but is also dictated by the values and beliefs that define us as a person. Supporting King’s claim, Margaret Atwood has defined her characters using distinct narratives. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred has told her story as a Handmaid in the Gilead society, which was later reinterpreted and analysis by Professor Pieixoto. The two drastically different narratives of the same story, as suggested by King, provided us with insights into the different values and beliefs held by Offred and Professor Pieixoto.

‘The history of language is often a story of possession and dispossession, territorial struggle and the establishment or imposition of a culture’ (Paulin 1987: 178).