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journeys in handmaids tale

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Journeys Essay We learn from the journeys we take, through experience, not from the destination itself. This statement is supported by both Margaret Atwood’s fictional dystopian novel ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and Oliver Stone’s crime fiction film ‘Natural Born Killers’. Through the use of multiple techniques Atwood makes it clear that the protagonist Offred undertakes inner and imaginative journeys during the course of the novel and learns from them. Likewise, Stone uses an array of film techniques to convey both physical and inner journeys. Both texts are formed so they unfold gradually taking the viewers on a journey and it becomes evident that there is much to be learnt from journeys. In The Handmaid’s Tale, symbolism is one technique…show more content…
The audience learns from the journey and it is clear that Offred learns from the inner journey she takes from the transformation in her behaviour from a passive character to a more outspoken aware character by the end. There is more to be learnt from the journey than the destination since the final destination of Offred is ultimately unknown because of the way the novel finishes. Natural Born Killers is a satirical film about two victims of traumatized childhoods, ‘Mickey’ and ‘Mallory’, who become psychopathic mass murderers who are over glorified by the media. The journey they take is itself a physical one, the two murderers travelling across Route 666 on a killing rampage however the characters also experience inner journeys. There are techniques the director has used to present these journeys. The film is a satire and makes a strong statement about the media and violence in today’s society. This text is very comparable to The Handmaids Tale because of the similar techniques such as symbolism and biblical intertextuality. As in the Handmaid’s tale, Flashback is a technique used in this text which gives us context for the journey of the main characters. There is a flashback scene which shows us what Mallory’s childhood was like. The scene is set in Mallory’s house with her family at breakfast. The mis-en-scene of the set makes the audience feel as if it is a very typical family set. Her father makes abusive comments and makes
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