Monday, November 5, 2007

The Handmaid's Tale- Analysis & Thoughts

One of the most prominent themes in The Handmaid's Tale is the use of language for power. Men are viewed as the most important, and so are classified by their military rank. They each have their own names and so keep their identity. As for women, their names are stripped from them. Women are classified by their gender roles like Wife, Martha, and Handmaid. This erasing of names serves one purpose, to take away ones individuality.

Some women are also unfortunate enough to be dubbed 'Unwomen' and deformed children become 'Unbabies'. These people are seen as unclean and evil, less than those around them. Language has set them apart from the rest of society.

Women are also forbidden to read. This puts them at a disadvantage and makes them less then men. Men suddenly become more intelligent and more powerful then women because of this one thing. In the world of the Handmaids, they are not even allowed to have a constant name like the Marthas and Wives. Handmaids are made to take on the names of the Men they are stationed with. Their names show the Man's possession being Of___ the man's first name. This takes away their identity and makes them not a person but an object, and with each new station they loose their old name and become someone else's name, someone else's property.

Greetings are also predetermined, you must say the correct greeting or you will me seen as disloyal. African-Americans and Jewish people are also refereed to differently, which singles them out and allows them to be further persecuted for who hey are. Gilead has complete control over all its subjects, especially the women, because they have control over their names.

In one scene Offred is able to overcome the system and play scrabble with her commander. She is able to use language, and so has the upper hand. Through the words she spells you can see how she really feels and what she is thinking. These words give her power that she normally doesn't have. This is a perfect scene to see how language really does control this society.



This book was one of my favorites. It was right up there with Anthem. I found it easy to relate to and more believable than most of the other books that we have read. Atwood successfully got her message across to the readers. Her views on feminism are quite apparent throughout the novel and her biblical allusions justify her stance. Though Atwood's details and descriptions she is able to convey a picture of a corrupt society that has very little morals. She is able to show us what can happen, even if it is just a tad far fetched. Although the ending of the novel is not what I had expected ( I wanted her to get out) it served its purpose and i found the historical notes at the end to be very interesting, they might have been one of my favorite parts. The historical notes really showed how we could be viewing events that happened years ago completely wrong, and that we should show more respect for the people that had to endure different events. We should respect those hurt in the past and being to learn from their mistakes. This book also make me want to say that women should stand up for themselves more, because we are just as good as men, we should not be degraded just because we are not like them. We should fight for the rights we deserve.

The Handmaid's Tale- Quote- I believe in you

"By telling you anything at all I'm at least believing in you, believe you're there, I believe you into being. Because I'm telling you this story I will your existence. I tell, therefore you are. So I will go on. So I will myself to go on."(268)

This quote made by Offred i found to be of peculiar importance, not just to the characters in the book but to people as well. Offred, after basically cut off from society and social contact feels totally and utterly alone. Humans are by nature social creatures and although they do like their privacy, they also like company. Offred only has solitude. She is not allowed to talk unless spoken to, and even then she must answer not with what she feels or wants to say, but with what she is trained to say. Without an outlet to vent out to like a person or diary (reading and writing were out of the question for women) it is easy of one to go insane.

Offred's situation is much like the one from the well known movie, Cast Away. Without anther person to talk to, to relate to the main character- Chuck Noland- is unable to hold onto his sanity. Noland feels alone, scared, and miserable. To solve this problem, he makes a friend in a beach ball- Wilson- whom he creates to substitute for the lack of human contact on the island. Wilson becomes his best friend whom he talks to and relieves himself of his stress and worries. Offred does a similar thing in her thoughts. She creates an audience, a friend, a reader, to keep her sane. By believing in the reader she is able to make it through. The reader becomes her closest and most trusted friend. Although she is not sure if we even exist, just the thought of letting her feelings go, of breaking the rules and coming into contact with another person is enough to keep her going.

Through this quote it also becomes apparent how important social contact is to humans. Without this contact one feels totally alone. To believe in other people is to believe in yourself. Everyone needs a buddy in life to make them feel good, to spill their heart out to. Offred is at the end of her rope. She desperately needs someone to believe in, to believe in her. Because we are there for her, she is able to go on. Our presence in her mind is enough to motivate her to keep going. Everyone needs a support system, and we as reader are that to Offred.

We- Analysis and Thoughts

Yevgeny Zamyatin's novel, We, has been by far my least favorite novel. I found the whole situation and plot of the book far fetched and irrational. Although it did do its part to show the ultimate failure of Utopias I did not like the novel because I could not relate to it. I find that in order to truly enjoy a book you must be able to relate to it. I am not saying however, that We was a bad novel, it was well written and got its point across, I just am not interseted in this genre. As for showing the unlimited failure of utopias, We is one of the best. While reading this novel it becomes clear that forcing people into a certain way of life, forcing them to abide by predetermined schedules, and forcing them to accept the laws set before them inevitably leads to a society's downfall. You cannot have happiness without feeling sorrow, and you cannot be free but have no free will. D-503 and the citizens of One State are forced to feel the way they do, and they cannot think on their own. Because of this, the society has already failed them, and as shown, this leads to a society's downfall. We has an important that we should all abide by- think for yourself, embrace who you are, because individuality can set you free and that is the best utopia there is.

As for an analysis, I found the Benefactor to be an extremely interesting character. The Benefactor is god in all but name. His name is enough to strike fear and praise into those that hear it. Very few people in One State have ever seen the Benefactor in person, yet all have heard about his ways and his persona and fear him. I saw this as a direct connection to God because very few people had ever seen and come into contact with him, yet people still follow and praise him with no hard proof that he even exists.

The Benefactor also has the power to create and destroy, much like god. The Benefactor is able to create fear, rules, and laws, and he is able to destroy life and anything he creates. This brings up another good point- the Benefactor is seen and refereed to as a male character, not just in the book but when discussed in class. I do not remember reading anything that stated that the Benefactor was a man, yet from the description of its hand and voice we are to assume that it is indeed, male. This goes the same way for god. Yes, we have the bible that says that God is a male, but what if it is wrong? The bible was not written by God himself, no picture of him was included, no one in our lifetime has seen him in the flesh, so how are we to me sure? Without even seeing God, people show their allegiance to him, much like how people showed allegiance to the Benefactor.

God is also able to create and destroy. He can create and destroy life, he can bring about or take away happiness, much like the Benefactor, he has ultimate control. People look up to the Benefactor of leadership and guidance, much like how people look toward religion today. In this way, I see the Benefactor as a reference to God and our spiritual connection to him.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

We- Quote

"What's going on? A soul? Did you say, a soul? What the hell! Next thing you know we'll have Cholera again. What did i tell you? I told you so... we should operate on all of them, on the imagination. Extirpate the imagination. Surgery's the only answer...nothing but surgery..."

When I first read this I found it rather comical. It's a funny thing to get worked up over, a soul, the imagination. But the more I started to think about it, the more it became clear to me that it could be a scary thing. I mean, its intangible, you cannot grasp it, you cannot touch it, you cannot see it. I can understand how it can be seen as a threat. A soul and an imagination make everyone unique, which in a Utopia where everyone should be equal, being unique can clearly be a problem.

It is also funny how a soul is being related to Cholera, a painful and deadly disease. A soul is neither painful nor deadly. Yes, a soul allows one to experience pain but it does not bring it upon them. Also, a soul is not deadly, your soul cannot come out and harm people.

This quote also shows how little the doctors really know and understand the human body. Yes, there are certain parts of the brain that do certain jobs, like create imagination, but that is not their only function. By operating on these people the doctors could be putting themselves at more risk down the road. Not only this, but taking away imagination does not take away the soul. They are two different things, yet the doctors see them as one. Soul is not something that can be removed. It does not have a specific location in the body, it is everywhere, it is you. Yet these doctors do not see it, or they do not want to see it, it is hard to tell which. Surgery cannot solve all of your problems, and not all of your problems can be solved by surgery.

Fahrenheit- Analysis and thoughts

In Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451, I found one character to be especially intriguing. This character is none other than Montag's wife, Millie. Millie is a kind of 'comparative character', her main purpose in the novel is to show the reader how extremely different Montag is from the rest of society. Millie is also the only other person that we get to know with the same exact views and outlook on life as the rest of society. Because of this, it is easy to speculate that Millie represents society as a whole.

Millie is not her own person. She lives by what society says is right and wrong, and she views others who stray from this view as dangerous. Millie is nothing more than an empty shell of a human being, a drone if you will. She allows herself to be filled with what everyone wants her to be, not who she wants to be. Society is against reading and so Millie is to. Millie is in fact afraid of books and when in one scene she touches one with her foot, she cringes and pulls it away. Her reaction to the book is much like society's, utter fear and repulsion.

Millie is also devoid of most emotions, just like society wanted. She cannot comprehend certain aspects of her feelings, she cannot ascertain their deeper meanings. At one point in the novel she explains that when she is angry she likes to drive fast in the country, ans sometimes hit dogs or cats. To most readers this is horrifying since we have been brought up in a society that finds this action morally unsound we find it hard to understand how killing can make one happy. Millie has been brought up in a world that does not require human emotion, especially human sadness. Even the death of another person does not affect her, she just basically shrugs her shoulders and changes the subject, just like the society wanted people to be able to do.

Millie is a mirror through which society is reflected in the novel. Millie was shallow and heavy, holding Montag back. When Millie is killed at the end of the novel it is as if Montag has overcome society's hold on him, for society died with Millie's death.


Although this was not one of my favorite novels, i did not totally dislike it. I personally am not a big fan of sci-fi and so decided early on that i was not going to like the book, but once I started reading it I found it to be better than I had anticipated. I found that it contained many similarities to today's world, which in some ways was rather frightening. I also liked how the book was not so futuristic that it became hard to relate too. This is one of those books that the more you think about it, the more it seems to grow on you and you realize the similarities and importance that it has to today's society. Bradbury was able to find the weaknesses in society and effectively portray them and their consequences Fahrenheit 451.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Anthem- Symbols

One of the most prominent symbols in Anthem is light. Light is known to represent truth and knowledge, hence the light bulb over the heads of cartoon animations. In the novel, Equality and Liberty are the knowledgeable ones and so the names that they choose for themselves show this inner light. Equality becomes Prometheus, the god and bringer of light, while Liberty becomes the Golden one.

The city that Equality and Liberty live in is shroud in darkness. Everything from the buildings to the color of the peoples clothes are neutral colors, like white grey and brown. The only means of light for the people comes from candles which, in reality, provide very little light. This lack of light and color makes everything blend together, nothing is bold and different, everything is equal. When Equality shows the Scholars his discovery of light, they are fearful and unexcepting. This could be because light reveals things that people try to hide. It is hard to blend in when everything is illuminated. The light penetrates their frail society and shows the weakness in their ways. The light reveals their errors, much like how light on a mirror shows smudges. Once the cover of darkness is pulled back, the people do not like what they see and are scared, wanting to run away from the light and plundge back into the concealing darkness where they can inevidably hide from themselves.

While society does not accept the light, Equality and Liberty are not afraid, and so step towards it. By excepting light for what it is, Equality and Liberty embrace individuality and knowledge and break away from the rest of society. Through the help of light, both Equality and Liberty are able to see themselves for who they really are, it is like their own 'becoming of individuals'.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Anthem- Quote

"Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a bandage for their wounds, I am not a sacrifice on their alters"(95).

This is one of my favorite quotes from Ayn Rand's Anthem. I found it to be a very empowering part of Equality 7-2521 speech, and one with a very important message, not just for the characters in the book, but for readers as well. Just by learning the word 'I' Equality was able to realize that he is an individual, and can stand on his own two feet. He came to realize that he can make choices for himself and that he is his own person. I think that today, people forget that they are individuals who can make choices on their own. We constantly follow trends set before us and we let other people use us for their own needs. We should not give up ourselves and our individuality for the sake of others. We should live for ourselves, make our own path in life, and help others that need it along the way. We should not take advantage of others, or let others take advantage of us. People are not servants to one another, like they were in Anthem, people are servants to themselves. It is not your responsibility to help others climb the ladder of success, it is your responsibility to help yourself climb. Equality has realized that he should not sacrifice his hopes and dreams, who he is, and what he is capable of, just so he can be of use to others. People should not be the scabs that help others heal, people are completely capable of healing themselves. Equality's speech is one that everyone can learn from, and everyone should listen to. Individuality is extremely precious, and should not be taken advantage of.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Acrobat

U2's song "Acrobat" and Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale have striking similarities. Both works seem to focus on a girl that is opressed through choices that she did not necessarily want to make. Many of the topics discussed in "Acrobat" correlate directly to The Handmaid's Tale, making this song a perfect reflection of the thoughts and situations Atwood's novel.

The two opening lines in U2's song "Don't believe what you hear/ Don't believe what you see" were a direct connection to Atwood's character, Offred. Offred did not want to believe that the world she knew had changed so drastically. She did not want to believe that her role in society had been reduced simply to how she preformed her duty of childbearing. Offred did not want to believe in this world that she saw before her, where men where hung because they were pro choice. Offred tried to ignore these things and tried to keep believing that things were bound to change. Another line that correlates with the novel is "When I first met you girl/ You had the fire in your soul/ What happened to your face/ Of melting in snow". These lines describe how Offred's fiery nature, and love of life have slowly drained from her. She no longer fights for her rights, or for how life used to be. Offred has conformed to everyday life in the society that has be forced upon her. She has become lifeless, excepting things as they come, instead for fighting for them as she would have done in the old United States.

Another shocking similarity comes from the lines "You know that your time is coming round/ So don't let the bastards grind you down". As a handmaid, Offred has only so much time to do her duty of reproducing. The stress of not being with child, and the shame of not doing your duty surely brings some women to the brink of insanity, or at least into silent shame. This verse also brings into account the ceremonies that Offred had to go through once a month. She knows when it is time for the ceremony, and although it is an awful thing, she must not let it get the best of her, she must stay strong.

One of the most important things to Offred, and probably the one that kept her sane, was her mind. Offred was free to think what she wanted, when she wanted, it was probably the only thing that she had left that was under her control. The line from "Acrobat", "And you can dream" reflects the importance of this one last free will, free action. A line that directly correlates with this is, "And you can find/ Your own way out". Offred's dreams, her thoughts, her 'mind scenarios', where her way out. They were her way to escape the confinements of being a Handmaid, and losing all her rights as a women. Through her mind, she is able to go anywhere she wants, be anyone she wants, see anyone she wants. Offred's thoughts are the things that her keeping her sane in this world where she is considered nothing but a reproductive object.

As you can see, U2's song and Atwood's novel are extremely similar in their content, as well as their scenarios. Both women are treated similarly; it might as well have been the same person writing both the novel and the song. These two works go hand in hand, and the song helps to further describe The Handmaid's Tale.