Compare how a sense of claustrophobia is built up in the Handmaids Tale and an Evil Cradling

This essay hasn't yet been marked by one of our teachers

You can view all our essays on The Handmaid's Tale that have been Marked by Teachers

The first 200 words of this essay...

Compare how a sense of claustrophobia is built up in both texts- Vicki Marks

Margret Atwood's fictive autobiography 'The Handmaid's Tale' And Brian Keenan's autobiography, 'An Evil Cradling' documenting his kidnapping by fundamentalist Shi'ite militiamen both present a sense of claustrophobia. Each novel presents tional. strophobia Keenan' the manifestation of claustrophobia within the protagonists. 'An Evil Cradling' presents Keenan's physical claustrophobia as a hostage and the emotional entrapment. Both authors successfully create a sense of claustrophobia whilst exploring the different situations of both protagonists.

Both Offred and Keenan's lifestyles appear even more claustrophobic in contrast to their previous lives. There is an asymmetry in the presentation of a sense of claustrophobia within and between the two novels. Whilst on the one hand, both writers deal with the notion of claustrophobia as having a negative consequence on their lives. On the other hand the life of the main protagonists before their captive state is presented with considerable differences. These differences are exemplified in the opening chapters of both texts. Keenan in his exploration of life before captivity seems to suggest life was not all that tranquil and certainly not without its problems before he was taken captive in the