There are however shortcomings to this viewpoint and Atwood makes good use of these, what we read is filtered through one person’s perspective and coloured with that person’s biases and beliefs, we have interpret the bigger picture from the one sided view. These factors are compounded by the nature of the society Atwood has created and the personality Offred herself. Atwood makes the form of Handmaid’s Tale in a personal memoir, Offred is free to reveal all she wants, but she is very opinionated and judgemental, she doesn’t choose to take risks to change her life. This sheds light over her as not a very heroic character, she is not someone trying to rebuild or sustain a sense of self in the face of arduous circumstances. In chapter 11, Offred speculates about the missing cushions, “Faith, hope and charity” but this raises the question why she holds no hope in her herself to try and better her life, she has no faith in herself and ultimately sees no hope. ON THIS POINT- REFER TO MCMURPHY HEROISM, until he realises he could be committed! IMAGERY! And critical reference!
When we look at the characters’ surface appearances to deeper portrayals of them the chief gives us, we can see his value. Nurse Ratched may appear a smiling, middle aged woman to public relations, the chiefs makes us understand immediately she has something a monster about her. At first sight McMurphy we may think he was nothing more than a scarred veteran of too many bar brawls, but through Chief’s eyes, and so through ours, he is a saviour. In the novel it is clear that Kesey uses Christ symbolism to present McMurphy Christ stuff!
Even chief he gains status because we see him in such close detail. To the aides and other patients he is a towering but deaf and dumb and terrified Indian, we know that he is sensitive, intelligent, noble man a man well worth all McMurphy efforts to save him. Heroism imagery?
Atwood demonstrates through the narrative of how Gilead a repressive and authoritarian society debilates the human inner being and illustrated the challenge for women to maintain a sense of perspective on their place in a male dominated society. Atwood is focusing on how one’s self consciousness is constructed. “If it’s a story I’m telling then I have control over the ending. Then there will be an ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off…You don’t tell a story only to yourself. There’s always someone else”
Offred is trying to say that she has control over the ending, even though she is powerless in real life. Offred wants her tale to be known, she wants others to know about the conditions in Gilead, she wants a record that is bigger than any official account.
In One Flew Over… Kesey shows the disastrous results of society’s repressive forces and the attempt to secure victory for the individual. The characters in the hospital cannot cope in actual society. They have been beaten into submission, and their sense of self has been suppressed. They are like rabbits that need a fox to keep them under control. McMurphy is not permitted in a repressive society; he is strong enough to teach other patients about the forces around them. He refuses to meet the rules of conformity in an authoritarian society and he rebels against it. Chief Bromden’s observations presents McMurphy on a contrast to his own silent character. His character represents the submissive man challenging members of society, which McMurphy is presented as the exact opposite in his conflict with Ratched.
The conflict that Kesey depicts in the book is on two levels. The first level being between the patients especially McMurphy, and the hospital authorities especially Big Nurse. Before the arrival of McMurphy the patients are content to live under the thumb, when after the protagonist’s arrival, he shows them that they are worth more than the poor treatment they are receiving. On the second level, the novel conflict with the individual, depicted in the patients, and repressive forces of society, depicted in the hospital administration. Symbolically it becomes a conflict of good versus evil. Whereas in Handmaid’s Tale the conflict between the individual and society is much different, the situation Offred has been put in is more dangerous as any risks taken or caught in the act will commit her straight to her death, so it seems her response to her environment is better thought out, she doesn’t rebel or speak out, she is content and secretive. Unlike Mcmurphy, although he can face drastic treatments if he steps out of line, his rebellion is far more extreme yet he is not punished in a way so tragic as in Atwood’s novel and this is the difference in their response to their environments.
McMurphy’s response to the authoritarian environment is shown in his fight against the power and control Nurse Ratched enforces. An example of his response is shown in chapter eleven when McMurphy tries to lift the control panel, which is clearly too big for him, even though he fails to lift it, he is not intimidated by it’s size. This action underlines his battle to break the nurses rules and encourage the other men to not conform to her repressive regime. McMurphy is trying to break down the fox and help the rabbits to break free out of submission, he is acting as a catalyst against the environment, he comments on his efforts “But I tried though, ‘he says. Goddammit, I sure as hell did that much, now didn’t I?”
This highlights McMurphy’s efforts, showing he is stronger, and is capable to teach the other patients of how poorly they are treated.
More detail, title link!
Handmaid’s tale comparison!
McMurphy’s response to rebel against conformity is constant throughout the novel, this is seen in his wakening of the patients and getting them to react to situations, an instance of this would be when he requests to watch the world series, the lifting of the control panel helped him to gain the votes showing he has lifted up the men a notch to defy Ratched, the Chief presents this as lifting them out the fog and even finds himself being pulled out of the fog by raising his hand. Before Bromden saw the patients as defective. Now, with the help of a unified force against the mechanistic combine, he is beginning to see the established order as defective as well. Quote!
McMurphy’s defiance encourages the other patients into rebellion against gambling for cigarettes. He succeeds in drawing the other patients into rebellion against Ratched’s authority, because she forbids gambling. Furthermore, the incident with the towel reflects McMurphy’s faith in humour as a means to resist Ratched’s authority. He combines sexuality with humour. The symbolism of the encounter is heightened by his boxer’s, a gift from a college student who said that McMurphy was himself a literacy symbol. When he flaunts these boxers before Ratched, this enforces the reader that he serves as a prominent symbol within the novel.
Quote!
In contrast with One Flew Over… Offred’s response is not as heroic to that of McMurphy, as her attempts to not conform against Gilead’s oppressive environment. The cruel physical and psychological burdens of her daily life in Gilead torment her and pervade her narrative Quote! Offred’s rebellion is her first break from routine, which occurs when she visits the doctor and he offers to have sex with her to get her pregnant, suggesting that the Commander is probably infertile. However, she refuses. The doctor makes her feel uneasy, she finds his proposition is too risky she could be sent away if caught, but this is the first sign of trying to break away of what is expected of her, unlike McMurphy she is not prepared to take risks, she is too afraid at the outcome, she values her life, even considering the extraordinary situation she is in. But still it is a step up from trying to better the position she is in. Offred gets the opportunity to play scrabble with the commander, which is forbidden, since women are restricted from reading, and he allows her to look at old magazines. This is a very dangerous move by her as she could easily be caught or the Commander could be setting her up, she risks her position by having more of a social engagement with him, this underlines her efforts to defy the system of Gilead, this emphasises she is trying to improve her life and possible escape.
When Offred admits how unhappy she is, the Commander remarks, “(Y) ou can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.” This suggests that the regime in Gilead can only be sustained through repression of some elements through that society. This presents the Commander as a compassionate character; he is a symbol within that society but breaks minor rules as he feels pity towards her. Offred’s response to this!
Mc’s response in his context!
After time Offred still does not become pregnant, Serena, the Commander’s wife, suggests she sleep with Nick secretly, a Guardian, a low level officer assigned to the Commander’s home, that Offred has experienced much sexual chemistry with, however he may possibly be a member of the eyes or the underground Mayday, which determines her fate in the end of the novel. Serena proposes that they try to pass the child off as the Commander’s, and in return she would give her a photo of her daughter. The opportunity could be very dangerous for Offred as she risks getting caught and execution for going against the repressive forces. But in considering this, she is taking a greater chance to try and better her life and also get a picture of her daughter, a memory of her life pre-Gilead. In the midst of her covert sexual affair, Offred ignores Oflgen’s requests, another handmaid who is her friend and belongs to the subversive “Mayday”, in her requests to gather information for Mayday and risks her relationship with her only friend.
Overall, Offred’s gradual belief in herself t better her life and change her opinion of freedom leads to her decision to leave in the Eyes van, actually disguised as Mayday who have come to save her, she believes Nick and decides to leave, the build up to this decision has changed Offred’s belief in her sense of self, she has regained her individuality and the decisions she has made were well thought out even though she made certain risks which could of committed her to immediate death. She has bettered lifestyle rather than continuing to conform to Gilead’s authoritarian and oppressive forces. However, in One Flew Over… the novel ends in tragedy for McMurphy, the representative protagonist of the patients and the individual in society, is over come by the hospital authority. When he cannot be controlled by normal means, he is lobotomised. This act could be argued as pessimistic.
However, in Atwood’s “Handmaid’s Tale”, the novel closes with an epilogue from 2185, after Gilead has fallen, written in the form of a lecture. The professor explains the formation and customs of Gilead, and discusses the significance of Offred’s story, which has turned up on cassette tapes in Bangor, Maine. He suggests Nick arranged Offred’s escape but her fate after was unknown. Offred’s may have escaped to another country or possibly been recaptured.
In conclusion we should consider the term “outsider” becomes a term “hero” during times of mayhem and chaotic times. An accepted outsider can be an agitator in addition to a revolutionist of the common people.
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Bibliography
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