A Comparison of "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood and "Anthem" by Ayn Rand
A Comparison of "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood and "Anthem" by Ayn Rand The two novels, 'The Handmaid's Tale' and 'Anthem', are both haunting, first person tales of personal hardship in a closed and controlled society. In this essay I will point out many important similarities and differences between the two books, mainly the setting and the similarities between the two societies in which the stories take place, as well as more important differences between the main characters. To start, I would like to compare the settings of the two books. In 'Anthem' the story takes place sometime in the future after some catastrophic event. Apparently society as we know it was destroyed and the leaders that were left decided that the problem was the individual that all men are equal in all things and that anything that is created by one person is evil. This train of thought is carried to such and extreme that the very word "I" is removed from their vocabulary. An example of this is found when the main character, Equality-1329, re-invents the electric light. He shows his invention to the scientist and although this invention could improve the quality of life of the people it is deemed "evil" because he worked on his project alone. The society in this book is also strict and authoritarian to the point of dictating what your job will be, to whom you will have
How does the extract affect the whole story? ("The Persimmon Tree" by Marjorie Barnard)
Extract: "I liked the room from the first... anyone who appeared to have her life so perfectly under control." Question: How does the extract affect the whole story? The writer of the story "The Persimmon Tree", Marjorie Barnard, was born in Sydney. She was a novelist, historian, biographer as well as librarian in her lifetime. She wrote many books, and among them, A House is Built (1928) and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1947) are the best known (124 tutorial 30-10-01). Although "The Persimmon Tree" is generally thought to be a piece of subtle work, and we may find it difficult to get the hidden meanings of the words, Barnard has made it charming by associating different things. She entitles the story "The Persimmon Tree" partly because persimmons represent the narrator - a weak and lonely individual whose life is in sharp contrast with what Barnard describes, the "shadow of the tree", which represents the outside world. Barnard has delicately presented the narrator's complex feeling living between her "shell" and the outside world, and how the outside forces contribute to her reform in the end of the story. Obviously in the beginning of the extract, Barnard suggests that "shadow" does not merely mean "shade that is caused by an object [it is the trees in the story] blocking direct rays of light" (Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary: 1380). Barnard, in fact,
Explore the ways in which religion is presented and its importance in the Handmaid's tale.
Explore the ways in which religion is presented and its importance in the Handmaid's tale. Religion is presented in a numerous amount of ways in the Handmaid's tale. Christianity or Puritanism is the leading faith in Gilead and is portrayed as a controlling mechanism, which not only controls people's bodies but strives to control their minds. Inside Gilead biblical and religious references act as fundamental laws and polices towards the controlling regime of Gilead. The people within the regime of Gilead are subjected to harsh and rigid lifestyles. This is justified by the leaders of Gilead by the use of the bible. From Offred's perspective we can see the strictness of the regime that she lives in. For example "They can hit us there is scriptural precedent". Atwood clearly displays the theme of fundamentalism to demonstrate the ideologies of those that impose the rules Gilead. Offred's perspective often gives the reader an insight into how one would feel if put in the situation of having the regime of Gilead imposed on them. Offred describes some of her actions when she is alone in her room, "I can spend minutes, tens of minutes running my eyes over the print FAITH". This emphases to the reader the notion of hope and that if Offred is going to escape or survive the regime with her sanity intact she needs to have "faith". Weather that is religious faith in the religion she
What I have learnt so far about the Regime in 'The Handmaid's Tale'
Jessica Beavis 12 3.10.04 What I have learnt so far about the Regime in 'The Handmaid's Tale' The Handmaid's Tale establishes a regime, which has reduced life to a constant drear against the narrator, who can remember what it was like in, 'the time before', as she longs to rebel. The main character reveals the horrors of the totalitarian regime and her struggle for survival throughout these first four chapters, which is characterised by physical description. The novel begins with a direct sentence suggesting the past straight away and the word, 'we' implies that there was more than one and the character is speaking in the first person narrative. Indications of a change taking place is present as she quotes, 'we slept in what had once been the gymnasium'. She uses a detailed description of what had once been a gym, 'the pungent smell of sweat' and also describing the fashion times which progressed from the 1960's to the 1980's indicating a futuristic time. She narrates several flashbacks in the past tense, which distinguishes them from the main body of the story, which she tells in the present tense; 'later in mini-skirts, then pants, then in one earring, spiky green streaked hair'. She likens the gym to a 'palimpsest, a parchment either erased and written on again or layered
The epilogue is a transcript of a symposium held in 2195, in a university in the Arctic.
Historical Notes Overview... The epilogue is a transcript of a symposium held in 2195, in a university in the Arctic. Gilead is long gone, and Offred's story been published as a manuscript titled The Handmaid's Tale. Her story was found recorded on a set of cassette tapes locked in an army footlocker in Bangor, Maine. The main part of the epilogue is a speech by an expert on Gilead named Professor Pieixoto. He talks about authenticating the cassette tapes. He says tapes like these would be very difficult to fake. The first section of each tape contains a few songs from the pre-Gileadean period, probably to camouflage the actual purpose of the tapes. The same voice speaks on all the tapes, and they are not numbered, nor are they arranged in any particular order, so the professors who transcribed the story had to guess at the intended chronology of the tapes. Pieixoto warns his audience against judging Gilead too harshly, because such judgments are culturally biased, and he points out that the Gilead regime was under a good deal of pressure from the falling birth rate and environmental degradation. He says the birth rate declined for a variety of reasons, including birth control, abortions, AIDS, syphilis, and deformities and miscarriages resulting from nuclear plant disasters and toxic waste. The professor explains how Gilead created a group of fertile women by criminalizing
Discuss the presentation and importance of Moira and the narrator's mother in the novel 'The Handmaid's Tale'
Beth Jackson Discuss the presentation and importance of Moira and the narrator's mother in the novel 'The Handmaid's Tale' In the novel ' The Handmaid's Tale' Margaret Atwood uses both the characters of Moira and the Handmaid's mother to give a real insight of the Gilead regime, women's roles in society and how these roles have changed over the years. Atwood uses these characters to present two extremes of the feminist view. The character of Moira is strongly individual and represents the ideal of friendship in the novel. Throughout the novel Moira is referred to both in nostalgic memories of the handmaid, but also as a main character who challenges the regime .She is portrayed in the handmaids memories as a rebel even before the Gilead regime began 'in her purple overalls, one dangly earring, the gold fingernail that she wore to be eccentric. She could be classed a modern women experimenting with her sexuality and campaigning for issues through her education papers on 'Date Rape'. Atwood uses the character of Moira to comment on a particular type of young feminists that were active in the 80's. These extreme feminists believed very strongly that it was men that were the enemy. Moira is presented as a beacon of hope and normality for Offred when she is first is brought into the Rachel and Leah centre she is still wearing jeans and declares 'This is a loony bin' Moira,
Discuss the society of Gilead in the sections have read so far The society is based upon different classes, in some form of hierarchy. The society is very patriarchal, yet the society
Discuss the society of Gilead in the sections have read so far The society is based upon different classes, in some form of hierarchy. The society is very patriarchal, yet the society depends on what is done by the women. Among the top of the hierarchy are the Commander, Aunts, Angels and Guards. The Handmaids and Marthas are examples of the lower end of the hierarchy. This hierarchy is shown in the opening chapter when Offred describes that the Aunts. Despite the Aunts being the controlling forces in the hierarchy, they cannot carry guns. This is evident in the following quote: "No guns though, even they could not be trusted with guns." This shows that the Angels do not trust the Aunts. However the guards are trusted with guns as they are "specially picked" from the Angels. The hierarchy is evident in the fourth paragraph already, as it shows the lines of control from the Angels to the Guards and Aunts. The writer gives an image of the control the Aunts have under the girls by the "cattle prods" that they carry. This gives the reader an image that these handmaids are being controlled like livestock. From the opening paragraph it is clear that no verbal communication is allowed between the girls, or to any of the others. This would have probably been stopped as word of mouth may have incited a rebellion. It is evident that the girls have combated this restriction by
Handmaids - Explore the portrayal of Serena Joy and the Commander in the early part of the novel. Also estimate their characters importance in the novel.
Handmaids Essay: - Holly Blackham. Explore the portrayal of Serena Joy and the Commander in the early part of the novel. Also estimate their characters importance in the novel. Serena Joy is portrayed as a frustrated, hostile and rude woman who is full of hate; which in some respects you could say she is, but her character runs much more deeply than is first apparent to the reader. This is portrayed through her characters words, actions and pursuits in many different ways. An example of this is her frustration at the little amount of freedom she is allowed. Although when compared to a character like, Offred she has a lot of freedom, she feels she doesn't, 'It is a little thing, but in this household little things mean a lot.', 'Many of the wives have such gardens, it's something for them to order and maintain and care for.' By having a garden like this, and being allowed to take charge of it, and look after it, she feels this gives her some importance in the community. It is a distraction, a place of escape for her from the life that she leads, which is boring and she is not happy with. This is the only freedom she is allowed in the life she leads now, which although it doesn't mean a lot to her, it should be treasured because in Gilead to have freedom like that is unthinkable to most; this portrays Serena Joy to be a women who takes things and her status in the
Discuss The Variety Of Narrative Technique In The Handmaid's Tale
Discuss The Variety Of Narrative Technique In The Handmaid's Tale The Handmaids Tale is a novel that consists of more than one genre it falls in the categories of being a dystopian science fiction, an autobiography, a love story and even a feminist novel. There are many narrative techniques used here in the Handmaids Tale that make it very complex and original such as the use of flashbacks and the very fragmented narrative structure, all of which I will be discussing in this essay. The significance of the epigraphs at the beginning of the novel I feel set the readers up for the story about to be told, as the first epigraph (Genesis,30:1-3) talks about the use of the Handmaids by trying to justify the use of them by quoting from the bible. The second epigraph (A Modest Proposal) shows the cold-heartedness of people, the controlled sincere tone of this mad scheme he talks about parallels with the earnest fascination of Gilead, giving us a rough clue of the tough regime of the Gileadean society. The third epigraph (Sufi proverb) claims that no one needs to forbid anything that is undeniable even when in a desperate situation, the undesirable could be the solution. The deliberate confusion of the opening chapter where Atwood had chosen to hold back large amounts of information causing the reader to become curious and wanting to read more into the story, the narrator of the
How is Gilead presented to us over the opening nine chapters of "The Handmaids Tale"?
How is Gilead presented to us over the opening nine chapters of "The Handmaids Tale"? Everything we know about Gilead, we find out from a handmaid named Offred. The story was written to represent the future, but is now the past so is the historical present. Al the information we find out is released to us very slowly. The republic of Gilead is now under a dictatorship like totalitarian rule, which is highly patririarchal. The book is set out to be a fictive autobiography, and is written in a non-chronological order. This is to confuse the reader to show Offred's confused feelings in this society. The first things we find out about the rules in Gilead are referring to sexual, or any other feelings that may result in a person rebelling against the society. The handmaid's role in the society is very important, and they are given special "schooling" to teach them how to become good handmaids. This so called schooling is more a way of taking over their minds by means of indoctrination. At these places, called red centres, the women are treated more like animals than people "they had electric cattle prods slung on things from leather belts". This just shows how harsh the rules in Gilead are. Offred is a very strong character, and insists that she will not give in to the society "the door of the room-not my room-I refuse to say my". Her determination is not strong enough though,