Discuss how aspects of control are explored in
Discuss how aspects of control are explored in "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Chrysalids" Margaret Atwood and John Wyndham both write of distopian societies within the science-fiction genre to explore the varying ways in which society can abuse authority in order to gain control. This violent and dehumanising repression is used to create vulnerability and fear among the society as a method of control. The writers use the narrators Offred and David to explore the response to oppression and both its physical and psychological effects. Atwood sets "The Handmaids Tale" in the future with the significant setting of Cambridge, Massachusetts. This Puritan stronghold in the US colonial period had created a theocracy, much like Gilead itself. Wyndham also sets his novel in the future; the society of Waknuk is evocative of the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Adam-Troy Castro says "The Chrysalids" is a novel which "drives Harry Potter, it drives the X-Men, and it has driven a number of other stories about children who find out they are the next stage in Mankind's evolution". However, I do not think "The Chrysalids" only concerns the future and evolution, Wyndham uses this idea to explore the abuse of religion and control and also the narrow-mindedness of those who judge by appearance, a tendency that is still present today. Puritanism and the recurring symbol of the
In what ways can The Handmaids Tale be considered a feminist novel?
Handmaids Tale In what ways can The Handmaids Tale be considered a feminist novel? The Handmaids Tale is narrated by an oppressed woman, so it is to be expected that feminism becomes a recurring theme. Women have no rights or money unless they have a valid marriage to a man. They are given few options and if they are fertile they can become sex slaves and seen as a womb on legs to Commanders or choose to go to the colonies. Infertile women or unwomen are seen as having no use so they automatically go to the colonies where they will die from disease or radiation. Their use and status is totally dependent on their relationships with men and ability to have children. Women are used by men and treated as far inferior, in Gilead women are the men's property. The handmaids especially and they are given their names in the household reflect this such as Offred and OfFred. They can be disposed of at will, even the Commanders Wives have little real importance and are given menial tasks such as ordering prayers at Soul Scrolls and knitting the Guardians scarves. Maybe it just something to keep the Wives busy, to give them a sense of purpose.. But this concept of women being extensions and property of men is one used in our own society. Though mostly out dated now Mrs Peter Watson is similar to Ofglen. But practically all terms for women are the extension of the
Explore the issues concerning women and feminism raised in the novel The Handmaid's tale.
Explore the issues concerning women and feminism raised in the novel The Handmaid's tale was written in 1986 during the rise of the opposition to the feminist movement. Atwood, a Native American, was a supporter of this movement. In this novel, which reflects on the antifeminist messages given to women by the fundamentalist New Right in the 1980's, Atwood portrays in detail just what might follow: the virtual enslavement of women, their reduction to mere functions. Her purpose in writing this serious satire is to warn women of what the female gender stands to lose if the feminist movement were to fail. In this essay, I am going to look at the issues concerning women and feminism in The Handmaid's Tale. In the Republic of Gilead, the masculine code is carried to the extreme in the regime's assignment of women to various classes - the wives, the Handmaids, the Martha's, the Econo-wives, and the Aunts - according to their functions. As a result of the sexual freedom, free abortion and high increase of venereal diseases at the end of the twentieth century, many women are sterile. The women who are still fertile are recruited as Handmaids, and their only mission in life is to give birth to the offspring of their Commander, whose wife is infertile. The Gilead regime effectively robs women of their individual identities. Unlike men, women have been facing problems for
Discuss The Handmaids Tale as a significant dystopian novel. What affect can it have on the reader?
Discuss The Handmaids Tale as a significant dystopian novel. What affect can it have on the reader? A good dystopian novel creates a sense of fear and control. To create this feeling in The Handmaids Tale Margaret Atwood gives all the hallmarks of a totalitarian society called Gilead. Dystopias offer worlds where characters can choose freedom or happiness, but not both. Women in Atwood's novel have a central sense of the individual's importance. Individuality is crushed in George Orwell's "1984", but forms the source of politics and character in The Handmaid's Tale. The Handmaids Tale extends the dystopian genre. This is what makes The Handmaid's Tale a good example of a dystopian novel. Gilead is a state which uses propaganda to further the ideology of the society. Atwood creates the feeling of fear by putting an almost military like force in control. Propaganda is used in many ways to influence the Handmaid's. The Aunts act as teachers in The Red Centre and are assigned to each household to keep the Handmaid's in line. They teach them about the rules of Gilead and how they should act, they do this by means of propaganda. They show the handmaid's old pornographic films and photographs. They also damn the previous society by emphasising that women in "the old days" were disgusting and how they didn't respect themselves. An Aunt has got to fulfil this powerful authority to
In what ways does the Dystopia presented in "The Handmaid's Tale" serve as a warning?
In what ways does the Dystopia presented in "The Handmaid's Tale" serve as a warning? This essay explores how dystopia can serve as a warning in a society of inequality, oppression and lack of freedom. It shows how extreme views can be dangerous and what can happen when human rights are breached. The Handmaid's Tale is an account of one of the major character's third post in the Republic of Gilead formerly the USA. This novel is set in the 20th century under a patriarchal regime, founded on a fundamental Christian movement. This society is ruled by the government using force, brutality and State controlled technology. Lessons from the bible are distorted as a means of control to reinforce their inhumane state practices. All forms of communication are banned. Women are categories according to age, marital status and their ability to reproduce. Men are categorised according to age and their worthiness as a commander of the elite faith of Jacob. Spinsters, homosexuals and barren women are sent to the colonies to clean up after wars and toxic waste. A handmaid's only purpose is to serve as a surrogate mother for the wives of childless commanders. This novel is set in the science fiction genre but can also be classified under dystopian and feminist literature. Politics is one of Atwood's major concerns, a theme running throughout. She also discusses feminism, her idea
How does Atwood present the Commander in Chapter 15?
Katie Yeowart How does Atwood present the Commander in Chapter 15? In 'A Handmaid's Tale' the Commander is the most powerful authority figure in Offred's world. He is a high-ranking governement official and he is the head of the 'household' that Offred has been 'assigned' to. The Handmaids are defined solely through their bodies and their Commander and in chapter 15 we see why. The chapter begins with the Commander knocking at the door, the knock is 'prescribed', this gives the chapter an isolated, clinical feel now that the Commander is entering his wife's 'territory' Atwood's use of language here is very effective, she says how the Commander 'is supposed to ask permisson to enter' and how Serena Joy 'likes to keep him waiting'. This shows the reader the awkwardness and power in the Commander & his wife's relationship. Serena Joy in the next chapter is about to have her role as a wife violated, she is taking advantage of the power she has over the 'Household' because in the next chapter she is powerless to the Ceremony. Atwood then uses a rhetorical question 'Who knows what she said to him, over the silver-encrusted dinner table? Or didnt say' to keep the reader interested and get the reader thinking about the relationship between this husband and wife. The Commander is described by Atwood as a 'museum guard' in his black uniform. he is then describes as a
Margaret Atwood,
Joanna Vickers L66 October 2004 Margaret Atwood, "Cat's Eye," Discuss the methods and effects of the writing, with particular attention to the way the narrator presents herself to the reader, in the extract and in the novel as a whole Throughout the novel, "Cat's Eye," the narrator discusses the details of her life in an extremely detached and abstract style. She invites us to travel with her, back into her past, where both the reader and the narrator watch the unravelling of her past experiences. The narrator acts as a spectator to her own past, she does not re-enact, but instead replays the details, as if re-winding an old video. Each individual experience contains vivid and evocative description, allowing the reader to paint a clear, concise picture of the events. Although the genre of the book is fictional autobiography, the way in which she tells her story includes little to no dialogue (at this point in the novel), and implies and suggests the narrator's feelings, rather than directs the reader to blindly follow her lead. The extract from the novel is designed as a brief introduction to the narrator's current life. The paragraphs make it easy to divide into five sections; the narrator's own view of her existence, her surroundings, her husband, her children, and her career. In each section, the key themes, which often surface in the novel, are hinted at. In the
The Handmaid's Tale - review
The critic, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, considers The Handmaid's Tale to be far more than a 'political tract deploring nuclear energy, environmental waste and antifeminist attitudes'. Which features of Atwood's novel do you believe have contributed to its readability and secured its reputation as a piece of classic modern fiction? In the novel, The Handmaid's Tale, it is my opinion that the principal aspect of Atwood's writing style is the depth and intensity with which she approaches her subject matter; she consistently shows that she has researched her material and is able to show relatively potential 'alternate futures' at the time of the early 80s - it is not inconceivable to imagine certain turns of events happening as they did in the narrative. In the 1980s, the political climate globally seemed to be turning toward economic restraint and conservatism. In general, this shift was a response to the liberalism and unchecked social spending that occurred in the 1970s, which were in turn the extended results of the freedoms won by the worldwide social revolutions of the 1960s. This conservative trend appeared in different forms in different countries. In Margaret Atwood's home country of Canada, Pierre Trudeau, the Liberal Party leader resigned in 1984, and the voters replaced him with Progressive Conservative Brian Mulroney. Margaret Thatcher, who was elected Prime
The Yellow Wallpaper.
When Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote 'The Yellow Wallpaper', in the late 1890's, the position of women in society was very unequal compared to men. They were expected to remain in a domestic situation and be ruled by their husbands. Independent work was frowned upon and many women found this oppressive. Gilman, herself, suffered severe depression when marriage and motherhood meant she could not write and she explores these negative effects on women of a patriarchal society in this story. In "The Yellow Wallpaper", the narrator is driven to insanity by the restrictions imposed on her by the men in her life. Gilman's story starts with a loving husband supposedly rescuing his wife from nervous prostration by isolating her in a colonial homestead. As a well-known physician the husband believes the setting and isolation will better his wife so she can return to her newborn child. Unfortunately these things make the situation worse and the narrator is driven to insanity quicker. In this story Charlotte Gilman describes how the setting contributes to the narrator's end. As the narrator begins with her tale she describes the house as a beautiful place. She says: "It is quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village." She narrates that this place makes her think of English places that someone would read about because, "there are hedges and walls and
Handmaid's Tale Epigraphs
Epigraphs in The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel; and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I many also have children by her. - Genesis 30:1-3 * Cites the crux of scriptural love between Rachel and Jacob * Patriarchal Hebrew times = legitimate for men to have sex with slaves (to beget children) if wife was infertile * Jacob promised to work seven years for Rachel's hand in marriage, but instead tricked into marrying Leah (elder daughter) and she bears two children * Rachel is jealous, requests that Jacob bed her handmaid, Bilhah (also bears two sons) * Biblical event forms justification for 20th century Gilead's Handmaid system --> women who fail to conceive are devalued But as to myself, having been wearied out for many years with offering vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly despairing of success, I fortunately fell upon this proposal... - Jonathan Swift, "A Modest Proposal" * Satiric essay produced in 1729, Swift's satire of how to solve hunger problems in Ireland * Proposes that the raising of children for sale as a food and