How effective are the narrative strategies in The Handmaid's Tale?
How effective are the narrative strategies in The Handmaid's Tale? The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. As a fictive autobiography, Atwood looks at the life of a woman in a dystopian setting, living amongst a male dominated environment, that of Gilead. The main protagonist is presented as first person narrator and offers a subjective yet often subversive view of her surroundings and life. Atwood has evidently chosen this narrative strategy to build a personal relationship between Offred and the reader. As Offred unfolds her descriptions, with perpetual attention to clarity and detail, the reader is willing to believe her eye witness account. This narrative strategy is effective in that the personal relationship also enables Margaret Atwood to place her own opinions in the reader's mind and begin her messaging process. Offred has a complex narrative, which signals the post modern nature of Atwood's technique. She becomes a self-conscious narrator, caught in between the past and the present and continually draws attention to the storytelling process, 'I would like to believe this is a story I'm telling. I need to believe it.' Atwood shows how Offred uses storytelling for survival, she needs something to occupy her mind and offer hope for the future. Atwood uses defamiliarisation when Offred presents three accounts of her time with Nick, 'It didn't happen that way. Here
How does the Handmaids Tale address the issues of social examination?
Chloë Morris English 12SSA How does the Handmaids Tale address the issues of social examination? The Handmaids Tale is a social examination told by one women trapped in a theocratic community. Offred dissects the Gileadien society through language and structure, which is parallel to her expression of self-identification and the wholes in her society with reference to past cultures. Gilead is a collection of past communities fused together to create a repressive dystopia analysed by Offred and is almost a warning to future societies. Aspects of Nazi Germany and Iran feature in the way Gileadien regime runs, the mistakes that have been made throughout history have not been rectified and have re-occurred, Gilead is a result of previous regimes and autocratic leadership taken to the extreme. The antics of totalitarian leader Stalin have been duplicated through the rise of Sadham Hussein, something that governments and communities would have never expected to have seen again but it was allowed to happen, this is just one example of political errors that is comparable with the regime in Gilead which Offred is scrutinizing. The Handmaids Tale is on a par with George Orwell's "1984" and Aldous Huxley's "A brave new world" it follows in there dystopian themes and character similarities are evident, however, The Handmaids Tale is a feminist book and the repression
How appropriate is the ending to "The Handmaid's Tale"?
How appropriate is the ending to "The Handmaid's Tale"? The ending of The Handmaid's Tale, although is not a satisfactory ending for the reader, suits the novel very well. Its ambiguity follows the same ambiguous themes which we have already seen permeate the whole text. Atwood uses the last sentence of the text "the darkness within; or else the light" deliberately, to continue with the ambiguity, and to act as a device to not actually end the novel, but to keep the reader guessing. The "darkness" and the "light" obviously represent Offred's death or escape, but we never find out which one becomes of her, so we are continuously left wondering. The intentions of Nick's character are never fully understood during the novel, and even at the end we are still unsure as to whether or not he is a genuine character "Nick, the private eye". When he calls Offred by her "real name" during her removal, this hints that Nick is in fact helping her to escape, and not sending her to her death, as through out the book, she has used her real name as her code for survival, and as a way of clinging on to the past. Nick's character can also be linked to that of the commander, who is perhaps one of the most ambiguous characters of the whole book. This linking of these two can also help the reader to recognise the doubles theme, which permeates the whole text. Offred's doubts towards Nick, are
What is the 'all that' that Robert Graves is referring too?
What is the 'all that' that Robert Graves is referring too? This essay is going to explore Robert Graves's autobiographical novel and detail Robert graves use of the phrase all that and what it may refer too. The phrase 'all that' is very vague and indefinite. 'All that' could refer to so much; things, people, places, even emotions and feelings. In this novel 'all that' could refer to individual things or the novel as a whole, it may even refer to only one thing. That is what I am going to find out and illustrate in this essay. Robert Graves's autobiographical novel 'Goodbye to All That' was first published in 1929, 11 years after the end of World War 1 in which Graves served as a 2nd Lieutenant and was promoted to Captain in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. The work was revised and republished in 1957 removing and changing a great deal of significant material because of complaints, namely from Siegfried Sassoon a great friend and fellow soldier of Graves. 'Robert Graves states that the objects of writing about his own life at the early age of thirty-three, are simple enough: 'an opportunity for a formal good-bye to you and to you and to you and to me and to all that; forgetfulness, because once all this has been settled in my mind and written down and published it need never be thought about again.'' (Jonathan Cape, 1929) This quotation from Robert Graves himself shows why
Compare the mental state of the unreliable narrators of "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "The Tell-tale Heart." Why do both narrators perceive surveillance as a constant threat?
1. Compare the mental state of the unreliable narrators of "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "The Tell-tale Heart." Why do both narrators perceive surveillance as a constant threat? An unreliable narrator is a narrator which may not know all the relevant information of the story, may be drunk, high, or mentally ill or may even lie to the audience. Although they have their differences, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Yellow Wallpaper are both stories written by first person, unreliable narrators who also perceive surveillance as a constant threat. The Yellow Wallpaper is written by an unnamed protagonist who gives the reader access to only her thoughts and emotions. The reason the protagonists is considered an unreliable narrator is mainly due to the fact that she is suffering a mental breakdown, making the reader unsure whether what she is saying is true or not. This also lets the reader relate more emotionally to the story since the reader is given an intimate account of the narrator's growing feelings of depression and confusion. Most of the story seems to be written in the style of a journal which the narrator secretly writes as she lays in bed. The way the authors writing style changes as the story progresses gives the readers a clue to the protagonist's deteriorating mental condition. Throughout the story the narrator's sentences seem to get shorter and more cut. There
The handmaid's tale: chapter 2 commentary
The handmaid's tale: chapter 2 commentary This passage from `The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Attwood uses stream of consciousness as a narrative technique to portray the thoughts of the main character, Offred, is going through. Attwood does this very realistically; in the sense that she writes in the way a human mind works, by describing the setting of the room. Thus the setting of the room is vital as it is through the setting that the themes are explored. The main theme of freedom in the passage is shown through the objects described in her room. The style of writing is structured in a way which reflects the minor details of the human mind with the lack of movement in passage to put emphasize on how Offred refuse to let her mine wonder from the things that are around her, in her room. The tone of the passage changes, first it is more uncertain and unsure but later changes to a more certain tone, this shown through the diction used. Attwood structures her narrative technique in such a way that it creates a uniform setting and creates a sense of everything being controlled or repressed. The sense of freedom that Atwood restricts from Offred in the passage is shown through the description of the room. The narrator focuses on what she `can' do rather then what she can not do. "I can sit in the chair" This is ironic because although she is focusing on what
How, why, and to what effect do contemporary British fictions depict times other than the present?
How, why, and to what effect do contemporary British fictions depict times other than the present? When portraying times other than the present, writers are freed in some ways from restrictions that come with depicting their own time period. By representing the past, or indeed the future, the author is able to explore narrative styles, genres and thematic content that would have otherwise been inaccessible to them. The past and the future both offer genre options as well as stylistic and thematic content that would have otherwise been inaccessible to the authors. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn both use portrayals of alternative time periods for different effects. Why O'Flynn gives us the narrative of a little girl from 1984 and why Mitchell chooses to, amongst others, write about a charismatic composer in 1931 is what will be explored in the course of this essay. Both novels use non-linear narrative structures, with Cloud Atlas in particular displaying a complex framework. The depiction of the past in What Was Lost is used as a framing device for the main plot. The novel begins with the story of Kate Meaney in 1984 and concludes with the narrative from the past reappearing after the characters from the present have deduced what has happened to her. When compared to Cloud Atlas however, What Was Lost is a relatively simple way of
Offred's tale has been described as "a resistance narrative". Is this appropriate given that Offred herself is neither a member of the Mayday resistance movement nor an obvious social dissident?
Offred's tale has been described as "a resistance narrative". Is this appropriate given that Offred herself is neither a member of the Mayday resistance movement nor an obvious social dissident? A resistance narrative is a story about an individual who is resisting showing that they do not agree with a social or political view. In this novels case we have Offred who is trying to resist the tyrannical society she is in. This is a recurring theme in "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood as we see Offred battle to survive and cope in an oppressive society where she is the victim. Resistance is used by many different people and for many different purposes throughout the course of this novel. I believe that it is more than just Offred's resistance that makes her tale a "resistance narrative" but in fact a resistance of most characters connected to her and the ways in which they carry out this. Each caste in Gilead has its own group of rebellious people and share of rebellious doings. "It must have been a Martha who got it for her. There is a network of the Marthas, then, with something in it for them." To all these rebellious acts there are of course consequences. Consequences such as being scolded, beaten, tortured, being exiled as an unwoman sent to live in the colonies, even death. Ofglen, who was part of the Mayday resistance, Serena who acquired cigarettes and the
How far do you agree that Atwood has created not a real person but a mouthpiece for her ideas in the characterisation of Offred?
How far do you agree that Atwood has created not a real person but a mouthpiece for her ideas in the characterisation of Offred? 'The Handmaid's Tale' clearly demonstrates elements of Atwood's ideas such as gender politics and concerns with the environment. How far Atwood manipulates the characters in order to express her ideas will be explored and whether this makes Offred an implausible character. The narrative style used in the novel, a discontinuous and short-scened structure with time shifts, echoes the concept of a memory. The narration often delves into the past as Offred remembers her life before the oppressive theocracy was set up. These elements enable the reader to relate to Offred and her monotonous life as a handmaid. As the narration is a voice it becomes plausible that this is a real person retelling her story and not just a mouthpiece for Atwood's ideas. The intricate, feminine details included in the narrative such as smells and how things feel demonstrate a valid existence as the emotional elements of the character Offred are revealed; "Soft and dry, like papier poudre, Pink and powdery, from the time before." These images create emotion and a real person of Offred as Atwood establishes an emotional quality in her and thus makes the reader believe her to be real. This is also due to the past that Atwood establishes for Offred which gives her an
Women and their roles in society.
Women and their roles in society This is the largest area of study, really; it informs the others, and is an all-pervasive theme in the novel. Some knowledge of the feminist movement, its history and arguments would be useful in approaching the novel and the themes that it explores. It is only recently that women have been allowed to vote, own property and work on an equal level to men. The status of women in The Handmaid's Tale is not that different from how they were viewed in England during the Victorian era. The novel itself points out the similarities between Gilead and Islam in their treatment of women. Offred has taken her freedom and supposed equality for granted, and now suffers for knowing that. The (rather lame) justification for dispossessing women again is that it is for their own good - to rescue them from the objectification of their bodies and the potential for unhappiness in life. These reasons are fundamentally oppressive as they deny women the right to choose and live their own lives. Protection becomes oppression very quickly. The subtext of this reasoning is that men felt threatened and redundant as women moved into the public arena. (Think about the reactions to girls achieving slightly better than boys at exams this year.) As well as this, there seems little sense of unity between women. What chance there is for solidarity is quashed by the regime