The Handmaid's Tale
Title: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Genre: Fiction, literature
Summary: In the fictional Republic of Gilead, the dramatic decrease of birthrates makes the society's fundamental goal is to control reproduction. Written from Offrend's first person point of view, the novel adds to the reader's connection with a Handmaid, her tormented feelings, and hatred toward this new totalitarian regime. Gilead is based on the precept that giving birth is women's religious and moral duty and those who do not fulfill it will be sent to hell (aka the Colonies) where the "unwomen" are left to die. With its modern setting, and reference to our present, the novel makes the reader shift between two different worlds: the narrator's and ours. For example, Atwood references Harvard as a place where the disobedient are hung and ironically she always hears the echoes of the old world where museums, stores, and the military where all used for their supposed purposes.
With Biblical allusions, and references to WWII, as in "mayday" and the totalitarian regimes of Stalin and Hitler, Atwood creates a masterful piece of a fictional world still connected to the reality.
With its ambiguous ending, the novel lets the mind ponder on what can become of this now familiar narrator. Is death better for her? Or if rescued, will she return to her family? The fact that the ending is hopeful adds to the greatness of the book.
Its only flaw, however, was its introduction of minor characters that we never get to learn about. Offred often mentions her daughter's name but she never talks about her. Otherwise, Atwood's use of syntax is a great indicator of the narrator is shifting tones- from hope to desperation, from fear to indifference, from love to passion. She constantly uses flashback about her family and her former life to demonstrate her criticism of Gilead where women are containers valued for only what is inside of them.
In order to serve the needs of the new society's elite, Gilead creates a system of titles where women are defined solely by their gender roles as Wives, Handmaids, or Marthas. Stripping them of individual names strips them of their individuality. In a moment of desperation, Offred cries out in vain, "I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former name; remind myself of what I once could do, how others saw me. I want to steal something" (Atwood 97).
Deprived from her basic rights, Offred frustration and anger is revealed by her use of simple sentences with anaphora to stress her futile but desperate longing for attention.
My two cents: I really enjoyed the book. It's pretty sick but powerful in the same way. The concept is pretty out there and at times seemingly bizarre. But overall, I did enjoy this. For all the HL girls, can I just say what a great book you guys got for English? Every second sentence in the book screams symbolism to me!! Seriously, when I read the book, I found myself unconsciously picking out all the techniques used in the book and even making mini essay plans to some of the past questions! But yeah, it's definitely a good book. I especially love how the story intertwines the past and present to provide the contrast between the two worlds, one sane and the other driven to monstrosity due to circumstances. Also, there're certain similarities between this book and Grotesque. Both of them is written from the 1st person's perspective, whom the identify is never revealed and both chuck in flash backs at different times in the story, but seriously, HMT did it so much better than Grotesque. So yeah. Don't read Grotesque, it's one of my least favorite reading so far.
Author: Margaret Atwood
Genre: Fiction, literature
Summary: In the fictional Republic of Gilead, the dramatic decrease of birthrates makes the society's fundamental goal is to control reproduction. Written from Offrend's first person point of view, the novel adds to the reader's connection with a Handmaid, her tormented feelings, and hatred toward this new totalitarian regime. Gilead is based on the precept that giving birth is women's religious and moral duty and those who do not fulfill it will be sent to hell (aka the Colonies) where the "unwomen" are left to die. With its modern setting, and reference to our present, the novel makes the reader shift between two different worlds: the narrator's and ours. For example, Atwood references Harvard as a place where the disobedient are hung and ironically she always hears the echoes of the old world where museums, stores, and the military where all used for their supposed purposes.
With Biblical allusions, and references to WWII, as in "mayday" and the totalitarian regimes of Stalin and Hitler, Atwood creates a masterful piece of a fictional world still connected to the reality.
With its ambiguous ending, the novel lets the mind ponder on what can become of this now familiar narrator. Is death better for her? Or if rescued, will she return to her family? The fact that the ending is hopeful adds to the greatness of the book.
Its only flaw, however, was its introduction of minor characters that we never get to learn about. Offred often mentions her daughter's name but she never talks about her. Otherwise, Atwood's use of syntax is a great indicator of the narrator is shifting tones- from hope to desperation, from fear to indifference, from love to passion. She constantly uses flashback about her family and her former life to demonstrate her criticism of Gilead where women are containers valued for only what is inside of them.
In order to serve the needs of the new society's elite, Gilead creates a system of titles where women are defined solely by their gender roles as Wives, Handmaids, or Marthas. Stripping them of individual names strips them of their individuality. In a moment of desperation, Offred cries out in vain, "I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former name; remind myself of what I once could do, how others saw me. I want to steal something" (Atwood 97).
Deprived from her basic rights, Offred frustration and anger is revealed by her use of simple sentences with anaphora to stress her futile but desperate longing for attention.
My two cents: I really enjoyed the book. It's pretty sick but powerful in the same way. The concept is pretty out there and at times seemingly bizarre. But overall, I did enjoy this. For all the HL girls, can I just say what a great book you guys got for English? Every second sentence in the book screams symbolism to me!! Seriously, when I read the book, I found myself unconsciously picking out all the techniques used in the book and even making mini essay plans to some of the past questions! But yeah, it's definitely a good book. I especially love how the story intertwines the past and present to provide the contrast between the two worlds, one sane and the other driven to monstrosity due to circumstances. Also, there're certain similarities between this book and Grotesque. Both of them is written from the 1st person's perspective, whom the identify is never revealed and both chuck in flash backs at different times in the story, but seriously, HMT did it so much better than Grotesque. So yeah. Don't read Grotesque, it's one of my least favorite reading so far.