B-BAND-- HANDMAID'S TALE, "Waiting Room"
What stands out to you from your reading? Choose a passage and explain why it seems significant to you. Work from places of confusion-- perhaps choose some lines that you don't quite understand and explore them. Perhaps you ask a question and try to answer it. You can also just respond to a passage, explaining why it stands out to you and what it reveals about a character, conflict or big idea.
Either way, make sure that you respond to someone else and do not repeat passages! Agree or disagree, but make sure that you add something new-- a new idea, a reference to another part of the book. Include textual evidence as you push the conversation forward.
Format:
"...." (#).
Response:
“The future is in your hands, she resumed. She held her hands out to us, the ancient gesture that was both an offering and an invitation, to come forward, into an embrace, an acceptance. In your hands, she said, looking down at her own hands as if they had given her the idea. But there was nothing in them. They were empty. It was our hands that were supposed to be full, of the future; which could be held but not seen” (47).
ReplyDeleteThere is this saying somewhere that the future is an idea because it hasn’t happened yet, and that could be very true in a society where women are always expected to do as told; but with handmaids, who’s very job it is to give birth to the next generation, they “held” the promise that humanity will continue to go forward. I find this quote essential to the purpose of this society’s handmaids. We’ve discussed in class that possibly not as many people are fertile anymore, and that we must take advantage of the women who are, but I don’t think we ever brought up how important it is to reproduce in order to survive. This may be something a patriarchal society might actually value women for.
I also found the quote very interesting and intriguing, but I actually came away with some rather different thoughts. Reproduction being a necessity for the survival of a species and therefor fertile women being a necessity for the survival of a species, as you commented is definitely true; in Gilead, however, that reasoning as something to value women for was altered into something to determine the value of women by. In Gilead, it is not that women are so great and they can have babies, but is that women are so great because they can have babies; a woman is no longer the reflection of her character but the sum of her ovaries and uterus, which are commodities to be sold (just like her being and her soul). Then again, when Aunt Lydia says the future is in your hands, I thought what she really meant was in your uteruses. And when Offred looks down at her hands, and sees that they are empty, it is in some way commenting on the infertility of Gilead, as the hands are empty like their uteruses are empty. When she concludes her thought, saying that the future can be held but not seen, I thought that it meant she could carry a child but she would never see it or raise it; one may kindle the future, set the flame for change or just something different, and never see the outcome.
DeleteWhen I read this quote I thought that Offred is given a great task, to decide her future, and the future of others. It is a significant thing to ask of someone, to decide their own future. Her future determines whether she can fulfill her " duties as a handmaid, whether or not she will conceive a child, . Also, determining her obedience to fulfill the standards of society, and letting her own child leave her the second that they are born, and if she is will to do something as inhumane as giving up her own child. She is overcome with a huge pressure to conceive and give up her child, yet if she did so she would strongly regret her choices in the long run.
DeleteThis quote stuck out to me a lot as well. However I find it really confusing how women who offer so much and who are so needed in society can be so disrespected and basically robbed of everything. They are basically maids and objects to people, when without them, society might cease to exist due to the lack of fertile women. Society needs them, more then the handmaids need society, but the handmaids still are treated poorly. In my mind, these women who are so needed for something so important, reproduction, should be praised, and respected in society for what they do. They do not receive good treatment because people basically expect everything they do unconditionally, as if they owe it to them. Offred, and the other handmaids futures are there to serve others. Their futures are extremely essential and valued by society, but this is not shown in how people look at them.
DeleteThis quote stuck out to me a lot as well. However I find it really confusing how women who offer so much and who are so needed in society can be so disrespected and basically robbed of everything. They are basically maids and objects to people, when without them, society might cease to exist due to the lack of fertile women. Society needs them, more then the handmaids need society, but the handmaids still are treated poorly. In my mind, these women who are so needed for something so important, reproduction, should be praised, and respected in society for what they do. They do not receive good treatment because people basically expect everything they do unconditionally, as if they owe it to them. Offred, and the other handmaids futures are there to serve others. Their futures are extremely essential and valued by society, but this is not shown in how people look at them.
Delete"She is thinking she could have done better herself. She would rather do the shopping, get exactly what she wants; she envies me the walk. In this house we all envy each other something." (47)
ReplyDeleteThe Wives resent the Handmaids. The Econo-wives scowl and spit on the ground in the presence of the Handmaids. The Marthas look down on the Handmaids. And the Handmaids, struggling to maintain their façade of being modest, kind and demure, come to dislike them too. Offred mocks the Commander's Wife silently in her mind, and pettily she pokes fun at the name Serena Joy, claiming it sounds like some silly hair product. Then, as she is feeling sick during mealtime, she thinks of what the Commander's Wife would do and how the Commander's Wife lives and how the Commander's Wife gets attention. And unlike when she cast her eyes upon the Japanese tourists, when she judged them for their immodesty and then recognized their resemblance to her former self, Offred is not aware of the green-eyed monster lurking in the depths of her mind. Despite the novel being told from the first-person point of view, it is still often difficult to determine how self-aware the main character and protagonist is. Hitting upon a major theme, in an oh-so-casual, completely offhanded way, Atwood reveals that Offred is (at least in this case) aware of the envy and jealousy that Gilead is shrouded in. Yet, Offred does not appear to be aware of how it came to be. She knows the different groups, the different classes of women, despise each other. She recalls a memory of the Red Center, being cautious not to speak to her for the first couple days and then sneaking into the bathroom to meet Moira, as she said that friendships were cause for suspicion. She makes merely idle talk with her walking mate, Ofglen. She doesn’t realize that the division and ultimate separation of women with bitterness and spite is to prevent the formation of a sisterhood, and the unity of women poses a threat to the society of Gilead, a threat that the undefined “they” (meaning the government of the founders of Gilead) fear.
I completely agree about what you were saying about Offred being aware of how everyone is jealous of one another. I believe that the Republic of Gilead relies on the fact that everyones different jobs in the society to create jealousy and envy between everyone. For example, the Commanders wife is on a much higher rank that all the Handmaid so they are jealous of her, but she is jealous of the handmaids because they have the babies of the commander and she isn't allowed to do anything but knit. I also think that it is a good sign that Offred notices this because it shows that instead of blindly going along envying people that are different than her, (Like how the Econo-wives spit at the floor when they passed Offred) Offred has caught on to the dynamic of this and now it will not effect her as much. The fact that Offred has realized this makes her much more difficult to control and to manipulate.
Delete“It pleases me to ponder this message. It pleases me to think I’m communing with her, this unknown women. For she is unknown; or if known, she has never been mentioned to me. It pleases me to know that her taboo message made it through, to at least one other person, washed itself up on the wall of my cupboard, was opened and read by me. Sometimes I repeat the words to myself. They give me a small joy. When I imagine the women who wrote them, I think of her as about my age, maybe a little younger. I turn her into Moira, Moira as she was when she was in college, in the room next to mine: quirky, jaunty. athletic, with a bicycle once, and a knapsack for hiking . Freckles, I think; irreverent, resourceful “ (52-53).
ReplyDeleteThis quote stands out to me because I feel like entire book is represented by this paragraph. This society believes that women are simple, each woman has a purpose, women are not supposed to be seen, they are not supposed to speak to people that are not other women unless they are spoken to. But this paragraph shows that women are unknown. When they are controlled like this no one knows anything about them, about their personality, their beliefs and everything else that people should know about one another. If the woman who wrote the message lived in this room During the Republic of Gilead, then it shows that she had knowledge, she wrote this message in Latin, but she wrote it very small, so that it would not be discovered by anyone except the women that lived there after her. Throughout the book Offred remembers her past and how happy she was and that gives her hope. Because the outside world gives her hope, this message is extremely important to her because it shows that someone else had enough hope to break the rules and write this message for her to read. I think that these words also give Offred hope because she doesn’t know what they mean. If this women was able to write this message, and no one was able to find it and erase it, until her, it means that there could still be a way to express yourself, or a way to get around the government, or that there could be a way out. The last part of this paragraph that I find important is how Offred imagines this woman. She imagines her as a friend, someone like Moira who she admired and trusted. At many different points in the book it becomes clear that Offred is alone, and does not want to be alone. That is why she spends so much time thinking about her old life, with her friend Moira, and her husband, because she was not alone when she was with them, and she is looking for someone like them.
I really love the way you interpreted this passage. It stuck out to me as well. I agree with the fact that this unknown woman's writing gives Offred this slight twinge of hope for a way out of the nightmare she is living everyday even if prefers not to admit to herself sometimes. I think there is also a big part of her that is really scared of hope and change. When she went to the doctor, and he offered to get her pregnant so she could live, she politely refused him because it was against the rules. However, she was offered something that gave her hope, but she was afraid of the possibility of "a salvation" (61) as she calls it. That was something I wanted to add on, but really well written response!
Delete"My nakedness is strange to me already... Did I really wear bathing suits, at the beach? I did, without thought, among men, without caring that my legs, my arms, my thighs, and back were on display, could be seen. Shameful, immodest... I don't want to look at something that determines me so completely" (63).
ReplyDeleteThis passage interests me because it compares the book's current society to its past society with how they view and display their bodies. Back then, the girls were allowed to wear whatever they wanted such as shorts and bathing suits, unaware of how much they were really showing. Now in Gilead, the rules limit girls on what they can wear-- to keep their bodies sacred and pure. The society's current system make the women believe that the only solution to stopping harassment is to cover up the body. They brainwash their girls into hating their skin and ultimately fearing their bodies. For example, when the narrator reminisces about the clothes she used to wear, she thinks unholy of herself. This shows how the rules have caused her to think differently of her body and less of herself. Although completely covering up the body helps women from being stared at or approached by unwanted men, I think it also disconnects women from their bodies and doing all they are capable of doing. I believe their uniforms do not improve life for the girls, but only make situations involving men more awkward. This is because the girls become more self- conscious and hidden that it is difficult for them to open up when the chance of intimacy arrives. Also, when the narrator says, "I don't want to look at something that determines me so completely" (63). It really shows how much bodies are valued in this society. The women are controlled by their physique, almost as if their bodies are seen just as machines working to produce a child without any other use. Basically, although their bodies are supposed to be very important to them, they just become foreign objects to them in their red dresses, which is wrong because they should feel comfortable in their bodies.
I very much agree with your statement, in the society of Gilead the women are deprived from their human rights. They are no longer seen as actual human beings but as essential objects who are able to bear life. The narrator has lived in this society for long, it is difficult for her to remember the power she had over her life and the options that she could take. It is a very alien idea that has been opted out that women no longer have that power or their human rights. Women have been manipulated into believing they have no independence and have to rely on the "superior and stronger" authority, which are men.
DeleteI agree. The women now see themselves as almost disgusting and their self-esteem is being lowered. They're also aware that they are objects in this society and they kind of agree with that. The society is making the women feel bad in their own bodies.
DeleteYes exactly! The women do lose respect and dignity for themselves because of the government's manipulation with the uniforms. The dresses are used to make the women reflect on their past clothing decisions. They are supposed to hate the way they showed skin to men, as if blaming them for being harassed in the first place. Since the dresses are viewed as the "right" way to dress, they begin to view other clothing options as "bad" or "wrong." When in reality, people have different styles and different ways of expressing themselves.
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ReplyDelete“You must cultivate poverty of spirit. Blessed are the meek. She didn’t go on to say anything about inheriting the earth”(64).
The Beatitude Aunt Lydia mentioned actually goes like this: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” That being said, the irony of this quotation absolutely appalls me. Aunt Lydia is referring to the handmaids when she says “blessed are the meek.” According to Merriam- Webster, a meek person is “submissive and deficient in spirit and courage.” That is the perfect description of a handmaid, but are they really blessed? Aunt Lydia didn’t mention the part about inheriting the earth, so what does she really mean? Perhaps, it is because she knows deep down that the duty of a handmaid is emotionally and even physically scarring, and she was just being honest about them not getting anything out of sleeping with the Commander, besides the chance of staying alive if they get pregnant. Furthermore, even if they do get pregnant, they can’t even keep the baby for themselves. This passage also goes back to the fact that this is a theocratic society, but if this is true, then why are these Aunts saying half of a Beatitude? I think that is their weak attempt at justifying the demeaning way of life they have, but at the same time, by only saying half of it, they are aware of their own fear of making a social mistake in this uptight society.
You make very great points, but, to play devil's advocate, I think when Aunt Lydia calls these "meek" women "blessed," I think she's pointing out that these handmaid's are playing an important role by giving birth to the next generation. I agree that "meek" is a perfect definition for handmaids, as they are forced to carry children and then give it away, but they are also supposed to be supportive of the system while doing it. That is very appalling, but then again that is what's keeping this particular society alive. I think that handmaids are "blessed" because they are "meek," and they will do as they are told and somehow be rewarded.
Delete"No worry about sunburn though, said Aunt Lydia. The spectacles women used to make of themselves. Oiling themselves like roast meat on a spit, and bare back shoulders, on the street, in public, and legs, not even stockings on them, no wonder those things used to happen. THINGS, the word she used when whatever it stood for was too distasteful or filthy of horrible to pass her lips...Such things do not happen to nice women" (55).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage Aunt Lydia is stating that women are treated in the way they dress and behave. If a women is raped or sexually harassed it is her fault, as she "was asking for it." These horrible atrocities are only experienced by vulgar and smutty women, and could never happen to ladies who are classified as "good and nice" and follow the rules and expectations set by society. However, it is unfair and idiotic to say that women should be held responsible for the actions of others that they in no means have control over. Women should not be automatically judged based on the clothing she is wearing, a women can be wearing a short skirt and not be a slut, or her body could be entirely covered but it does not necessarily mean she is a modest, good girl. Women have the right to express themselves in what they wear without harassment or fear of bodily harm. But in this book, women are deprived from their human rights and are seen as valuable objects that can bear the next generation of life. For Ofred, her body has been covered up so much it is impossible for her to imagine how she used to dress and have so much freedom.
I strongly agree with your statement. The Handmaids are a perfect example of how the women are treated and judged by how they dress and look. The Handmaids are seen as “sluts” because of how they dress and their social status. I feel that in this society, the women are manipulated enough that it is okay to disrespect others and judge others and treat them differently because of how they look. In our world, disrespecting others because of how they look is terrible but in the book, the women are manipulated enough to be prejudges.
Delete" I ought to feel hatred for this man. I know I ought to feel it, but it isn't what I do feel. What I do feel is more complicated than that. I don't know what to call it. It isn't love." ( Page 58)
ReplyDeleteThe society of Gilead never learned true emotion. Their lives are robotic, yet each one programmed differently. Each person had a title, an Aunt, a Handmaid, a Commander, a Guardian, an Angle, a Commanders Wife, each person is expected to fall under one of those categories. But what if they can't? What if one is assigned a Handmaid and is so appalled by the concept that it makes them want to rebel? However, this is not a problem. If a Handmaid has an issue with being a Handmaid thats too bad because there is nothing they can do about it, it was not their fault that they are fertile. Offred despises being a Handmaid, it confuses her, she does not know her role in society. Conceiving children, only for the pleasure of their father and " mother", not knowing anything about their kids because it is not their own. Having meaning to society just while they are fertile and then being useless after they become infertile. The Handmaids live their lives enslaved.
I absolutely agree with you. This society is based on a freedom from( a negative society). I explained in my post that a freedom from is basically a society based on rules and no one has the freedom to do what they please. No one has a choice and has to listen and follow the rules and restrictions and I agree that the handmaids are enslaved. My question is do you think the handmaids will rebel? If not all of them will Offred?
DeleteI totally agree with you.This society is brainwashed and manipulated by the government. Citizens are feeling empty because they never experienced emotions or having the ability to critically think about the government's actions. No one is going to rebel because like Amani said no one has choice and cannot challenge or interrogate the authority decisions. Handmaids are enslaved because they have no freedom. It's unfortunate, that Handmaids are used for sex and then have no purpose to society when they become infertile.
DeleteI agree with you, Margaret Atwood creates this society which denies people freedom of any kind. These people are put into classes and they don't even pick nor will they rebel. And as you said this can confuse people because I makes them question the role in society.
DeleteEthan Burda
I agree with the part where you said the people in Gilead never learned true emotions. Offred, for example, has had her whole life ripped from under her: her daughter being taken from her and basically telling her that its for the "greater good", being forced to give her body up as some sort of "commodity"... I think that maybe Offred has a crush on the man. She says that she SHOULD feel hatred for him, that she SHOULD know how she feels, but unfortunately she does not. Gilead has restricted her from feeling feelings because it might harm them.
DeleteI agree with you where you call the people robots. I feel like when the government is too in control of peoples lives it strips them of freedom in addition feel that if you take away people freedom you can take away there emotion, and create what they call a "robot".
DeleteI agree with both of these responses about the people of Gilead never really expressing themselves. " I'm fine " is a term that is often abused because they have been forced to not only conform but go against other groups. Everyone's emotions and feelings aren't taken into consideration and are sealed by tasks that they have to completekeep their lives revolving.
Delete"There is more than one kind of freedom, Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it"(24). This quote really stood out to me because according to the book's storyline, this is very accurate. The differences between Freedom to and from is that Freedom to is individuals are allowed to do what they please at any time given. They are able to make their own decisions and have control of their own life. Freedom from is know as the negative freedom, due to the fact that there are rules to protect citizens/individuals. You are ordered by government officials and you are prevented from doing what you please. Examples in the book that displays these types of freedom is when women could freely run or walk on the sidewalks at any time of the day and they freely got to wear whatever they want to certain places: shorts, jeans, pants etc. According to the book, offred says, "I think about having self control". This is an example of having positive freedom but has lost it because of all the rules and restrictions they now have. Shows how she longs for self control and having a positive world again. An example of freedom from, is when later on in society there became rules that said "Don't open your door to a stranger, even if he says he is the police. Make him slide his ID under the door. Don't stop on the road to help a motorist pretending to be in trouble. Keep the locks on and keep going. If anyone whistles, don't turn to look. Don't go into a laundromat by yourself, at night". This show an example of negative society, an "freedom from".
ReplyDeleteI fully agree with your statement. Freedom is both positive and negative. It is positive in a sense, that people want to exercise the ability to have independence and self-control. However, freedom is negative because the government is restricting and depriving its citizen's rights. I think when Offred means when she thinks about self control she wants to have the ability to know her own rights and be in control what she needs and desires. She wants to be independent and free instead of being restricted. Being free is considered a dangerous to the Gilead society because citizens are expected to abide by the governments rules and regulation without questioning them.
Delete"I'm doing my best, she said. I'm trying to give you the best chance you can have" (55)
ReplyDeleteAunt Lydia knew what the girls were going to go through. She gave them all the advice she could hoping that they could make a change. She believed that the girls could change the future. Aunt Lydia passes down all the knowledge she has so someone can step up to save everyone. She dislikes how life is just as much as the girls do.
This is a really interesting observation about Aunt Lydia but I agree with it. I never thought about her that way until I read this and then went back to realize that if you read deeply she does hint at making a change by enforcing the society's values in a mocking tone. Aunt Lydia is similar to Rita in that they both disagree with this way of life yet they still participate in it and let it happen. Both women either hint at the possibility of change or point out the flaws in the society. Since they are both very influential to the handmaids maybe they are the ones who can trigger a change.
DeleteI agree with your statement that the Aunts do not like the rules and regulations of their society. Because they are unable to get pregnant, it's almost as if they are viewed as less important than the Handmaids, who are able to birth children. But, I think the Aunts have learned to accept the hierarchy for what it is. They know there are many secrets being kept from them by the government but they don't even try to educate the Handmaids about this. The Aunts don't make an effort to try to change the way things are; rather they just enforce their roles in this society.
DeleteI agree to a certain extent. I do believe the Aunts are fully aware of the corruption that higher powers possess, and i understand that they are forced to oblige to these rules. Yet I think they can't make substantial change, *if they truley believe in change* if they continue to conform to what the Commander enforces on the handmaids.
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ReplyDelete"I don't know if the words are right. I can't remember. Such songs are not sung in public, especially the ones that contain the words like free. They are considered dangerous. They belong to outlawed sects." (54)
ReplyDelete"Free'' is considered a dangerous word to the Republic of Gilead because the government does not want the women in the society to be free at all. Women are just expected to follow the rules and conform. In the previous passages the government has put many restrictions on the handmaids such as clothing and behavior. Government puts restrictions on the handmaids such as wearing red, be confined in a room and constantly having sex with the commanders to increase fertility rates. They want maintain their dominance over these women by keeping these strict rules and standards put in place. These women are unable to express their thoughts or opinions about the government's strict and harsh rules and expectations, which is why they are so afraid to answer the question if they are truly happy. The Handmaids have a low social status because their only obligation is to have sex with their commanders and they forced to make babies. Handmaids cannot even keep the babies they reproduce and the fathers do not even love them. The restrictions and limits prove how the Handmaids will not have any independence and control over their lives. No one not even Offred has the courage to stand up to the government rules and expectations because people are afraid to question and fight the freedom. If the Handmaids sing the song Amazing Grace in public it would allowed them to demand their right to have freedom. The government is afraid of the women being influenced by the song and rebel. It will change the government's standard of a women, which is to be "modest" since they are fighting for they feel is right. It resembles a patriarchal standard of a being women quiet and modest and never let their voices heard. This is why the song is considered outlawed and belongs there. What if the Handmaids don't want to conform to society and they want to rebel? The Handmaids should rebel because they are being deprived of their rights and the government does not even care. Handmaids are "enslaved" because they don't have freedom.
I agree, the government is not only being unfair but also smart. The government of Gilead has devised a system in which they control the women by manipulation. They created a way to make all the women envy, hate or look down on each other to take the attention away from who really they should hate. When silencing the women, they make the women crave attention to be heard or just be able to prove they aren't worthless. This is when women try to excel in their role to be noticed, but of course since it is to the role designed by the government, they just add more envy or hatred from other women, causing to fuel the never ending cycle. When trying to empower themselves by the only way possible that seems fit to the government, women are just scowled by other women further destroying the power of sisterhood and further giving power to the government.
Delete“We put our hands over our hearts to show these stranger women that we feel with them in their loss. Beneath the veil the fist one scowls at us. One of the others turns aside, spits on the sidewalk. The Econowives do not like us.” (44)
ReplyDeleteSisterhood, a connection or understanding between women, is very important in the setting of Handmaid’s Tale. However, the society in the novel cannot achieve complete sisterhood because of its efforts to achieve complete equality. Sisterhood does exist in the story but only in the subcategories. For example the handmaids sympathize with each other and the Martha’s or Econowives but the Martha’s only sympathize within the Martha’s and same goes for the Econowives. The society has turned them against each other so that they cannot rise against this higher power yet still establish “equality”. We can never be equal if we are ranked within gender. Women’s equality is not simply about women being equal to men but also women being equal to each other.
I completely agree with your statement on how equality can not be established because there is no sisterhood however, I believe there is no sisterhood at all, at least not between the Handmaids. These women with the red dresses, are not allowed to speak to each other about any personal feelings or opinions they may have as this may lead to some sort of punishment if the other tattles on them. With the lack of opinions being shared, no real sisterhood would ever be able to form. In addition, when shopping for groceries, a pregnant Handmaid walks in and instead of supporting and congratulating her, the others start calling her names such as "showoff", which to me, is not a sign of sisterhood but a sign of envy. Overall, yes, they are against each other and are broken into subcategories, but the subcategories themselves do not stand as a fully united sisterhood.
Delete"She fades, I can’t keep her here with me, she’s gone now. Maybe I do think of her as a ghost, the ghost of a dead girl, a little girl who died when she was five." (64)
ReplyDeleteThe narrator relaxes in the bath and imagines her daughter is there. She refuses to believe her daughter could be dead and thinks back to how someone tried to adopt her when she was a baby. They were in a supermarket when a crazy woman grabbed the girl and tried to run away, saying it was her baby. The narrator called for help and they got the baby back. At the time, she says, it seemed out of the ordinary. She called her motherhood a possession and just like her baby’s lock of hair, clothes, or pictures--that was taken away from her. She uses the words “I can’t keep her here with me,”. She is obviously talking about her daughter in a spiritual sense not a physical ones. Throughout the book, the household, a mood of loneliness and isolation happens. As a Handmaid, she is not only refused friends, she is refused a family. She must eat dinner alone; her baths and movements are regulated; the servants hardly speak to her. Without meaningful contact in the present, the narrator spends much of her time reminiscing about her former life. Sometimes she thinks of her daughter as a ghost. She muses that the authorities were right: it is easier to think of your stolen children as dead. Even her love of her daughter has been tainted by Aunt Lydia’s Gileadean values. She wants to think about objects, but Aunt Lydia comes in to scold her, and effectively reorganizes her thoughts. Even after the memory of Aunt Lydia retreats, the influence remains—the narrator would rather be hopeless than feel like she could do anything. Her memory of her daughter’s attempted kidnapping in the supermarket is a piece of retrospective foreshadowing, a memory of an event that foreshadowed the ultimate loss of her daughter to some unknown woman in Gilead, who, like the supermarket madwoman, did not have a daughter and wanted one by any means necessary.
I really loved this quote. I wrote about this to a certain extent in my post but to use your terms, I think that in this world they've lost so much of what there is to look forward to in the "Physical" world the "Spiritual" world plays a large part. It's where people have to go for comfort and hope. You also raise a good point about how even love is manipulated in a way that takes the human out of it. It's easier to pretend your problems are gone than to confront them.
Delete"'It's a beautiful May day.' Ofglen says. I feel rather than see her head turn towards me, waiting for a reply...Mayday used to be a distress signal, a long time ago, in one of those wars we studied in high school... Mayday?... It's French, he said. From m'aidez. Help me" (44).
ReplyDeleteThis passage demonstrates the lack of trust the handmaidens have with each other. Since they are all doing the same job, going through the same struggles, they should be more understanding, however a larger power has taken this away from them by making them spy on one another. When first hearing the words "May day" come out of Ofglens mouth, Offred automatically thinks this may be a secret code of some kind. This thought may be caused by the fact that she suspects Ofglen to not be a real believer of what they are being taught. Offred has had a few personal experiences with Ofglen, for instance, while going home from the wall, the narrator says, "I'm always the one to say this. Sometimes I feel that if I didn't say it, she would stay here forever. But is she mourning or gloating? I still can't tell" (43). Clearly, Offred would not mind helping out a fellow maiden, but since Ofglen has the power to report any "illegal" activities, Offred would rather not take any risks because she is too afraid of the consequences the higher power may have in stored for her. Moreover, Ofglen is too afraid to directly ask for help for the same reason. Being too afraid of the consequences leads to no trust, no sisterhood and no uprising of any kind. Thus, leaving the Handmaids and just all the women in Gilead, with no voice, no change and living life with fear.
“Coming towards us there’s a small procession, a funeral: three women, each with a black transparent veil thrown over her headdress. An Econowife and two others, the mourners, also Econowives, her friends perhaps. Their striped dresses are worn-looking, as are their face. Some day, when times improve, says Aunt Lydia, no one will have to be an Econowife.
ReplyDeleteThe first one is the bereaved, the mother; she carries a small black jar. From the size of the jar you can tell how old it was when it foundered, inside her, flowed to its death. Two or three months, too young to tell whether or not it was an Unbaby. The older ones and those that die at birth have boxes.
We pause, out of respect, while they go by. I wonder if Ofglen feels what I do, pain like a stab, in the belly. We put our hands over our hearts to show these stranger women that we feel with them in their loss. Beneath her veil the first one scowls at us. One of the others turns aside, spits on the sidewalk. The Econowives do not like us”(44).
This quote stood out to me because why are the Handmaids being disrespected by the Econowives when the Handmaids are showing respect towards their funeral? Is it because their social class? I think the reason why the Handmaids are disrespected is because of how they are seen in the society. Even though Offred and Ofglen had shown proper respect in the funeral they saw, the Econowives did not want respect from “prostitutes”. I think that this quote shows a perfect example of how in this world, social class can really affect the treatment from others. If Offred and Ofglen were Aunts or any others classes, they would be treated differently from the Econowives. Handmaids are seen as “prostitutes” or “sluts” in this world and the Econowives saw Offred and Ofglen and thought that they did not know how it feels to lose a young child, since the Handmaid’s job is to just keep on producing babies and not take care of them. But I think the Handmaids also feel some kind of loss when the baby is taken away. Although the Handmaids do not take care of the child, they lose the new born after all the hard work they put in to protect and grow the baby. But in this society, people in the higher classes such as the Econowives do not see the lower classes personality and feeling but they judge them from who they are in the society.
I completely agree. You would think in a futuristic world we wouldn't have to worry about class and how downgraded the lower class is. The handmaids are considered the lower class and they are treated with no respect even when they are kind to others. I agree that they are treated like this more because of how they are seen in society. The handmaids are just "sluts" to the other women and they envy them because they don't know the feelings of having a child taken away from them as you said. Jealousy comes in as a role in this society too being that some women can have babies and some can't. You would think the econowives would like the handmaids since they can reproduce as well, but they hate them even more because they think handmaids don't know what it's like to have their children taken away from them. But they have the same experience. Every child they make is theirs. They are the real mother of that child, and still the children are taken away from them and they have to act like they don't care because thats their job.
DeleteEnglish stuff
ReplyDeleteDuring the passage "Waiting Room", this passage stood out to me, "The kitchen smells of yeast, a nostalgic smell. It reminds me of other kitchens, kitchens that were mine. It smells of mothers; although my own mother did not make bread. It smells of me, in former times, when I was a mother. This is a treacherous smell, and I know I must shut it out"(47). This reveals a theme in Offred, where she recalls past moments in a nostalgic and happy way, but where she closes herself off after the memory and tells herself she just forget the past. I think this is the result of the 'training' she received from the Aunts, they taught the women to erase memories for the past in order to embrace the new world. This is also seen earlier in the book where Offred remembers her time in the past but shuts herself out from having the pleasure of her memory. This also conveys the idea that the war or revolution happened recently, as Offred can clearly remember the days when she was free. Offred is in a bad situation in this point of her time, because she is living in two different worlds, the past and the new and rigid present. She had been taught by the Aunts how to live in this new world but after experiencing most of her life living normally she is being tortured by her past. This poses some questions in pertinence to Offred's resolve; could she rise up against her controllers? She has shown that she likes doing small acts of rebellion, but seems scared of authority and seriously breaking rules. It would take someone or something extreme to push Offred to serious fighting at this point in the book.
I agree with your use of referring to Offred as a rebell as she has shown little acts of breaking the rules throughout the whole book whether she is smiling at Nick, the guard or saving a piece of butter from dinner. However, i don't believe it will be likely that Offred would go far enough as to rise above her "controllers" as there is little interaction between other Handmaid's and with the guards watching over the Handmaids along with the rest of the prison-like scenario that is the Gilead, it is highly unlikely that she will form a rebellion against the system. Another reason why it will be hard for her to defy her controllers is that besides Offred and a few other Handmaid's, most of the Handmaids are unsupportive of eachother and will most likely not help her in her rebellion as the handmaids taunt the previous rape victim, Janine by saying “cry baby”(p 72) over and over again when she shows sadness to the response of the Handmaid’s that it was her fault she got raped.
Delete"I almost gasp: he's said a forbidden word. Sterile. There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, not officially. There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren. That's the law" (61).
ReplyDeleteThis quote definitely stands out to me because it is weird that even old men can not be considered sterile. You would expect that when an elderly man gets to that old age, they would be in peace and finally relaxed that they do not have to do certain things they would have to if they were younger. In Gilead, children, the elderly, and even women are unable to choose for themselves what they want to do with their bodies. If no men are officially considered sterile, this suggests that their bodies are going to be used until whatever higher authority in Gilead, says so. Their bodies are going to be available until the day they die. The specialist who is examining Offred goes on to say, “It’s time. Today or tomorrow would do it, why waste it? It’d only take a minute, honey” (61). Offred is not even able to make her own decisions considering her body without the specialist, one who she’s supposed to trust with her body, buttering her up to make her have sex with him. Ultimately, the town of Gilead is a place where people’s privacy is available to the public and not for the person it belongs to.
While reading The Handmaid’s Tale, I came upon many new instances which provoked intricate thought as I constantly would compare modern day society with the society that Atwood tells us about. Because of this I thought about rationality and the Gilead’s sense of right and wrong compared to mine and others of my time. Instances where this stood out was the scene in which Janine testifies that she was gang raped at the age of fourteen and the response from the rest of the handmaid’s is that it was her fault for leading the men on and then call her a “cry baby” when she cries. This made me question the loyalty that Handmaid’s have between each other as other handmaid’s such as Offred and Offglen don’t seem to like their lives or agree with what they are forced to do. If this is so, why would the women be so cruel to their fellow Handmaid without knowing the details of the scenario? Perhaps, Janine was wearing a boring suit and the men still went through with their devious ideas. These women seem forced into this lifestyle so is there possibly might be a punishment if they show compassion to Janine.
ReplyDeleteThere were two passages that really stood out to me that I think demonstrated the opposite perspectives that could be taken on the idea that it is the woman's responsibility to set the limits for the man in a particular situation. The first passage:
ReplyDelete"All flesh is weak. All flesh is grass, I corrected her in my head. They can't help it, she said, God made them that way but He did not make you that way. He made you different. It's up to you to set the boundaries. Later you will be thanked" (45)
In this passage, Aunt Lydia gives Offred a lecture about her responsibility as a woman to set her own boundaries with a man. The language that Aunt Lydia uses makes it seem like an empowering job to be able to set their own limits, and that when they do, they will be thanked for it.
However, later in the reading, there is a gathering they call the Testifying in which the polar opposite point of view for this responsibility of setting limits is put into motion. "It's Janine, telling about how she was gang-raped at fourteen and had an abortion...But whose fault was it? Aunt Helena says, holding up one plump finger.
Her fault, her fault, her fault, we chant in unison.
Who led them on? Aunt Helena beams, pleased with us.
She did, she did, she did" (71-72). Here we see the other perspective that if a woman doesn't set boundaries, whatever happens to her as a result is her fault. Demonstrated in these two passages are the exact opposite ways that one could take the idea that women must set the limits in a situation with a man.
Personally, I feel that it is completely outrageous that anyone would consider making a crime the victim's fault. I think that a lot of people are afraid to admit that there are men that are morally horrible people and will commit a traumatizing and completely disgusting act to a woman for their own benefit. To avoid this, people would take the risk of saying that she didn't protect herself, or that she was wearing something too provocative, and so in turn she brought it onto herself. I genuinely hope these views are ceasing in the real world, but in Gilead, it does not seem abnormal to drill these ideas into the minds of women and take away any empowering aspect of this responsibility.
I agree with you Lucie. In global last year, we learned how in India there were many rapes which the police accused the woman of being the reason she was raped because she was wearing clothes to sexually appearing and/or walking too late at night. I think this is horrible blaming the victim especially the nerve it took to admitting you were actually raped.
DeleteThe wall is hundreds of years old too; or over a hundred, atleast. Like the sidewalks, its red brick, and must once have been plain but handsome. Now the gates have sentries and there are ugly new floodlights mounted on metal posts, and barbed wire along the bottom and broken glass set in concrete along the top... Beside the main gateway there are six more bodies hanging, by the necks, their hands tied in front of them, there heads in white back tipped sideways onto their shoulders" (31-32)
ReplyDeleteWhen reading this, I did not know what to take away from this. A huge wall is scary enough, but with glass, and bodies hanging is another thing. Starting with the wall itself, I think the world relates to the wall. The wall before was attractive and neat, now the wall is industrial like with barbed wire and glass. The world before was also more natural like the wall, but the utopia society now is restricted and full of dangers like the wall. The bodies are another thing. Its obviously a scare tactic, but all these bodies were educated people like doctors and priests. This could relate to the dangers of knowledge which is the situation in this society. Now knowledge is limited so the more you know the more danger your in.
"Why am I frightened? i've crossed no boundaries, i've given no trust, taken no risk, all is safe. it's the choice that terrifies me. A way out, a salvation." pg. 61
ReplyDeleteWhen a soul is confronted with the desire to be free, it turns conflicted as it has never faced this option. I believe this ideology is what Offred is experiencing. Rarely has she ever had the chance of salvation in which she is offered to be impregnated by a "sterile" man, in this case, the doctor. Even though she refused, Offred still has this sense of fear and she doesn't quite know why. To me, this "way out" will replay in Offred's head as she is too afraid to go against the laws that she has abided to all her life. She can't think of going against something she was taught to believe was right even though her inner conscience tell her other wise. I believe this is present in today's society. People are too afraid to go against immorality now a days. It is frowned upon to conjure a new thought process as conservatives and reactionaries believe that a utopian society derives from a lack of change, which I personally find as ridiculous. If you have the chance to change a despot by rebellion, then do it even if includes sacrifice.
I agree with you Hebh. To me this is her being paranoid and so brain washed like she is programmed to obey the law. This part also reminded me of when the tourist came to her and asked if she was happy and she said yes because she could not say anything else. She turned down the doctor because she could not say anything else unless she wanted to get in trouble by the law.
Delete"Mayday used to be a distress signal a long time ago, in one of those wars we studied in school. I kept them mixed up, but you could tell them apart by the airplanes if you paid attention. It was Luke who told me about mayday, though. Mayday, mayday, for pilots whose planes have been hit, and ships -- was it ships too? -- at sea. Maybe it was S.O.S for ships. I wish I could look it up." (44).
ReplyDeleteThis stood out to me because when she says, "I wish I could look it up." it made me wonder how we are abusing the power of having the Internet. Before when there was no internet people had to remember everything or write it down, but now we have Siri who can just listen to what we are saying and type it all for you. Which makes me think about how much of our own brain are we using? If we have all this technology at the palms of our hand to just look up something we forgot or to type things up for us, then we are not really using our brains as much as people did in the past. In the past they did not have the privilege to just look something up. They had to go through books and read about it or have the information written down somewhere. This quote also stood out because it showed how future generations might not really pay attention to small things or details anymore; and if according to the book, technology is taken away in the future then the current generation would not know how to live without the internet and future generations would start going back in time.
"I've learned to do without a lot of things. If you have a lot of things, said Aunt Lydia, you get too attached to this material world and your forget about spiritual values." Page 64.
ReplyDeleteI found this to be a very interesting because there telling the characters in the story that its better that you can live with certain things and you'll be better off then if you where to be privileged and lose everything that you care and you wont know how to live with out it. I feel like Aunt Lynda is saying this because she used to have objects or feelings that meant something to her not many but few and it was hard for her to let it go. Shes warning the handmaids not to get attached to anything because they wont be able to deal with it if they lose it.
"I think of others, those without. This is the heartland, here, I'm leading a pampered life, may the lord make us truly grateful, said Aunt Lydia, or was it thankful, and I start to eat the food." (pg 65)
ReplyDeleteThis quote stood out to me because it shows how privileged she is and how lucky she is to be having good food, most other classes don't get that much. While thinking about this it got me thinking about the classes and how they don't get to pick there classes. They are assigned to them and the sad part is that they don't even want to change these classes that they are stuck with for the rest of their lives.
Ethan Burda
"Still, it was a message, and it was in writing, forbidden by that very fact, and I haven't yet been discovered. Except by me, for whom it was intended. It was intended for whoever came next. It pleases me to ponder this message. I think I'm communicating with her, this unknown woman... It pleases me to know her taboo message had made it through" (52).
ReplyDeleteWhile exploring her room, Offred comes across a message she isn't able to know meaning of, but she definitely doesn't count as nothing. the idea of exploring her room, does take advantage of her position of knowing the current society's past. Her being from the time where things were different brings out her feelings of appreciation, appreciation of what she use to have. Offred's curiosity grows wild to what the women must have been like and her connecting her to Moira makes it seem that she would get along with this women. This would be reflecting to how she might want to try to rebel or begin to question the way things are. The rebellious act excites her because it also can be seen as her own thing, her own secret. This constant of not having things of her own makes her crave grow, and allows her behavior to mark anything she and only she is exposed to, to be "her own."
“But now it’s the rooms themselves I miss as well, even the dreadful painting that hung on the walls...” -pg. 51
ReplyDeleteI think the best literary aspect of the novel is its sentimentality. In a world so freshly changed the people are yet to deal with the large aspects of what this new society means but they cope with their discomfort by reminiscing upon the little things. Paintings and rooms. There’s also a lesson to be learned, all we’ve got, is what we have. It all could mean so much more depending on circumstance. That’s another aspect of dystopian literature that’s interesting, it provides context. It is a warning but it’s also something more, a kind of call to appreciate what we have. Our societies flawed, but we’re able to vote and safely go to school and be with who we want to be with and to look at the paintings we want to and go to the rooms we want to.
"She knocks at the door before entering. I like her for that. It means she thinks I have some of what we use to call privacy left" (p 65).
ReplyDeleteThis passage stood out to me because it was the only time Offred has been treated with just the tiniest bit of respect in the book. It may not have meant anything to Cora by just knocking on the door, but Offred liked that she gave her some privacy, some respect. In this society there isn't much privacy, especially for the handmaids. Maybe because this is the first time Offred has received some bit of respect she might feel as though she loves it and thats how she wants to be treated all the time. Thats how she was treated before, so she might think back and begin to realize that the life she had before is the life she still wants. She will rebel because soon she will crave the freedom she use to have. All the memories she thinks about during the book will also help lead her to missing her privacy and freedom. She will want more of it and will begin to realize that the society isn't right anymore. The protection that they have now does not beat the freedom she had before.
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ReplyDeleteThe Handmaids tale in general is very interesting to me. Because everything seems to backwards. The women who don't do anything are treated like royalty, and the women who do everything are so easily overlooked. Handmaids who have had everything taken for them basically give their bodies to be used as objects, and conceive of children that are not theirs. And this is not to only happen once. This is what their whole lives are dedicated towards. Their whole lives, futures, and general existence is for anyone but themselves. They are stripped of their bodies and their abilities to make decisions about their bodies, luxuries, privileges,and anything that could give them any sort of idea that they are in control of their lives. The fertile women who do everything are disrespected, when the commanders wives get everyones respect. Society needs Handmaids more then any other type of women, and I don't mean that they should get the most respect, I mean that they should get equal respect. What they do is valued, and needed in society, yet none of them are treated like actual people.
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ReplyDelete"There's someone standing in the hall, near the door to the room where I stay,.. it's the Commander... I stop, he pauses, I can't see his face, he's looking at me, what does he want? But then he moves forward again, steps to the side to avoid touching me, inclines his head, is gone. Something has been shown to me, but what is it? Like the flag of an unknown country, seen for an instant above a curve of hill. It could mean attack, it could mean parley, it could mean the edge of something, a territory" (49).
ReplyDeleteThis passage stood out to me because it was the first real insight we had on the Commander as a person. It also highlights the confusion that women in Gilead feel in relation to the men of Gilead. The way that Offred describes the Commander, "...I can't see his face, he's looking at me..." seems to display much of the way that the women of Gilead feel about the men in general. The women, Wives, Marthas, or Handmaids, are constantly aware of the Commander's presence, but are not actually connected with him emotionally. The wives are not even connected with the Commanders. Men in this society are constantly feared and things to simply be wary of, not things that you can trust. This is one of the reasons why the society will never truly work, as the members of Gilead cannot trust each other on any level due to the barriers set by the social classes.