Survey

1.I chose English Language and Literature because I did well on the subject in my CXC examinations so thought I it would be easy to carry on as an A level


2. I like and dislike the subject because it entails me expressing myself which is hard and not a frequent thing that I do.


3. I enjoyed Othello and The Handmaid's Tale as they had a nice story line.


4. The mix of discussion and writing on the course is good as it gets boring when we only write but discussing lets us learn things we could not identify ourselves.


5. Yes I do.


6. If I am really stuck , I would glimpse but not copy how someone's began their piece of work so I get an idea of how to begin my writing. yes, there is a difference because I can edit my work easier than on paper.


7. My approach to writing essays is understanding what the essay requires me to do.


8.I can get ideas on what the book is about and other views from the blog and other online features.

Subjugation of Women essay

Subjugation of Women

Introduction + Paragraph 1 of Essay

Compare and Contrast the ways in which Chaucer and Atwood portray the characters of Serena Joy and The Wife of Bath.

Geoffrey Chaucer and Margret Atwood portray two female characters in their books “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue & Tale” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” respectively. The writers as well as the characters they write about both come from different cultural backgrounds and time periods but have similarities in their characters which are apparent through the writer’s language choices. In this essay, the portrayal of The Wife of Bath and Serena Joy by their writer’s will be explored through character analysis.

In “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue” and “The Handmaid’s Tale”, The Wife and Serena Joy are similar in character because they are both manipulative. They use their manipulation in different ways and for different outcomes. The Wife manipulates her husbands to get her own way and the things that she wants whether it is tangible or intangible. The Wife says,

"Baar I stifly mine olde housbondes on honde

That thus they seyden in her dronkenesse;

And al was fals, but that I took witnesse.

...O Lord! the peyne I dide hem and the wo

Ful gilteless, by Goddes sweet pine!"

The quote means that the Wife had her husband where she wanted, lied to them, caused them pain and did not feel guilty about it. This open admittance of her manipulation shows that she does not care about her husband’s emotions but only her own as it benefits her. The verb, pain, connotes that she caused physical pain or hurt which suggests that what she does to her husband is hurtful and inconsiderate. Her tone is very casual and unmoved by what she is admitting. The Wife’s manipulation links with the idea of having mastery over her husbands and overall her marriages as she has to tell them lies while they are drunk and feeling no remorse against this. The reaction of the reader is that the Wife is very confident about herself in terms of the relationship she has with her husband considering that she is telling an audience on a pilgrimage that she is this was with her husband. Similarly, in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, Serena Joy manipulates others around her as well for her personal gain."Maybe you should try it another way...Another man, she says...Maybe I could get something for you...A picture...Of her...Your little girl. But only maybe". The quotation means that Serena Joy was directing Offred, who is her handmaid, to have sexual intercourse with the household’s guard in order for her to procreate for herself and husband. The offering to Offred, a picture of her daughter, acts as an incentive or a tease to give in and have sexual intercourse with Nick. The repetition of the adverb, maybe, illustrates that Serena is ‘stringing along’ Offred in order for her to get the baby which will make her happy and will also get her a little light in the social scene in society. This manipulation seems to the reader that it is desperation for Serena to have a child because she deceives her husband therefore defying societies’ values and also the values of marriage. Although, the Wife and Serena Joy both manipulate people around them for different reasons their approaches to it are for personal gain.

Essay Plan-Still under construction!

Compare and Contrast the ways in which Chaucer and Atwood portray the characters of Serena Joy and Wife of Bath.

Introduction:

Atwood portrays the two characters differently but at the same shows elements that are relatable to both of them.

Body:

Similarities

Paragraph 1- Point-(Manipulative)

W.O.B-Deceives her husbands by lying, using sex and makes them feel guilty.

"Baar I stifly mine olde housbondes on honde-------Lines 380-387

That thus they seyden in her dronkenesse;

And al was fals, but that I took witnesse.

...

O Lord! the peyne I dide hem and the wo

Ful gilteless, by Goddes sweet pine!"

Openly admitting that she manipulates her husband by making him feel guilty and lying to them when he is 'drunk'. Embraces that she does. Shows how her attitude to him is very little.Links with the power/influence she has over them;dominaring character. Maybe as she has been married at such a young age and exposed to being sexual, she has no shame about speaking about it so openly. This can explain this quality about her. Her gap-tooth connotes her sexual behaviour so seems somewhat apart of her physical as well.

T.H.T- "Maybe you should try it another way...Another man, she says." Page 215

"Maybe I could get something for you...A picture..Of her...Your little girl.But only maybe" Page 216

In order to get baby she offers Offred an incentive of a picture of her daughter in order for her to get a baby quicker. She believes that the Commander has become sterile so she wants her chances to be many by Offred sleeping with Nick who is younger than he is. It seems that she is in need and not want of a child for maybe personal reasons like longing, and/or recognition from other wives. She not only decieves the handmaid for her own personal gain but also her husband which shows her desperation for a child and the length she will go to get her way in her oppressive household.

 Paragraph 2-Point(Bold personalities)

W.O.B-Wife speaking openly about sex to her audience

Will establish the connotations of BOLD for both Serena Joy and the Wife of Bath at the beginning of the point.

Mention of her 'Quoniam' Line 608 in the presence of a friar, nun, pardoner. This adjective to describe her private part shows commoness and a general 'i don't care' attitude towards her audience which re-enforces her bold personality. It seems that the Wife has no respect or consideration for others ideologies and practices. Will link to the theme of women’s power. Open power, calls herself a ‘poweress’. Even though society is patriarchal she will confine herself to this type of society. Link to Feminist perspective of the Wife.

 T.H.T\Treatment towards Offred on arrival

“So, your the new one...She didn’t step aside to let me in, she just stood there in the doorway, blocking the entrance.” + “I want to see as little of you as possible, she said” Page 25.

Can only be ‘bold’ towards the people in her household but not her husband. As Gilead is a patriarchal society, she cannot be bold or disobey her husband. Atwood does not mention any incidents where Serena is rude or bold to husband. This is done on purpose. The handmaid threatens Serena’s status thus her standing her ground when she first meets Offred. Will explore the connotations of BLOCKING. Will link to the theme of women’s power. Serena has power but is very limited/confined to the handmaid and household.

Paragraph 3-Point(Loves, enjoys craft)

W.O.B-Sewing

“Of clooth-making she hadde swich an haunt,

She passed hem of Ypres and of Gaunt.”

Quote shows that the Wife used the making of cloth as a way of conducting business. Extravagant lace and cloth makes the Wife look like she is boastful of her skill and adds to her elaborate character. This shows another element of the Wife having power in her society as she is apart of such a trade. This trade and skill makes the Wife less dependable on men therefore her being able to cope on her own.

T.H.T-Gardening

“Sometimes the Commander’s Wife has the chair brought out, and just sits in it, in her garden.” And “This garden is the domain of the Commander’s Wife.” Page 22.

Although the two enjoy doing craft work, Serena Joy does it as a hobby and not as a business as compared with the Wife because she cannot exert her power and expertise of Gardening in the same was that the Wife can ; who is bashful and can tell about her cloth making.

Paragraph 4-Point(Jealous)

WOB- “He hadde a book that gladly, night and day,”. Line 609.

Jealous that she doesn’t have his attention at night. Content of book, how ironic it is mention. How sentence is phrased, night before day. Quote shows how piteous the Wife is when she does not have control or power over her husbands. Comes down to her mastery. Does not consider the feelings or even the intellect that Jankin has as he is a clergy and will b interested in books of all kinds. Links to the point of her being self-absorbed.

T.H.T-“The rings of her left hand cut into my fingers. It may or not be revenge”. Page 104.Left hand is marriage hand-symbolic.

“Get up and get out”. Page 106. -Jealously, hatred and insecurity. Repetition of imperative, get, makes her sound even more serious and jealous as it seems that she cant wait to get rid of her.( as she said from the beginning that she wants to see as little of her as possible-)

Paragraph 5-Point-(Self-absorbed/Pompous)
WOB- “I was a lusty oon,
and faire, and riche, and young, and wel bigon
and trewely as mine housbondes tolde me,
I hadde the beste quoniam might be”


T.H.T-?


Differences

Paragraph 6- Point Wife ‘enjoys’ sex more than Serena

W.O.B\ 'quonium' reference + she cud never pass up a good fellow. Mention about her being 'Gap-toothed' is emphasis on her enhanced sexuality as that was society's perception of it.
Embraces her sexuality and private parts. Openly expresses feelings about sex and men and women and justifies her speech by mentioning that
"Al were it good no womman for to touche,-
He mente as in his bed or in his couche;
For peril is bothe fyr and tow t'assemble:
Ye knowe what this ensample may resemble."


The openness about her sexual appetitie is not stereotypical to the women of her time as they were not supposed to be like that, if so were labelled prostitutes. 






T.H.T\ attitude towards Offred at the Ceremony. Chapter 16- (description)

Sexual oppression and purpose of sex in Gilead.

Paragraph 7-Serena has more traditional values even though the W.O.B is from the 14th century

W.O.B\ she doesn't conform to society's view of a 'woman' or 'mother figure'

T.H.T\she is more about the value that society say is instilled in a 'woman'

Paragraph 8-How Passionate personalities are

W.O.B- use of language suggests happiness and warmth.
T.H.T- cold in character-reactions and conformity

Classwork/Religion

Identify three ways in which Religion is misquoted or misused?

Religion is a prominent theme in the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, as the society is a Theocracy. A theocracy is a government based on a religion. In the case of Gilead, this society is based on the Christian faith. Throughout the novel, references to the Bible are made. However, they are usually misquoted or misused in order to fit in to what they want and/or are speaking about.

An example where religion is misused and misquoted is when the Commander says at the Ceremony, "God to Adam, God to Noah. Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth." This quote means that the Commander is telling his listeners that the Samaritans in the bible did the same as what Gilead's principle's state. The direct mention of the nouns, seems like the Commander is justifying the act of 'state rape' by saying that holy figures are preaching this to them. The lexis of reproduction, reinforces the idea that what they are about to do is the correct thing because the bible says to procreate and makes it seem appropriate. The repetition of the conjunction, and, also shows that there are endless references to Gilead's principles thus justifying the act again.

Another example of where religion is misused or misquoted is again before the Ceremony when the Commander says, "Blessed be the poor in spirit, for theirs in the in kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the meek. Blessed be the silent. Blessed be those that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This quote means that God is acknowledging all people in society. The repetition of the adjective, blessed, connotes that God will overlook the handmaids and reward them for being a handmaid. This makes the handmaid feel that her being apart of such a job is a good thing and thus would be submissive to their Commander and society. The short sentences gives the effect that God is blessing a lot of the people in Gilead and is not forgetting or ignoring anyone. The adjectives such as meek, mourn and silent describes the different types of people in Gilead and by the Commander saying that they are recognized in the bible will make the citizens feel that there is hope for them and that Gilead is good.

"Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her”. This quote demonstrates that Serena Joy is giving the Commander right to sleep with Offred. The modal verb, shall, connotes that there is no questioning whether or not the handmaid will deny the Commander of entering her. This reference to this in the bible again justifies the act of 'state rape'. Offred may feel that this is her duty and will follow with no remorse their practices.

Subjugation of Women

Subjugation of Women

Chapter 28-Subjugation of Women

• "All those women having jobs: hard to imagine, now, but thousands of them had jobs, millions."

The women are subjugated in Gilead because although Offred had a paid job, herself as well as other women no longer have the right to work. Their "job" as stated by Gilead's principle is that they should bare children for the elite. The verb, imagine, connotes that Offred is trying to tell the reader that there was a world different to the one that she is in and that there is a wider issue to combat. Also, the nouns, thousands and millions, illustrates that there were a lot of women being subjugated to not being able to work and earn money for themselves and family but had no choice to do or don't.

• "See?, he said again... if he knew some private joke I did not know"

The status of women was switched from high to low in a brief moment as Offred was financially stable with a husband and child, and then stripped to no money and direction for her future. The man knew here that there was something obviously wrong with Offred's teller card. This is a sly but an obvious way to the reader that Gilead is instantly stripping the citizens of their rights and social standings. Also because the personal pronoun, he, is used we know that Gilead is enforcing their patriarchal ideologies through to the society as its a man that ignores what she is saying and 'brushes' her off.

• "I tried phoning the bank again...same recording..."

Gilead subjugates women again by limiting their knowledge of what was going to happen to the organization of society as well as their well being. They knew that the women would disapprove of their future 'jobs' thus them not informing or answering their inquiries. The verb, tried, shows that Offred was being an active part of society and was getting no response. This narrowing of their knowledge is an easy way to oppress them from being able to do what they wanted as done in their previous lives.

Attitudes towards women and sex- Chapters 37-39

SIR, SORRY BUT I COULD NOT GET THE LINK TO EMBED THE SCRIBD FILE TO POST.
Chervaughn Archibald-William
Attitudes towards women and sex in Chapters 37-39

“The Commander has a room key...I am to understand”

The first real connotation from the topic of attitudes towards women and sex comes from the section name itself, Jezebels. This noun means a wicked, shameless woman. In the context of this section and Caribbean slang, the appropriate meaning of this word means shameless women who would have no morals or self-respect for their bodies. The whole setting of this hotel where ‘out of the way’ things happen and purpose of this section relates to the noun, Jezebels. It seems that Margaret Atwood intentionally named this section Jezebels because what happens in it corresponds with the noun. This title already makes the reader conjure ideas, if the meaning of the word is known, that the section would have something to do with women and sex.
At the near beginning of chapter 37, the handmaid describes the clothing of the women at the Jezebels hotel. Collectively she tells of them as flimsy, colourful, short and tight. A direct description by the Handmaid is, “Some are in olden-days, lingerie, shortie nightgowns, baby-doll pyjamas, and the occasional see-through negligee”. This lexical set for “sexy clothing” connotes how the women were lowered to wearing sexual, appealing clothing for high authority men in order to stay alive and away from the Colonies. The clothing symbolizes promiscuity and the women being mere sexual objects to these men who are only there for sexual pleasure anyway. The Handmaid uses this list to show the various types of “play mates” that there are at the hotel. This variety is beneficial to the men that are sexually active with the women as they are eye-candy to lure and make the men lust for them. All of this is contrary to the way that Gilead is run which is a shock to the Handmaid as well as the reader. Atwood wants the reader to notice that although Gilead has such a strict regime, men still can not give up the whole imaginative and seductive side of sex and how women portray themselves whilst involved in the act from pre-Gilead. This shows the power of women’s sexual bait.

An attitude towards women is that they are not seen as individual people. The Handmaid asks the Commander who the people in the room were and he answered by describing the men in the room. This shows dismissal and ignorance of the women in the room. She replies by saying, “Who are these people? ...”No,” I say, “I mean the women.” The noun, people, connotes that the Handmaid used a general word to initiate that she was talking about the women yet the Commander assumed that she was talking about the men which illustrates how high authority men see women and men as unequal. The reader gets the feeling that Atwood did this intentionally in order for us to question the dominance and view of women in Gilead and more particularly the Jezebels hotel. It is clear that if the Handmaid asked specifically who the women were, the Commander would have discussed their purpose of being practically free “prostitutes”.

The initial viewing of the women by the Handmaid is, “The women are sitting, lounging, strolling, leaning against one another”. This listed description is quite restricted on the women. It seems to the reader that the women are just mere objects or figures at the hotel instead of ex professionals and smart women. The Handmaid also suggests the same by describing them as “posing” than giving them life like descriptions. The word order of this list also is quite significant as she suggests that the women are doing practically nothing constructive but are just there. The verbs connote similar meanings that the women are “floating” around. In relation to the attitude towards women and sex, the description by the Handmaid shows that the women are not seen as significant and life-like. If the same goes for when the women are having sex, the men will see them as mere objects that they can use to fulfil their pleasures with no consideration of the women’s feelings or emotions whilst doing it.

It is not only in this section that the attitudes towards women and sex are negative. It is throughout the novel and Atwood demonstrates this through various means.

Monologue of Nick After Visiting the Commander in His Office

A photograph of a 'family' with an example of its composition

A photograph of a 'family' with an example of its composition

Left-to-right: Offred, Rita, Commander, Serena Joy, Nick, Cora

The Commander is the highest of authority in the household as well as Gilead. He is married to Serena Joy who runs the operations in the household. Rita and Cora serve as waiting women who ensure that Serena's operations are undergone. Offred acts as a 'baby-maker' for the Commander and his wife.(This is a acceptable in Gilead). Nick is the bodyguard of the household and protects the people in it.

Character research-Offred

Character Research for November 4^th, 2010

Offred

The main character in The Handmaid’s Tale is Offred. Offred is not her original name but it is the name given to her by her owner, The Commander. His name is Fred and the adverb, Of, is before this to show his possession of her. Her real name is not mentioned to the reader but then does say it to her later lover, Nick.

Offred tells her story as she is going through it but frequently has flashbacks about her life before Gilead. It’s usually about her friend Moira, husband Luke, Mother or Daughter. “If it’s a story I am telling, then I have control over the ending” This quote illustrates how Offred thinks of what she tells in her flashbacks and reality. The verb, control, connotes power which she does not have in her circumstance.

She started off disliking all what Gilead stood for at the beginning of the novel but then slowly started accepting its ideologies. “They can do what they like with me. I am abject”. The quote shows how Offred has become submissive to the role of Handmaid. The adjective, abject, connotes shame and being despicable. This is what Offred has ‘reduced’ herself to and she is openly admitting this to the reader.

Top Two Features

About loss e.g  freedom,mothers, children
I believe that the most important feature in the novel is about the loss of different aspects.


Offred loses her daughter when trying to escape Gilead. In earlier chapters she says that she sometimes sees her daughter as a ghost. the noun,ghost, connotes something see through and not frequent. This illustrates that she misses her daughter and that she can't have her like she did before in pre-Gilead.
Offred loses her freedom to everything that she believed she took advantage of such as speaking and meeting people. In chapter 1 she says, "We learned to whisper almost without sound". The pronoun, we, suggests that it weren't herself only that was confined to whispering and not expressing themselves like they would in usual circumstances. This loss of this simple action implies that they were reduced or stripped away to conform to their new roles of Handmaids than how they were in they former lives.
Offred also loses her mother throughout the transition of the new life because of her outspoken character which promoted feminism and not patriarchy.

About the exploitation of women
Secondly, I think about the exploitation of women as important as well


The most obvious way in which women are exploited in the novel is the idea of having Handmaids. It can be seen as state rape from the readers point of view. The form of this is done in what they call, ceremonies. It starts with a reading from the bible which is meant to justify the whole thing. In chapter 15, Offred says, "It's the usual story, the usual stories".This is ironic that they would have biblical allusion in such an activity. The adjective, usual, connotes that it is a regular occurance this state rape.

Essay-political instruments

Essay Political Instruments

Research

The Second Sex-Simone de Beauvoiux
This book explores the way in which women have been treated over history. Women have been referred to as the "other" sex which sounds like they are not apart of society but just a small part of it. This links to the Handmaid's tale because Handmaid's act as 'wombs on legs' for society. This connotes that they play an insignificant part as they only have one role.

The Female Eunuch-Germain Greer
This book is about the second big imergence and advocation of feminism .Greer looks at the biological differences between men and women that cannot be changed and how social construction affects men and women psycologically.

Chapter 18-Short passage

The passage has the repetition of the pronoun, I, which connotes to the reader that Offred is thinking about herself quite deeply;not in a selfish way but on reflection on what was just done to her. It makes the reader feel sympathy for Offred as she feels lonely.

Her use of the simile comparing herself and the sound of a rim of a glass shows that she feels hollow and somewhat 'thin'. The sound of a glass rim is not a very pleasant sound to the ear so for her to compare herself to this shows that she feels like she is not worthy. This can be also seen in other parts of the book; her feeling hollow and not complete as a person.

The typography of the passage is very basic but it include the adjective shatter in an italic which makes her feelings apparant to the reader. The way in which the writer structures the passage suggests that she wants the readers to feel that Offred is angry.

Workbook

SECTION:I      NIGHT
TASK 1:
Who is speaking?
Where are they exactly?
Why are they where they are?
What is the purpose of the Angels and Aunts?

DEFINITIONS:
Palimpsest-a piece of writing material or manuscript on which later writing has been written over the effaced original writing

Aunts-women like prison warders, who instructor the handmaids

Angels-outside,armed guards

Section IV-Aunt Lydia

Section IV-Aunt Lydia

Chapter 7-Story Telling

Chervaughn Archibald- William

Offred’s Story-Telling in Chapter 7

 ‘But the night is my time out. Where should I go?

Somewhere good’- This quote begins Offred’s story telling of her past. They appear in very descriptive flashbacks that tell a little about her past lifestyle.

The character she tells about, in her first bit of story-telling, seems to be her best friend named Moira. It also seems to be taken from her early adulthood age as she mentions having papers due which usually occurs in college or university days and going out for beers. The effect this story has on the reader is that Offred had freedom to do anything she wanted at anytime and that she was ‘properly’ educated and was not just a Handmaid. She also seemed very happy in her own space with her best friend.  These are a contrast of how Offred is living her life at present. Offred may be exploring these memories because she is lying alone on her bed and wished she could have company like she did of herself and Moira.

Another character Offred tells about is her Mother. This memory was taken from her adolescent years because her mother was controlling what she could have seen; the porn magazines. A mother with a young child would censor what their children see. Offred may be exploring these memories because she is longing to have her mothers’ comfort or her assuring safety.

‘But then what happens, but then what happens.’ This quote connotes that seeing the porn magazines being burnt may imply that that lifestyle was not what she wanted to be but in turn became her fate-Handmaid.

First person narratives suggest that the person is speaking about themselves to someone else or even to themselves.

In these story-telling parts Offred tells in past tense reinforcing and alerting when she is speaking about her personal histories. It does not seem to the reader that she is writing down her memories in the form of a diary entry but because she is re-calling the memories to herself but for the intent for the reader to understand her story.

Chapter 3-Perceptons of Serena Joy

Chervaughn Archibald-William

Chapter 3-Explore how the perception of the Wife/Serena Joy is built through the chapter.

Serena Joy, who is the Commander’s Wife at the household that the Handmaid is at, says very little throughout the chapter but the reader gets a perception of her from the very beginning of the chapter to the very end of it. This commentary entails the perceptions that the reader gets while reading through chapter three.

Serena Joy can be seen as territorial. This is shown in the first encounter with herself and the Handmaid. She blocks the Handmaid from walking through the door until she moved. The Handmaid also says, “She wanted me to feel that I could not come into the house unless she said so”. This connotes that she tried to impose her status in the home over the Handmaid. The reader can see that that was the intent of Serena Joy; to make the handmaid feel unwelcomed into her household .Serena Joy probably is probably used to many Handmaids ‘passing’ through her household seeing as she says to the Handmaid, “You’re the new one”. She wants it to be known that she is in charge of the house. This is also rude on the Wife’s part because this is their first encounter.

A perception of The Wife is that she can be seen as insecure. She uses her garden to compensate her not having children, “Many wives have gardens, its something for them to order and maintain and care for.” The verbs order, maintain, and care can be associated with the growing-up of children. They do not have children of their own so the garden can be called as her ‘baby’. The reader may feel empathy for Serena Joy. She uses the garden to replace this unfortunate issue, thus, the reader gathering the perception that she is insecure.

Another perception that the reader gets of The Wife is that she likes to be creative both in the garden and in her knitting. The reader gets this impression from the way Atwood describes her involvement in the garden and how she makes extravagant scarves for the Angels. This creativity in her can also be connected to her being lonely or again not having children. Doing these things occupies her time away from being on her own and not just doing anything.

Serena Joy admires and is proud of her work. “Sometimes the Commanders Wife has the chair brought out, and just sits in it, in her garden”. The personal pronoun, her, when speaking about her garden connotes that she takes charge and commands this part of her life seeing as she has a lot of time on her hands. For someone to sit and watch their work shows that they are self-righteous which can also be said for The Wife.

Section Headings and Chapter One Analysis

Chervaughn Archibald-William

The impression the reader gets of the section headings on the contents page is that the section entails what it is. It acts as a “brief summary” of the section. For example, the second section heading is named ‘Shopping’ and in that section the handmaid goes out food shopping for the household. There are many ideas that come to mind on what the sections are about based on the section headings.

Another example, the majority of the headings are named ‘Night’. The impression that the reader gets on this is one that suggests mystery. The noun ‘night’ connotes darkness, uncertainty and mischievousness, thus, the reader feeling that what goes on in those sections have something to do with those and may also not pleasant.

The author, Margaret Atwood, communicates information and attitudes in the first chapter. She does this by using a variety of literary devices.

She transmits the idea of loneliness and restriction by using imagery to allow the reader to get a clear picture of the handmaid’s surroundings. The idea of being patrolled with weapons and living in fear reinforces this.

Another literary device she uses is oxymorons. For example, Atwood refers to the handmaid’s ‘carers’ as Aunts but they are patrolling the handmaids with electric cattle prods. The noun, Aunt, connotes that they are warm and loving but yet they are patrolling their ‘nieces’ in a closed environment.

Atwood’s sentence structures when describing vivid memories of the handmaid are quite long as they contain lists.

The form that this novel appears to take is one of a dystopia and definitely implies that the narrator’s life is somewhat a dystopia in itself. We can interpret that the narrator speaks in first person because from the very beginning the handmaid speaks about her past using the pronoun, I. She constantly remembers and speaks about her past life as if it were her current life still.

More in Epigraphs

1.       Biblical Allusion

The Bible is a collective of books that teaches the beliefs of Christians and the ways of God. This holy book influences the way that people live their lives because God specifies through the commandments and the anecdotes in the Bible, the better way of living thus people wanting/changing their lifestyles to suit.

The quotation in the epigraph does not offer a sound model for a happy life because having a maid bear children for her employers does not sound like it would have a good effect on the household. Specifically, Rachel does not present a reasonable argument because everyone may not agree to what her proposal. If everyone agreed with her proposal then maybe the situation could be considered.

2.       A Modest Proposal

Swift wrote this essay because he maybe wanted to show the stupidity of the people in the society he lived in. The Modest Proposal is said to be a satire which purpose is to create irony, sarcasm and ridicule. The fact that some people took to the idea about poor people fattening their children for their tables of the rich tells us that the Irish were in serious problems that they would consider such an act or that his society was not very educationally or financially wealthy.

3.       Sufi Proverb

The Sufi proverb means that even though one is not told about something, common sense should be used first before doing that something. The underlying message is things should not be spelt out for someone instead the person should think about the situation.

Epigraphs in The Handmaid's Tale

Chervaughn Archibald-William
Epigraph Analysis
Number 1


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 may also have children by her.

The epigraph means that even in the times of the Bible, women were pressured to give birth by themselves as well as by their husbands. They would go by any means possible to have a child in their family unit.
Thoughts given to me are that in the novel there would be some sort of need for child reproduction or it would be forced upon women to have children.


Number 2


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...

The epigraph means that a suggestion or idea would come upon someone when they been through turmoil on a certain circumstance. It also brings to mind that there would always be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Thoughts given to me are that in the novel there may be an escape attempt or the characters may have some kind of triumph at the end.


Number 3


In the desert there is no sign that says Thou shalt not eat stones.

The epigraph means that although one is not told what to do, and they want it, they should pursue whatever it is.
Thoughts given to me are that there may be a rebellious act in order to achieve something.


I think that all three epigraphs imply a happy ending.