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.