Handmaid's Tale - Journal #3

The dystopian serves primarily as a warning to society by creating a vision of our future if present day practices, trends, etc. go unchecked. With this in mind, write 250 words focusing on items C and D under "The Social Criticism" section of "Elements of the Dystopian Mode."

Margaret Atwood creates a society that, although seems very distant from the reader, is actually very realistic. In this world, Atwood places a lot of emphasis on religious allusions, signaling how the church attaining control of the government would be a bad thing. The church and the government, together addressed the change in morals that society was facing. Individuals were becoming too gung-ho about sex and were embracing the sins of going to "Pornomats" and wearing provocative clothing. In this world, the government takes away their citizens rights in exchange for safety. It is because of these reasons that I think the society presented in The Handmaid's Tale is realistic. She writes this post-Cold War, showing how a nuclear exchange with Russia would have led to the radiation fallout that would have caused the population to plummet. The anti-feminist movement, in conjunction with the fallout from the war, would have led to the ends presented in the book. However, the idea of having a dominant male figure, a Wife, Marthas and Handmaids all living in a household and playing their roles seems unrealistic. Atwood presents alternatives for the reader through pockets of resistance from the Handmaids. She has Moira successfully run away (to an extent) and the Handmaid's secret society. She shows that individuals must fight against the oppressive society in order to regain their power.

Handmaid's Tale - Journal #2

Topic B: Choose a character who is involved in a struggle against his or her society. Write a response (approx 250 words) exploring two or three relevant issues listed in item C under "The Main Characters" section.

Moira is Offred's best friend from the pre-societal change. Back then, Moira was active in the feminist movement. Offred reveals later in the novel that her and Moira wind up in the same training center, and she retells Moira's types of resistance. Moria's conflict with society is that she does not agree with the Aunts and the new society that her actions as a feminist have led to. Moira struggles against the oppression and absence of her rights as a women in the pre-societal shift. She demonstrates her displeasure of society to Offred when she describes one of the Aunts as an "old bitch" (Atwood 89). In order to resist, Moira attempts to escape by bribing the Angels in the ambulance while they took care of her for her "fake" sickness. This attempt failed. Moira's feet, useless in society's eyes, were beaten until swollen like lungs, but she did not give up. On the second attempt, she tricks Aunt Elizabeth, the one who guards the bathroom, and steals her clothes while using the iron rod from the toilet as a weapon. Moira brings Aunt Elizabeth down to the boiler room and ties her up so that she can run away. She succeeds in her escape and for all the reader knows, Moira escapes the oppressive society and attains freedom. However, Atwood never explains what truly happens to Moira. Happy day.

Sidenote - the escapes that Moira attempted showed her other characteristics. Both times, Moira never asked Offred about leaving with her. Therefore, the reader is able to interpret this as her being selfish, or her looking out for Offred. I personally lean towards selfish because the reward of escaping the oppressive society outweighs the risk of getting caught.

Handmaid's Tale - Journal #1

Topic A: Choose a short passage that reveals a significant aspect of the society depicted in the novel. Copy the passage and write a response (200 words) explaining what the passage reveals about society and how it relates to what has occurred in this section of the novel.

Quote: "I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement for the accomplishment of my will. I could use it to run, push buttons of one sort of another, make things happen. There were limits, but my body was nevertheless lithe, single, solid, one with me" (73).

This quote comes from Part V: Nap of The Handmaid's Tale. The passage reveals how society has changed this perception of women in Gilead. Women like Offred are shaped into believing that the only useful part of their body is their womb. They are forced into believing this as the truth and Offred, the protagonist, has no other options to compare this truth to. In the society, women are not individuals, but objects to give birth to children. This quote relates to Part V: Nap because this section focuses on the idea of ownership. The phrase "used to think" illustrates how women in the Gileadian society were stripped of ownership from their body unexpectedly after fighting for it. The "pleasure" Offred refers to stems from her old life with Luke, where society perceived sex as a pleasurable activity, not one who's goal was strictly childbirth. She reminisces about how she used to be able to "run, push buttons [...], make things happen," which shows how this societal shift happened recently and most likely, abruptly.