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Monday, November 4, 2013
The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood is full of many symbols that help to portray the meaning of the work as a whole. Just kidding Mr. Klimas.
The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is full of many powerful symbols that help portray her critical views on religion and the way that women are viewed in today's society. One important one, who's meaning is constantly intertwined in the book, is the magazine that Offred is given to throw into the fire at the burning that her mother took her to. The magazines that were burned were those that portrayed half dressed woman, the same type of famous images used in many magazines in current society. These women were portrayed as sex objects which Offred's mother did not approve of. The irony in this is that Gilead was created to protect women from this mistreatment, however, if anything, it made this view worse. Instead of women being viewed as objects to have sex with for pleasure, women in Gilead were viewed as walking wombs. In other words they were viewed as objects that could only have children or do house work. Their intelligence, talents, and potential were not considered in the decision to make them inferior in Gilead; nor was the ignorance or even stupidity considered of some of the men that were automatically placed as these womens' superiors. Gilead created their hierarchy placing all males over all females regardless of skill level or intelligence. Gilead said it was protecting women from being objectified, however it greatly violated them by forcing them to have sex with their commanders with the hopes of becoming pregnant with the commander's child. If a woman was blessed enough to become pregnant, she was treated like royalty for the time of the pregnancy; however when the child was born, she was forced to hand over her child to the commander's wife who would raise the child insted of the true mother. The true mother of the child would not have a chance to raise or even know her child, and would soon be transfered to a new household. The magazines that were burned showed one extreme of society, more similar to how women are viewed today, while Gilead portrayed the other. However both of these views are demeaning toward women and neither are how women should be viewed in society.
It is hard to choose a favorite quotation in this novel, however one that I do like shows the cloak that is pulled over the heads of the members of the society of Gilead, no pun intended, to keep them under the spell of Gilead. "But on one there's blood, which has seeped through the white cloth, where the mouth would have been. It makes another mouth, a small red one, like the mouths painted with thick brushes by kindergarten children. A child's idea of a smile. This smile of blood is what fixes the attention, finally. These are not snowmen afterall." (Atwood 32). This quotation is from the scene when Offred and Ofglen are looking at the bodies from the last hanging that took place, hanging on the wall. The heads of the bodies are covered with white sacks to make them appear inhuman, like rag dolls. These people were hanged for being different from the other members of society, for example doctors and preists were hanged. These people with strong structured views about society and superior intelligence to most did not conform well to the forced and structured views of Gilead and therefore had to be eliminated in order to keep the society going. I like this quotation a lot because I really like the imagery of the bodies portrayed to the members of society, Offred and Ofglen felt that it revlealed a lot about the society with this one scene. The bodies are portrayed the way that a child would draw them. The society of Gilead portrays ugly things to its people the way that adults would portray these things to a young child. This is especially shown by the way that it portrays the smile, as if it were painted on with a thick brush, the way a child would paint it. This interesting portrayal of something that is so gruesome as something childlike shows how Gilead tries to keep the people in their society in the dark about the bad aspects of this society such as the murder of people who have done nothing wrong except posess their own views on how society should be. I found the childlike portrayal very interesting and thought that it showed how the society even controlled how its people perceived the murder of fellow members of society.
I really liked this novel, however it often made me angry how women were viewed as mere objects that could be used and disposed of as easily as a paper cup. However, I liked how this society was created by Atwood in order to criticize how women are viewed like this in today's society. Women today are easily viewed as objects to win as a prize and to be portrayed as if they are a trophy that should be put in a glass case and observed but not heard, and certainly not given an opion. They are being used as objects on commercials and advertisements to increase the sales by attracting customers on pure sex appeal. They use the sexual appearance of women in order to sell not only makeup and clothes, but also cars, and any other product that they can add a woman's body to. This novel criticizes this view of women as do I, however, in order to portray this criticism Atwood created a society with the exteme opposite of her view to show just how ridiculous this view of women is. This sometimes made me quite angry that someone would even think about treating a woman in such a manner as a possession, though I know it has happened throughout history. I did however really like the novel. I liked the concept as it portrayed how unhappy the women were in a society that viewed them as objects. This view is portrayed through the eyes of Offred, which allows for the critical view that it actually portrayed of this society.
The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is full of many powerful symbols that help portray her critical views on religion and the way that women are viewed in today's society. One important one, who's meaning is constantly intertwined in the book, is the magazine that Offred is given to throw into the fire at the burning that her mother took her to. The magazines that were burned were those that portrayed half dressed woman, the same type of famous images used in many magazines in current society. These women were portrayed as sex objects which Offred's mother did not approve of. The irony in this is that Gilead was created to protect women from this mistreatment, however, if anything, it made this view worse. Instead of women being viewed as objects to have sex with for pleasure, women in Gilead were viewed as walking wombs. In other words they were viewed as objects that could only have children or do house work. Their intelligence, talents, and potential were not considered in the decision to make them inferior in Gilead; nor was the ignorance or even stupidity considered of some of the men that were automatically placed as these womens' superiors. Gilead created their hierarchy placing all males over all females regardless of skill level or intelligence. Gilead said it was protecting women from being objectified, however it greatly violated them by forcing them to have sex with their commanders with the hopes of becoming pregnant with the commander's child. If a woman was blessed enough to become pregnant, she was treated like royalty for the time of the pregnancy; however when the child was born, she was forced to hand over her child to the commander's wife who would raise the child insted of the true mother. The true mother of the child would not have a chance to raise or even know her child, and would soon be transfered to a new household. The magazines that were burned showed one extreme of society, more similar to how women are viewed today, while Gilead portrayed the other. However both of these views are demeaning toward women and neither are how women should be viewed in society.
It is hard to choose a favorite quotation in this novel, however one that I do like shows the cloak that is pulled over the heads of the members of the society of Gilead, no pun intended, to keep them under the spell of Gilead. "But on one there's blood, which has seeped through the white cloth, where the mouth would have been. It makes another mouth, a small red one, like the mouths painted with thick brushes by kindergarten children. A child's idea of a smile. This smile of blood is what fixes the attention, finally. These are not snowmen afterall." (Atwood 32). This quotation is from the scene when Offred and Ofglen are looking at the bodies from the last hanging that took place, hanging on the wall. The heads of the bodies are covered with white sacks to make them appear inhuman, like rag dolls. These people were hanged for being different from the other members of society, for example doctors and preists were hanged. These people with strong structured views about society and superior intelligence to most did not conform well to the forced and structured views of Gilead and therefore had to be eliminated in order to keep the society going. I like this quotation a lot because I really like the imagery of the bodies portrayed to the members of society, Offred and Ofglen felt that it revlealed a lot about the society with this one scene. The bodies are portrayed the way that a child would draw them. The society of Gilead portrays ugly things to its people the way that adults would portray these things to a young child. This is especially shown by the way that it portrays the smile, as if it were painted on with a thick brush, the way a child would paint it. This interesting portrayal of something that is so gruesome as something childlike shows how Gilead tries to keep the people in their society in the dark about the bad aspects of this society such as the murder of people who have done nothing wrong except posess their own views on how society should be. I found the childlike portrayal very interesting and thought that it showed how the society even controlled how its people perceived the murder of fellow members of society.
I really liked this novel, however it often made me angry how women were viewed as mere objects that could be used and disposed of as easily as a paper cup. However, I liked how this society was created by Atwood in order to criticize how women are viewed like this in today's society. Women today are easily viewed as objects to win as a prize and to be portrayed as if they are a trophy that should be put in a glass case and observed but not heard, and certainly not given an opion. They are being used as objects on commercials and advertisements to increase the sales by attracting customers on pure sex appeal. They use the sexual appearance of women in order to sell not only makeup and clothes, but also cars, and any other product that they can add a woman's body to. This novel criticizes this view of women as do I, however, in order to portray this criticism Atwood created a society with the exteme opposite of her view to show just how ridiculous this view of women is. This sometimes made me quite angry that someone would even think about treating a woman in such a manner as a possession, though I know it has happened throughout history. I did however really like the novel. I liked the concept as it portrayed how unhappy the women were in a society that viewed them as objects. This view is portrayed through the eyes of Offred, which allows for the critical view that it actually portrayed of this society.
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