The extract taken from Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale is a quiet reflection of the private musings of the protagonist. After the proposal from the Commander to have private and secret liaisons with himself, she ponders over her previous life which included immature and now foolish hopes of romantic love with a man. Written in first hand simple narrative she allows her mind to wander and allows the reader into her private thoughts and past experiences which she cleverly expresses by the use of her tone, diction and well developed metaphors.
Atwood employs tone of her voice to show her quiet acceptance of the new predicament. Her tone is matter of fact and shows no bitterness towards her past or her present. Though the reader is made privy to her private musings, her tone shows that her narrative is not directly spoken for the benefit of the reader, but more to herself to release her thoughts and analyze without bias what she believed love to be. Her mental voice shows no emotion, and is without joy or malice and without pre-planning she allows her train of thought to freely meander without any conclusion. Her tone however, shows some sadness in her reflections of her life with her lover and we can almost hear her sigh in her quiet reflections. In fact the beginning of the extract commences with that she does not need to reveal her thoughts to the reader or to herself but to do so is a form of therapy to accept a situation she cannot challenge or change. Her tone is of resignation and quiet despair.
Further Atwood’s potent use of diction as a clever play of words to elaborate further on her private most thoughts. She uses the latin quote, which translates to, do not let the bastards get you down to almost laugh at her predicament as how can she’ fight’ the system which she has no control over. Her musings on “falling in love” uses a play of words on “falling.” As she reflects that a woman falling in love is a weakness in which there is loss of emotional control that makes a woman both easy to manipulate and control. Romantic love is an illusion a childish daydream that does not always translate well in reality. She takes comfort in putting aside these daydreams and sees that perhaps a business deal with the Commander is perhaps a better situation in which she can benefit without pain or heartache. She needs to justify her new situation and relationships without moral misgivings. After all in her past, “ I loved you” would also become past tense showing that love does not last and may be transient and we may look back on it as a human failing, “dumb thing to do” a “frill” or “whim” or “incarnation.”
Atwood’s utilization of metaphors and similes to further bring home and illustrate her thoughts. For example, “ a creature from outer space” and “like a mutant” is how she visualizes women who fall in love who seem no longer to be part of the real world as they lose sense of reality and become inebriated by the potency and strength of their feelings. Further, “we are falling women” illustrates that being in love is akin to the physical act of falling where the part prior to landing can be exhilarating but the landing can be painful. Also, “love, like heaven” is used to show that being in love is something we work towards or aspire to but sometimes only experience fleetingly as constant true love is as hard to attain as heaven is. This is further elaborated by, “love is God” as we all worship this heady emotion but often this remains elusive as God is.
The extract capitalizes on the fact that the protagonist has come to terms with her new situation and has accepted her lot in life and realizes that she cannot escape or fight her new life. In fact she feels she does not need to share her thoughts with the reader or herself but does so to act as a form of therapy and to clear the cobwebs from her mind. Also the musings of her past loves help to justify that love is an unnecessary emotion that she can live without. She is filled with self doubt and recalls how she would wonder if her husband Luke even loved her at all. Thus she is able to embark on her business sexual relationships with the Commander or later on with Nick without moral obligation or guilt.
In your introduction, I'm understanding that you are going to be talking about Offred's past memories and experiences- but perhaps you could expand on this. What is Atwood trying to say by revealing to the reader Offred's history? What is important and what can be learned from this? From this introduction, it is not clear why this is important. However, I do like the background you give: it contains a bigger picture, a more specific one for the passage, and a before and after.
ReplyDeleteI also have to disagree with the fact that Offred has no emotion. I think, at the end of the passage, there is a lot of emotion. By asking a lot of questions beginning with "who" and describing waking up and seeing a man with cavernous shadows in his eyes, I think it created a mood of panic and a slight dislike for men. That's just me, though.
I do like the analysis you provide of the metaphors, though- especially the one on falling. The only thing I have a question about is that saying that loving women are "mutants". When Offred said this, I thought she was referring to those who had not loved, and how those who did not love were not women, but aliens, showing how important love is to women.
I think you chose excellent literary elements, and you have a good start with good examples- but try to analyze them just a bit more and expand them to a bigger picture. Wonderful work!
I really like your discussions in your body paragraphs, but I think your thesis can be stronger. You should have a common theme that connects the three literary features.
ReplyDeleteWhen you said that she has "no emotion", I was a little confused because later on, you said that she shows "resignation" and "despair" which contradicts your previous statement. I really like the other two arguments you made; they are very convincing.
Also, I felt that some of the vocabulary you used can be better. Some words seem awkward they seemed like they didn't really fit well. I think its better to use simpler words more effectively to make it flow better.
Hey. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteI actually took the exert in a different direction.
I didn't think it spoke so much about Offred, but rather revealed one of the central differences between Gilead and "the time before."
In the time before, there was love. In Gilead there is not love.
"Falling in love" implies lack of control and spontaneity; Offred describes it as "lovely." In Gilead, everything is controlled.
"God is love" implies the divinity of love. Gilead appears to be a society based on the teachings of God, but they do not have love; if God and love are one and the same, the Gilead is not worshiping a true God, and the true God is absent from the society.
Finally, and I think most significantly, Atwood suggests that love is what makes us human, "love makes flesh." People who do not know or feel love are "mutants," "creatures." Gilead does not know love, and is a society of non-human "mutants" and "creatures."
THis is what I took from the passage, what I found significant.
It is interesting to read your interpretation; how you analyzed the passage as an exposé of Offred's character, rather than the society she lives in.
That being said, I must agree with Julie: I am having trouble identifying your thesis. What exactly are you trying to say? That Offred has no emotions, that she can't feel love, that she prefers her current situation?
About your first paragraph, kudos for choosing to analyze tone. I can't really manage it; it confuses me. But at one point in the paragraph you explain that her 'matter of fact tone shows no bitterness to her past or present,' that it shows her indifference. However, you go on to say that it is, in fact, a tone of 'quiet resignation and despair.' Which is it? And where is the evidence?
In the second paragraph, you analyze her use of the words "frill" and "whim". Be careful, because what she actually means to say is that love wasn't a frill or a whim, but in fact "the central thing."
Your third provides some interesting points, but how does it support your thesis?
Okay, so I think you could translate the first line of your conclusion into your thesis...
Your conclusion is really interesting. It mentions things that I wouldn't have thought of, and that provoke me to think more about some of the themes in the novel. Great Job! :)
Just an overall point of advice that I think would make your commentary even stronger: make sure you provide evidence/examples from the text to analyze and back up statements.