Some critics say that The Handmaid?s Tale is a pure Science Fiction with little or no relevance to the actual society. Margaret Atwood wanted to show a way of how far contemporary errors lead to. Actually she took facts from today (the book was written in 1986), and imagine how could become society if people do not do anything to arrange life?s quality . ?Moving , vivid and terrifying, I only hope it?s not prophetic?, as Conor Cruise O?Brien, from The Listener. This fear is almost easy to understand because of the facts we read in the book that we recognise in our contemporary world. Then the idea would be to move things, to show people that they have to change habits, way of thinking. It is important to know that Margaret Atwood was also a critic; this could let us think that The Handmaid?s Tale is a critic of today?s society. It is also a critique of anti-abortion rhetoric and some reproductive technologists. In Gilead, women do not have the control of reproduction. ?The novel has been criticised for making capitalist, contemporary America seem like a free haven. Only the dictators argue that contemporary gender politics harm women.? (http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/webdocs/webdescrips/atwood157-des-.html) . Effectively Angela Carter, going in the same way says that ?The Handmaid?s Tale is both a superlative exercise in science fiction and profoundly felt moral story? . And we can focus in American society because in the book the society named Gilead (refers to an idealistic society in the Bible) is considered to be the future American society.
The Term Paper on Handmaids Tale Handmaid Rsquo
In what ways can The Handmaid&rsquos Tale be considered a feminist novel The Handmaid&rsquos Tale is narrated by an oppressed woman, so it is to be expected that feminism becomes a recurring theme. Women have no rights or money unless they have a valid marriage to a man. They are given few options&ndash if they are fertile they can become sex slaves&ndash&lsquo womb on ...
We will try to understand which facts Atwood found in today?s society that are present in her great book. But like everything we first have to check the context of Atwood 1986? society, because she had great contemporary sources that surely influenced her way of thinking. The first thing that I recognised from today?s society is the formation of groups in the society. In the 80?s we can easily see that different groups are gathering, because it is apparently easier to talk to a person that has the same origins, colour or way of living. In Gilead?s society the groups are formed with a simple base: women with women, the Marthas, Handmaids and wives ( with an exception with the econowives that has others relevance with today?s society and that will be dealt later on).
The men are always together and have a proper house, distant from women. In the 80?s we can see that the distinctions are obvious. Perhaps not in the same way, but with the same idea to separate the one who?s different. Without thinking about what he can bring to you as an experience. In fact the separation between sex, obligations and past in Gilead?s society is quite the same with the one we see in the separation between cultures, social life and colour in America in the 80?s. The gettos in America are a huge problem because of the fear of the other, of the difference. In Gilead?s society the difference is everywhere, a wife do not friendship with a Martha, neither with the handmaids, owing to the cruelty of the circumstances. Gilead?s society is based on individualism. ? individual rights are absolutely preeminent in the Constitution and very important to every American. But when you stop there and do not add a sense of community and an obligation to others, then you?ve condemned yourself to a kind of arid existence. You cannot make it with just individual rights.?(Today?s life choices, challenges for our Times: http://tlc.goldendome.com/episodes/transcrips/1102script.html) “Individualism, at first, only saps the virtues of public life; but in the long run, it attacks and destroys all others and is at length absorbed in downright selfishness.” ( Alexis de Tocqueville: La Democratie Americaine ) But they also try to show a light touch of humanity.
The Essay on love in Great Expectations
Webster?s dictionary defines love in many different ways, ?A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance. To have a feeling of intense desire and attraction toward (a person) (Webster, love)?. In Great Expectations, Pip is going through maturity, and is always undergoing maturity. We find that Pip is always ...
This is what I see as a contemporary source of The Handmaid?s Tale. Individuality prevents all the discovery that can be found in the other, the different. Margaret Atwood shows it very well, and we can see that as a result everybody is alone in there personal cocoon. I think that Atwood wanted to show that this great individualism that is present in America has to disappear and that it is clearly the time to discover what the other think to develop an opening spirit. Acceptation of the other is essential. As we see it before there is a great separation. But even between men and wives there is one. In fact love has nothing to do in Gilead?s society, the protagonist named Offred frequently repeat ?Give me children, or else I die? ( which is also a reference to the Bible: Genesis 30:1, www.webBiblle.com ) . What about feelings, I only see obligation. And Gilead?s society is based on religion, one of the purposes of religion seems to be forgave here: we do not see any compassion or love that have that great importance in religion. By our days ( when I see our generation ) it seems that love is old-fashioned . This is because of the fear to feel great pain when love will be broken; which is the fear of a future fact. It is just like if this sentiments are skipped for self protection. Men do not want to fall in love in order to stay free , but in fact they are imprisoned in there fear. That feeling is a lot present in today?s society, and in Gilead too. There is not a simple moment that we can define with love in the whole story of The Handmaid?s Tale . Even when Offred goes to see another man (who is the driver, Nick) , doing a huge transgression for Gilead?s society. This one especially says ?no romance? (p 274).
Where is love in all this, it is a problem in our society and in Gilead?s. Margaret Atwood shows here that love is important and that if we keep hiding our feelings, a society like Gilead?s could appear in the future. A society where feelings seem to be forbidden. We see here that Margaret Atwood show that those fears that people from American society have can lead to a huge problem which is the disappearance of feelings or even love. But it seems that for Atwood the fears should not be focused on those problems, but for much important errors that are leading to real important problems like infertility, end of democracy or even obligation to believe in a unique religion. In fact Atwood is trying move things in her book, she tries to explain that we have to realise that we are makong huge errors. That is a great source of the book. The industrial power today is huge, industries keep building and creating, with factories? help. Car market is the biggest today, almost everybody has a car in American?s society. Car?s pollution is also a huge problem because of the constant use of cars, also because in the 80?s all the gasolines were not at all ecological (we can see now that society did a small step with this problem with the invention of the GPL and by electric cars, which did not exist in society when The Handmaid?s Tale was written ).
The Essay on Problems Caused By Air Pollution
Problems Caused By Air Pollution Some people think that air pollution is not harming the earth or the people, but it is doing worse, by killing the earth and getting people sick.' Air pollutants,' according to Gay, 'are known to cause respiratory diseases, cancer, and other serious illnesses' (12). Air pollution not only threatens the health and life of humans but also causes damage to the ...
The actual market?s purpose is to be productive, to break new grounds. They do not give a single interest in ecological problems. The factories still put there wastes in the sea or rivers. For economy, ecology is a good joke and a society based on it is defined impossible. Margaret Atwood shows in her book what could this lead to: a huge amount of sterility in America, which leads to a sudden fall of birth rate. It is true that the effects of the pollution could become very dangerous; but the fact is that it seems impossible to forbid the use of cars. And it is also hard to change the gasoline in gaz (GPL) or electricity, in an entire economy depending on the petrol market. That is a real problem that we must fear because if we keep destroying our planet we will unavoidably begin to destroy ourselves. A new study found the risk of toxics in the air, making a comparison with the ?health standards? established by the 1990 federal Clean Air Act. This act defined 188 chemicals as ? hazardous air pollutants linked to cancer, birth defects and other health problems.? ( www.channel2000.com ) . Thousands of air samples have been made during the last three years in Los Angeles for exemple; the ?findings could have a wide influence on the way government views the risks of air pollutants nation wide and will likely spur the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a national monitoring network for cancer and birth defects causing pollutants in the air? (The Times, march 1rst 1999).
The Essay on International Students World Society People
September 11 th is a day that no one will soon forget. The terrorist attacks on New York City shook the U. S. and the entire world. The thought of such a thing happening was unimaginable for people in North America. Their security was destroyed, and we came to the realization that we were never truly safe. How could this happen? While the U. S. was paying its attention to the hate within the ...
One of the original authors of the Clean Air Act says that ?it should be a wake-up call to us that we?ve got to do more? ; ?we need to pay a lot more attention to toxic air pollutants, just like we?ve paid attention to ozone, smog and acid rain?. ( Talking about our air with Henri. A. Waxman, author of the Clean Air Act: seen on TV) . This represents a contemporary source that influenced a lot Margaret Atwood for The Handmaid?s Tale because its whole society?s creation is due to the birth defects.
It is important to know that approximately 50 % of the Americans do not follow politics. This means that half of the Americans do not even know what is going on in politics, they do not want to vote because they are blas?. This is a huge problem because if less and less people are voting democracy would become a good joke just like Gilead?s society in The Handmaid?s Tale. Atwood clearly evokes this problem in her book. Like this a radical change could happen, coming from people that do not find any solution in actual politics and would form a movement; arguing that the politics are poorly attended, in order to create a putch, just like the one which happens in the book (all the congressmen are killed ).
Offred says when she is talking about her past she with her ?husband? were ?like everybody? with no interest in political life of America. I think that Atwood wants here to denounce people that are not interest in politics. Voting is a right which we fought for and is essential for a society. If politics do not interest people they could just let know what they think and what are there point of view. I think it very important not to stay silent, because it could become very dangerous. How could we know what is going on in the country. In the society of Gilead government do not ask anything to people, they lead and that is all, the worse is that people do not even know what is the government doing. People only undergo the government?s decisions. The Gilead?s government could argue that by saying that even if they were telling people there decisions they would not even listen, as the example of the past gave it. I think that Atwood wanted to explain how important politics are in order to stay in a real democratic system. Religion has a great importance in America today, which is not bad at all. But in a particular state in America the evolution of world course was withdraw from educational cursus.
The Essay on Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale
An examination of pun and word play as a narrative technique in Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale Atwood uses word play in this dystopian novel to reinforce themes and ideas and to create the implication of and foreshadow ideas without direct allusion to them. Atwoods character Offred also uses word play to both remember her past and as a conscious resistance to her present. The novel is set in ...
In fact it is because religious politicians do not want to accept that Man is coming from the homosapiens and not from Adam and Eve. I don?t see any problems in believes like this one, but what is bad is that all the children of this state will not be taught the human birth. What becomes dangerous is when politics and religion are together. This means that it could become much more important in the future, because it could become the same for everything; and particularly the obligation to believe in one unique religion. This problem which represents a small one today could become more important with time and lead to a society like Gilead. In Gilead?s society the religion is used to forgive the acts that are made, which are totally unacceptable; the commander reads the bible before the ceremony, like this his action can not be blamed, even for his proper conscience. What is awful here is that Man is using the bible to make this horrible fact. When I see this it makes me remember of Islamic extremists that take god?s voice to do there bomb attack. There is another thing that is present today in religion in America and all over the world. The witnesses of Jehovah is a huge organisation.
I once saw a documentary about them, those witnesses of Jehovah always look at the other to see if there is any transgression, just like the Eyes in The Handmaid?s Tale. Man want to evolve and to live in a better community, in order to live in a real Utopia . In order to live in this great paradise on Earth, America is always trying to progress, this constant search of a better society is present in our contemporary society. In American society people has to be corresponding with the appropriate criteria. If not, those inappropriate people for the society begin to veer from the path society is giving. Those people become unwanted, seen with great prejudices and intolerance. I saw this judgement in The Handmaid?s Tale when it is talking about econowives and unwomen . In fact no woman in Gilead?s society wants to become an econowife. If the Handmaids are not able to fulfil procreation with three chances to make it, they become unwomen . All econowives in Gilead are rejected by the society. Just like beggars in our actual society. Reject is a real mistake in society. People have to look beyond the appearance. In the 90?s there is over two million homelesses in all America. In Gilead?s society there is no homeless but econowives that are considered as the lower status in this despotic society.
The Term Paper on It Has Been Said That Atwood Has Included Nothing
TaleIt has been said that Atwood has included nothing in The Handmaid’s tale that does not exist in our society already; she has simply taken ideas to their logical conclusion. Compare and contrast how far the authors of The handmaids Tale and Stepford Wives draw on the issues of the society in which they are writing to create a disturbing vision of the future. “There isn't anything in the book ...
In the book the Commander tries to explain a little about Gilead?s; in fact he was trying to justify himself because he was a leader in Gilead?s evolution and basements. He explains Offred that he and his companions wanted to do a better society: ?You can?t make an omelette without breaking the eggs [?]. Better never means better for everyone [?]. It always means worse, for some.? ( XII:Jezebel?s: ch 31, p222) In America the works that are offered are not always great, with variance and interesting points. I am talking about static jobs . Those kind of jobs are really tiring, they repeat this never-ending routine of getting to a desk, doing interminable lists, calculus? It makes me thinking about the basic state employee. In the Gilead?s society everybody has its singular proper purpose and duties. The Handmaids are to procreate, the Marthas for the housekeeping, the Commander to command as there name says? There is not any liberty in this way of living. Margaret Atwood had a conflict with her entourage when she said she wanted to be I writer, because of the small amount of Canadian writer, because it was leading to ?starve to death? (www.kuztown.edu/faculty/reagan/atwood.com) All this because it was not in the mold of the society. We can feel a little bit of the frustration to follow the way that is shown. And the desire to veer, in order to do what you like and become. Margaret Atwood really launched an important debate. In fact she wants to remove the blindfold that we have . She is trying to explain through The Handmaid?s Tale that we deeply focus on weak problems of our life, our fears are subtle. Those are not well-oriented, because there is a lot of problems that are more disquieting, that we really have to get involved. Those errors that man is constantly make have to be dealt, according to Margaret Atwood.
