The protagonists of Never Let Me Go and The Handmaid’s Tale come to believe that the self is all that can be known to exist, as they have lost their freedom and rights. In discussing issues of identity, it is important to consider what characters lose, such as names and value in society, and how they try and protect their sense of self, by holding memories dear and valuing their soul above their functional body. This is most poignant in the lives of Kathy H. and Offred. Atwood herself is known to have described The Handmaid’s Tale as ‘speculative fiction’, and there is nothing in the novel that could not happen in the present day. Equally, Ishiguro sets his novel in modern Britain. This means that the loss of identity in both novels holds true today, as with the increase of identity cards and proof of identification, it becomes increasingly important to be obsessed with who we are. Atwood and Ishiguro’s dystopias suppress the identities of Kathy and Offred by the names they are given. Kathy introduces herself as “Kathy H.” in the first sentence of Never Let Me Go, and this stresses its importance and that her name is a definite fact to her. Sebastian Groves and Barry Lewis wrote that this “indicates the clone’s otherness by pointing to their anonymity as laboratory experiments’. It is known that Ishiguro was interested in debates on cloning with legislation permitting stem-cell research being passed in the UK a year before the novel was published. In contrast, Offred was named differently before the Gilead regime and her name is much more central to her identity than Kathy’s, so much so that ‘Offred’ was the Atwood’s working title for the novel. Whereas Kathy uses certain language of ‘my name is’, Offred tells of her previous n... ... middle of paper ... ... in her place”, showing how society undervalues her. Atwood took historical examples of societies where such repression had occurred such as early Puritanism to write the novel. However, neither Kathy nor Offred let their worlds stop them from knowing who they are. There is an sense of hope at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale, as Offred escapes the regime, and although Kathy remains repressed and will soon ‘complete’ at the hands of society, the last line of the novel, “To wherever she was supposed to be” could imply that she is still searching for her place, despite a reader knowing that she will never find it. Overall, both Kathy and Offred are treated as having lesser identity by others in their society causing them to both question and be defiant of their identity as they are only valuable for their physical body, Kathy for her organs and Offred for her fertility.
The two texts Harrison Bergeron, written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and The Handmaid’s Tale by Reed Morano explore the idea of individuality loss due to complete government control through similar and varied techniques. Both texts enable the audience to obtain an understanding that a society where there is no ability to express one’s own self, is ultimately dangerous in both execution and outcome. Throughout the two texts the authors explore individuality suppression through government control by utilising varied techniques such as motifs, similes as well the ideas of handicaps which are a result of the need for constant surveillance. The dystopian texts of futuristic, imagined universes display the illusion of perfect societies that are being created,
Although Offred is the heroine of this story, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the hero’s journey can be found in many characters in the story as well. This story is breaking into shambles between the past and the present, however, through the story, readers can still see the signs of the hero’s journey that Joseph Campbell has studied. Offred, being a handmaid, has been thrown into a world where women are powerless and stripped away of their rights to read and write. Atwood illustrates a dystopian world where equality is a part of history, not in the present day Gilead. However, Offred is one of the main characters who ceased to live in a degrading world and find means to escape. Thus, Offred begins on her Hero’s Journey, which occurs
Often in life, people take their freedoms, a gift that allows them to express their individuality, for granted. However, in the dystopian societies of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, people are reminded of just how easily their freedoms and humanity can be stripped away. Attwood and Ishiguro urge people to never lose sight of the core values that define who they are. The compelling novels chronicle the life journey of two protagonists as they fight to define their own existence and worth in life. Offred, the central character in The Handmaid’s Tale is exploited as a baby making machine, while Kathy, the leading role in Never Let Me Go, is degraded as a lifeless android in a sea of clones. From Atwood and Ishiguro’s provocative coming-of-age novels emerge two beautiful and inspiring heroines. Whether it is through their remembrance of the past, their loss of innocence, their capability to hope, or their ability to establish relationships, Offred and Kathy prove that they are every bit as human as the rest of society. Ultimately, despite the many differences in their distinct masterpieces, Atwood and Ishiguro share the same intent in their haunting portrayal of the protagonists’ dehumanizabtion—to shed light on the true essence of what it is to be human.
The purpose of this essay is to analyse and compare the narrative situations proposed by Franz Stanzel in the dystopian novels Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. For this aim, I am going to focus on the aspects focalization (reflection), relationship reader-narrator, narrative distance, knowledge, and reliability and demonstrate that they affect the interpretation of the novel by readers in a significant way. In the end, I will draw conclusions on how these techniques serve to alienate the narratives from their science fiction setting to set even more disconcerting issues about human’s existence.
Many texts that were published from different authors have introduced topics that can be related in today’s society, but Margaret Atwood’s creation called, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, gives voice to the thoughts and revolves around the narrator Offred, a woman whose rights have been deprived due to political issues. However, the information shared by Offred to the reader to the text is not reliable for the reason that she only touches upon her own perspective. Through the text, Atwood depicted what the United States of America would be in the future based on the actions of humanity during 1980’s. The text is set up in an androcentric and totalitarian country called Gilead, where the government attempts to create a utopian society. Thus, in order to attain this society, the authorities generated their legislation from the teachings of the Holy Bible in an attempt to control humanity. The governing
Early on it is evident that the authority of this society has been changed from a theocracy to a totalitarian government. The first sentence reveals that the current living quarters of the main character, Offred, are located in "what had once been the gymnasium" (3). The narrator recounts the past fifty years in this place from felt skirts of the fifties to the green spiked hair of the nineties. Then she turns to describe its transformation into what resembles an army barrack but is actually functioning as a kind of prisoner of war camp. In these few short sentences, Atwood has described the conditions of a place called Gilead, which is located in what used to be called the United States. In chapter four the author reveals that the current government is waging a war against the church. This is evidence that this society has shifted away from recognizing God as its supreme authority. The narrator then mentions that church song...
Before the war handmaids had their own lives, families, and jobs but that’s all gone now; They have all been separated from their families and assigned to A Commander and his wife to have their child. Handmaids did not choose this life but it was forced upon them. The society which Offred is forced to live in shaped her in many ways. In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses cultural and geographical surroundings to shape Offred's psychological and moral traits as she tries to survive the society that she is forced to live, in hopes that she can rebel and make
Identity In The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Nostalgia is a common feeling of the human populous, but in it can be a sense of denial. Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale depicts an awful world, but so much of it is swept under Offred’s passive observations of it which ends up undermining the weight of the situation. The story of Moira is that of the social activist courageous enough to question authority, however, Atwood does not deliver a triumphant heroine in her. Hope is an important lifeline that Offred clings to, and Moira plays a significant part in that, but Atwood’s depiction of their relationship denies hope its prevailing image of savior. Instead of fueling an active struggle against oppression, Moira’s character is used as placating “if only” for Offred to daydream about.
Offred from The Handmaid's Tale uses different tactics to cope with her situation. She is trapped within a distopian society comprised of a community riddled by despair. Though she is not physically tortured, the overwhelming and ridiculously powerful government mentally enslaves her. Offred lives in a horrific society, which prevents her from being freed. Essentially, the government enslaves her because she is a female and she is fertile. Offred memories about the way life used to be with her husband, Luke, her daughter, and her best friend Moira provides her with temporary relief from her binding situation. Also, Offred befriends the Commander's aide, Nick. Offred longs to be with her husband and she feels that she can find his love by being with Nick. She risks her life several times just to be with Nick. Feeling loved by Nick gives her a window of hope in her otherwise miserable life.
Identity, Complicity, and Resistance in The Handmaid's Tale, PETER G. STILLMAN and S. ANNE JOHNSON, Utopian Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1994), pp. 70-86
Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, the author Margaret Atwood gives the reader an understanding of what life would be like in a theocratic society that controls women’s lives. The narrator, Offred, gives the reader her perspective on the many injustices she faces as a handmaid. Offred is a woman who lived before this society was established and when she undergoes the transition to her new status she has a hard time coping with the new laws she must follow. There are many laws in this government that degrade women and give men the authority to own their household. All women are placed in each household for a reason and if they do not follow their duties they are sent away or killed.
The protagonists in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Margaret Laurence’s The Fire-Dwellers are very different in character. However, both of these women lose their identity due to an outside influence. In each of the books, we see the nature of the lost identity, the circumstances which led to this lost identity, and the consequences which occurred as a result of this lost identity.
Throughout the novel the reader often gets forced into or tends to question him/herself about what really a fictional novel is. Handmaid’s tale is a novel that is fragmented in its plot and theme, and often this leaves the reader to play the role of piecing together and looking at the larger picture of the theme and plot, but often this causes certain times in the novel involving ambiguity. This type of fragmentation is part of postmodern literature. This novel unlike the conventional structure of novel, often points out to the reader itself that the story is somehow linked with the main character and the reader, and this link is where the main theme and the intellectual knowledge of the character in the story lies. The evidence of this unconventional structure lies in the thoughts are quotes said by Offred, the main character, “I would like to believe this is a story I’m telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance. If it’s a story I’m telling, then I have control over the ending. Then there will be an ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off “(49 Atwood). This quote is in the end of chapter 7 and it reveals the underlying connection between
As The Handmaid’s Tale is considered an allegory of the social injustice women face against traditional expectations of their role in society, the symbolism of the Handmaids and other women as a whole for repressed feminine liberty and sexuality allows Atwood to connect her work to the theme between gender and expectations in her society. As Handmaids in the Republic of Gilead, females are stripped of their previous identity and are defined as a tool of reproduction for the men who is assigned them. At its core, these females are forced against their will to be mere tools, experiencing unwanted sex at least once a month, which Gilead names “The Ceremony”, hiding its true nature as a form of rape. Offred