Point of View -told in first person from Offred’s point of view -story is set in the present tense, however it often switches to past tense in flashbacks Offred has of her old life -much of her narration focus on her emotional mentality and reflections of her past -point of view is important to the novel because the reader interprets Gilead from only Offred’s interpretations -key aspects to the novel are only revealed as Offred decides to willingly share them -the read must put more trust in the narrator in this type of situation in believing what they say is the truth -however, this novel also hints at a unreliable narrator in that of Offred as she reveals she wishes she could change her story and also parts of it she has changed -“It’s a story I’m telling in my head, as I go along” (Chapter 7). -through the narration, Offred can seem at times very present and at other very distant to the reader in her attempt to tell a full story with attempting to reveal much detail about herself Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Print. Characterization -characterization in general is relatively weak due to the fact that the story is told from Offred’s point of view and she does not thoroughly develop the personality traits of each character through their descriptions -despite this, the characters are very human and believable for the most part on the account of Offred -characters are revealed through Offred’s interactions and interpretations of them, some characters are also revealed through Offred’s flashbacks and thoughts of her past -each character is interpreted by the reader by their relation to Offred -Offred: narrator and protagonist, member of the class of handmaids and works to bear children ... ... middle of paper ... ...ions -”The Republic of Gilead knows no bounds. Gilead is within you” (Chapter 5). -they are able to get inside the minds of their people and control them subconsciously -the facade of the city gives it the appearance of a utopia, being described as “beautiful pictures they used to print in magazines...absence of people, the same air of being asleep. The street is almost like a museum, or a street in a model town constructed to show the way people used to live...there are no children” -on the interior of Gilead, people are kept ignorant of the world around them, leaving them in a false sense of security, “the heart of Gilead, where the war cannot intrude except on television” -Gilead is based on Cambridge, Massachusetts area outside Boston due to the area’s Puritan history and intolerance Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Print.
Atwood makes it evident that Offred isn’t supposed to be the most aware character, in fact, her narration displays both ambiguity and hazy recollection throughout the novel. Her intention is for Offred to be interpreted as a complicated character though, so, she offers an ending that is just as ambiguous as Offred is, as a means to further the ongoing idea that she is three-dimensional. However, this could be an explanation as to why Atwood creates such an ambiguous ending: to further characterize Offred. The references to light and dark, however, foreshadow the fate of Offred as it constructs its own ambiguous interpretation, in which the way that light and dark contrast with each other creates a more vague ending; this can symbolize the fact
Moira is presented through Offred as the novel is written in first person narrative. The readers get a very biased view of Moira because we only got Offreds view of Moira.
They are not free to choose when or who t... ... middle of paper ... ... f no use. Again here Atwood presents Offred in a negative manner. Atwood then from showing Offred in a negative way, to positive, then back to negative, she shows us the club of Jezebels and shows us hopes for Offred again.
There are two possible events that can occur with Offred's arrest and readers have the ability to open the book to new possibilities. If Offred is arrested, she will likely be tried for treason and killed. However, if she escapes into freedom, she will have a new lifestyle away from Gilead. She is different from Winston as she only wants to survive and survives because of her memories of her past Conclusion:
When a child is born, he or she does not see the same things an adult sees. The baby does not understand language and cannot make the distinction between races or gender or good and evil. While it is impossible to go back in time, novels allow readers to take on a new set of eyes for a few hours or days. They give a new perspective to the world, and sometimes provide a filter to the things seen in the world. Unreliable narrators give authors the flexibility to lie to and withhold information from readers, providing new perspectives into the narrator as well as the other characters of the novel. Authors use unreliable narrators not to give more information to the reader, but to withhold information in order to further character development.
“At the same time I sway towards him, like one hypnotized” (83). I chose the word “hypnotized” because I think it represents Offred well, she has her conscience and can depict right from wrong but when she does her daily activities she often refers back to what the Aunts at the center taught her. When someone is hypnotized they often do not know it, but to an outsider like me, the reader, it is clear. Offred remembers what life was like before the Republic of Gilead but she does nothing to change it. When Moira talks about running away Offred discourages her from doing it instead of helping her.
In The Handmaid’s Tale there are three types of women: handmaids (the breeders), wives (the trophies), and the marthas (servants.) The narrator of the novel is Offred, who is a handmaid. Handmaids are women with viable ovaries. Every two years, handmaids are assigned to a commander; the leader of the household. Weekly, the handmaid and Commander try and conceive a
The least is learned about Hana's past. Most of what is known about her childhood in Toronto is given by Caravaggio. As the novel progresses the English patient's flashbacks become longer, more detailed and coherent. The farther into the novel the farther into the past he recalls. Ondaatje moves toward the denouement obliquely, avoiding standard conventions of plot and narrative voice.
The thought of male superiority and women being nothing more than baby incubators is evident in ‘The Handmaid’s tale’. There are no laws that extinguish women's rights in today’s society but there are people who have this mindset, even though it is a minority. Some of the laws in Gilead may be different as the laws and normalities are the opinions of the few people who believe that male superiority is embraced to a further extent. The novel represents sex as something no longer for two significant others but for mens pleasure and women’s sole use, procreation. When Offred
The main character in the book is Offred, one of these unfortunate servants whose only right to exist depends on her ovaries’ productivity. She lives with the Commander and his wife in a highly supervised centre.
Offred’s take on her own space is unique in a way. When Offred first arrives at her new posting she is given a room.“The door of the room- not my room, I refuse to say my- is not locked” (8). She did not want
... is only alive in her dreams, she aches for her and fears that her child will not remember or even she is dead. Atwood writes about motherhood, and the irony lies in the fact that Offred did not have an ideal relationship with her mother even though Gilead’s system was not established, yet Offred who is separated for her daughter shows affection towards her child by constantly thinking and dreaming about her. Even though Offred felt pressured from her mother, she still misses her, ‘I want her back’ and she even reminisces about when she used to visit her and Luke.
This is the way Atwood gets across her feelings about the future world that Offred lives in. She forms a close relationship with the reader and the character, and then shows the reader Offred’s feelings about different aspects of the world. This is not to say that everyone reading the book will get the exact same thing from it.
Offred can not escape the fact that, in spite of the treatment from Serena Joy and the commander, that they both will have, if not already, an impact on her life. Not to mention Nick also. Nick gave her the comfort and the security that she wanted, and in the end nothing done to her by the commander or his wife mattered to her. Living in the Republic of Gilead will always be a memory that she will probably try to forget. & nbsp;
In this manner, Atwood’s characterization of Offred through her individuality and defiant nature, ultimately allow her to present just how societal expectations go hand in hand with gender roles as Offred challenges them just to retain the most basic parts of her identity as a female.