Readers often find themselves trying to correlate the works they read to their respective authors, even when those works are fictitious. The need to find a human connection pushes readers to draw conclusions on who the author is based on their stories. Catherine Bush believes that this “autobiographical reading” takes away from the experience of the book and puts the author in a box they don't belong in. It is wrong to assume that the author has a direct personal link to their fictional creation, unless indicated by the author themself. It makes sense though to assume the story does reveal their ideologies and viewpoints. This is seen in Margaret Atwood’s works Murder in the Dark and The Handmaid’s tale, in both works there are messages to be found that
Murder in the Dark is a collection of short fiction by Canadian author Margaret
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Atwood, published in 1983.
One of the short stories is about a game called murder in the dark where out of a group a murderer and a detective are chosen. The role of the murderer is to kill (and lie when asked if they did it) in the dark without being caught by the detective when the lights go back on. A reader has no grounds to make a link between the game and Atwood’s life. It is impossible to know whether she really plays this game; it is more likely that she is using this fictitious account to relay a message. Near the end of the story Atwood sets a scenario where the murderer is the writer, the detective is the reader, and the victim is the book. In another scenario the author is the murderer, a critic is the detective, and the reader is the victim. Applying this directly to her life would mean she was a murderer, which wouldn't make sense because she would
be in jail. Rather this shows her viewpoint on the relationship of the author, the reader, and the book critics. When a reader reads the book and forms an opinion for themselves they are the detectives, who can ask questions and investigate. The reader can not find answers from the physical book because it can't talk. What the author says can't always be trusted because they are the murderer; they decide where the book goes and what it does. When a critic is inserted into the equation that takes away the ability of the reader to be a detective and instead now there opinions aren't really there’s which makes them nothing more than the victim. Finding this critical viewpoint of critics makes much more sense than directly applying the story to Atwood’s life. The Handmaid’s Tale is a work of speculative fiction by Canadian author Margaret Atwood Set in a near-future New England, in a totalitarian theocracy which has overthrown the United States government. Once again taking this story and trying to apply it directly to Margaret Atwood’s life wouldn't make any sense. The dystopian novel explores themes of women in subjugation and the various means by which they gain agency. She sheds light on women's social oppression as a result from patriarchal ideology. From this a reader can logically draw that Atwood has a feminist ideology. Her work does not necessarily tell about her life but it does show what she believes in. Catherine Bush correctly states that trying to find a direct link from a fictional story to its author is detrimental to the sense of the story and also to the character of said author. What Bush fails to mention though is that although direct links to personal life should not be sought, one can quite easily identify an author's ideologies and viewpoints through their works of fiction. This is shown by the criticism of book critics and their effect on the author reader relationship in the short fiction Murder in the Dark. Also by the feminist ideologies in her fictional novel The Handmaid’s Tale.
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.
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,
The worlds of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Road are complete opposites; One is an anarchical society where there is no societal structure while the other is a very well-structured world with a thoroughly defined hierarchy. Despite this, it could be argued that these two worlds are simultaneously also very similar due to the way they approach the topics of patriarchy, misogyny, and survival. Atwood and McCarthy accomplish this differently, but they achieve it using the same literary techniques and, despite one of the worlds being dystopian while the other is post-apocalyptic, making heavy usage of descriptive writing.
Intro: In the play “the tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” and the story “the handmaids tale” the characters Gertrude and Serena joy share similar characteristics. Gertrude, The Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother, recently married Claudius. Gertrude loves Hamlet deeply, but she is a shallow, weak woman who seeks affection and status more urgently than moral truth and Serena Joy: The Commander’s wife who worked in pre-Gilead days as a gospel singer then an anti-feminist activist. In Gilead, she sits at the top of the female social ladder and yet, she lives an unhappy life
The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, and Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, are two novels which use an essentially "invisible" central character to comment on the manipulative power society holds over people, destroying the individual. Offred, the protagonist of The Handmaid's Tale, and the narrator of Invisible Man are both invisible as individuals and are manipulated by society to become a dehumanized natural resource. The authors of these two works use the protagonist to criticize society's use of certain groups of people only as resources to reach a goal, ignoring the individuality of these people.
In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale there is a threat of physical, emotional, and mental abuse if you disagree with the established group or party. The Handmaid’s Tale is a book about a “woman victimized by a totalitarian system that attempts to control her thoughts and deny her humanity” (Thomas 90). In The Handmaid’s Tale there are differences between all the women. There are the wives, who are married to the commanders. The commanders are in charge of all the other women. There are the econowives, which are the wives of the low-ranking officials. The Martha’s are in charge of the upkeep of the commander’s house. The Handmaid’s are in charge of having the commander’s baby. Each woman has to listen to their husband or commander. No woman can think for herself. The men are in charge of everything. (Atwood, Thomas)
Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake describes a world very different from the one we live in today, but not too far from a possible future. The story, told from the viewpoint of Snowman, possibly the only human survivor, recounts the end of days in human history. His description, given to us as flashbacks, tells of a world where technology is power, and those who lack power are doomed to a sub-par existence. This world gone mad is reminiscent of another Atwood novel written in 1986, The Handmaid’s Tale. In this story, the world of today is gone, democracy has been eradicated, and it is the elite few who control the fate of the masses. By comparing these two novels by Atwood, one can see corresponding themes dealing with governmental control, the dangers of technology, the uses of religion, and the treatment of sexuality.
A dystopian text often consists of a society that is based on a utopian ideal of a “perfect” society. Despite being a fictitious setting, the more realistic a dystopian text seems, the more disturbing it is for the audience. The novel The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, takes place in the Republic of Gilead that was formerly the state of Massachusetts. Massachusetts has been reformed to a place where puritan traditions and beliefs are the only customs allowed. Gilead and its totalitarian government oppress women to the extent where rape is a norm in their society. The novel The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, is about a contest held in the country of Panem, where twelve teenagers are forced to fight one another until only one survives the battle. The people of Panem are mandated in watching this contest, as a reminder of the previous uprising that was stopped by their totalitarian government called the Capitol. Atwood depicts Gilead in a way where it is almost possible for the society in Gilead to
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.
The government in Huxley's Brave New World and Atwood's Handmaid's Tale, both use different methods of obtaining control over individuals, but are both similar in the fact that humans are looked at as instruments. Human's bodies, in both novels, are looked at as objects and not directly as living things with feelings. In both societies the individuals have very little and are controlled strictly by the government. In Handmaid's Tale and Brave New World, through issues of employment, class systems, and the control of reproduction, Atwood and Huxley forewarn that in an all-powerful society, it is destined to become corrupt.
The ability to create life is an amazing thing but being forced to have children for strangers is not so amazing. Offred is a handmaid, handmaid's have children for government officials, such as Commander Waterford. Offred used to be married to Luke and together they had a daughter but then everything changed; Offred was separated from her family and assigned to a family as their handmaid. 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 change.
Throughout the novels The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier, the authors have a variety of unique forms by using different vocabulary and storytelling to interrupt their own meaning. For example, in The Handmaid's Tale Atwood uses words such as birth mobile meaning a vehicle to transport handmaids to a birthing and encourage their fellow handmaids. Another example, being used in the novel We All Fall Down, Cormier's unique form is not censoring his writing "Did you touch me when you tied me up? Feel my chest? Eleven- year-old boys don't do that, either" (Cormier 178). These techniques are allowing the reader to be drawn into two completely different worlds. Atwood and Cormier are in engaging the reader
The Dystopian Dream of Brave New World, The Handmaid’s Tale and GATTACA In Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill writes that “it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied.” By this he meant there are qualitative degrees of satisfaction and if to be satisfied we’re lowered in status to that of a pig, it’s better for us to be dissatisfied humans. The film GATTACA and the books Brave New World and The Handmaid’s Tale create fictional places where the needs and desires of humans are met, but not as well as they should be and not without a price. Given the achievements in science over the last several decades, specifically in areas of genetics and biology, it is no wonder why we dream of altering our world in the name of progress. But with social progress in these tales comes repressed
The novel, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood connects to the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne through many similar, recurring themes. Both novels are described as works of dystopian fiction and they both manifest traits of Sin and Redemption with Good and Evil. One of the central themes that relate to both texts is Identity. Within both of the novels, both women protagonists struggle to successfully assert their identity, and they struggle to create genuine relationships with others. In The Handmaid's Tale, women have been banned from talking to one another because it's dangerous to express emotions. They are not allowed to read, write or create personal relationships with one another. All these things have been banned
Before entering the homes of those they would work for, the Handmaids were trained to be inferior to others. The Aunts taught the Handmaids what to and not to do. Along with those power-draining lessons, the Handmaids were taught to be inferior to men. For example, one of the Handmaids recalls a story from her past about being raped by several men at once. The Aunts tell the Handmaid and her fellow associates that she is at fault because she led the guys on. The Aunts want the Handmaids to believe that they deserve the pain they have experienced and will experience in life (Atwood 72). In a way, they were making the Handmaids accustomed to ridicule and preparing them for the possible harsh conditions that they were soon going to enter. By leading the Handmaids to believe that they are always at fault, the Aunts are stripping them of their dignity and