Comparing The Handmaid's Tale And We All Fall Down

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, the novel We All Fall Down, Cormier's form lacks censorship, “Did you touch me when you tied me up? Feel my chest? Eleven- year-old boys don't do that, either" (Cormier 178). Atwood and Cormier techniques allows the reader to be drawn completely into different worlds, and in engaging the reader through their own techniques and has given the

impression of many conflicts arising, that are to be compared and contrasted from the two novels differing from alcoholism, freedom, and suicide.
The novels We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier and The Handmaid's Tale uses alcohol and is involved in lives of a teenager and adult.

To whomever alcoholism affects the body and life style, drinking for long periods can lead to being dependent on alcohol for all situations or just drinking for the sake of alcohol in the system of the body. In We All Fall Down one of the characters Buddy, "My life's not in danger, I'm not in danger of becoming an alcoholic."(Cormier 78). Alcohol has taken affect on Buddy’s life because the character thinks alcohol is not a danger to life, a character in the novel had the intention of helping Buddy with the situation of being an alcoholic but Buddy is clearly mad at the fact of another character think of Buddy has an alcoholic. Whenever people have problems they do not admit to their fault rather individuals deny the facts and cannot accept the fact of the situation at hand, “Look, there are plenty of other bottles I can put my hands on" (Cormier 79). Being an alcoholic has shown in Buddy’s character due to always having a bottle of "booze" on hand, again Buddy is shown to be furious because Buddy does not take the opinions of other characters into consideration about having a drink, even though characters throughout the story try to help Buddy not become an alcoholic. Throughout Buddy’s experience with alcohol this character cannot properly function, it can connect to being an alcoholic and can lead to increasing illness and earlier death. Drinking in the novel The Handmaid’s Tale alcohol has supposed to be banned from the society,"Last night he had a drink, scotch and water. He's taken to drinking in my presence, to unwind after the day."(Atwood 242). It just comes to show everybody has a drink once in a while, alcohol can become addicting to the body but in the novel alcohol is used socially not to be drunk or becoming an alcoholic. In We All Fall Down the character Buddy does not drink alcohol socially but has alcohol at hands

reach and with drinking alcohol there comes a greater responsibility. Buddy drinks heavily every day which makes him an alcoholic because he is also always drunk but denies getting help. In The Handmaid's Tale, the commander drinks socially not to the point of being drunk with in the presence of others and drinking too much can lead to an addiction of being a alcoholic almost similar to the character Buddy because of the drinking habits developed in the novel We All Fall Down.
Freedom is taken lightly while other's value freedom greatly. With freedom it lets people be free with their habits and practices, the freedom to express their selves as an individual and it gives people the opportunity to make decisions for their own lifestyle. In The Handmaid's Tale there is no freedom in their society, "Such songs are not sung anymore in public, especially the ones that use the word free"(Atwood 60). Individuals are to think of freedom in their own society because the society in The Handmaid's Tale is strict on freedom, if saying the word free does not give a physical, individual and opportunity of freedom. In the society of The Handmaid's Tales women cannot be dress to a significant personality and be comfortable in what they would want to wear because society has taken away their physical and individual freedom to be whom they want to be and how to be dressed, "Everything except the wings around my face is red, the colour of blood which define us." (Atwood 17). The outfits for the handmaids are a red dress and a cloak, their whole body is covered up and the cloak and dress are not appealing, and the red would symbolize the menstrual cycle for childbirth because it symbolizes fertility and the only individuals in society whom can give birth to children are the handmaid's. The handmaid's are not high on the social ranking but very low because after three births the handmaid's are particularly a nobody, the handmaid's body is just an instrument for sex and the colour red is sinful because the colour red signifies the devil and the handmaid's are committing a sin of adultery due to having sex with a women’s husband. The outfits differ because the commander's wives wore the blue colour cloak and dress which is more fitted to their body and blue, can be associated with royalty which symbolizes the high status of the wives. Blue can also be related to water which is pure and the Virgin Mary for fertility and relating all the statements above to the commander's wife Serena cannot Serena is neither pure and cannot be fertilized as the handmaid Offred. We All Fall Down the character Jane goes on a shopping spree, “Particularly clothes, she and Jane went to the mall and brought tops and skirts." (Cormier 35) In Cormier novel, women are given the freedom to go shopping to select their own clothes, not given a colour of clothes to symbolize their status in society and they are able to have their physical and individual freedom.
Relating to the novels The Handmaid's Tale and We All Fall Down, suicide is an end to your life from your very own hands, pressure can build up in life and the only solution may just be death. Due to a great deal of pain and own self-behaviour for enduring mental health issues. In We All Fall Down a character Mickey Stallings commits suicide, “Then looking back at his wrist, the blood dripping now, onto the floor. Now he slashed the other wrist and watch calmly, curiously, as the blood gushed fort, the incision deeper than the first cut, the blood spurting in the air as if from a miniature fountain in his flesh. He took the knife and plunged it into his stomach" (Cormier 179). Mickey has ended life because of all the misery and suffering from his past killings especially his grandfather, “The avenger didn't do it. You did. Mickey Stallings. You killed your grandfather… Your grandfather who loved you."(Cormier 179). Mickey has split personalities and could not handle all the guilt from the past, of actually being Mickey doing all the killings and not being the avenger. Mickey truly thought being the avenger has been killing all the people who loved and care for Mickey; instead the only way to escape the reality being faced to Mickey, the easier decision was death from all the misery. The Handmaid's Tale the character named Ofglen who has taken life in into own hands, “She hanged herself, after the Salvaging. She saw the van coming for her. It was better" (Atwood 329). Ofglen kills in the escape of not being caught, "Ofglen's been caught, Ofglen may talk about me among others. She won't be able to help it." (Atwood 328). Ofglen had to commit suicide because would be torture to give out information to the eyes because the only way to keep all the secrets from being shared is to escape from society and life which was the best choice to make in this situation.
The novels The Handmaid's Tale and We All Fall Down the authors Atwood and Cormier's books were both banned and the novels can be related but yet have their own differences to be contrasted and compared. When reading these two novels it takes individuals to another world out of the author's creative way of the setting and each novel the author's depict society different from one another. Atwood and Cormier are in engaging the reader through their own techniques and has given the impression of how their writing and novel is different from each other. The conflict arising in the novels of The Handmaid's Tale and We All Fall Down is alcoholism, freedom, and suicide.