Birth Day VIII Flashcards
Key Events
Chapter 19-23
Janine has a child.
Offred recalls her mother fighting as a feminist.
Offred analepsis of Moira.
The Commander calls Offred to his room, plays Scrabble and kisses her.
Key words
the female experience
Offred’s initial reaction pg.111 middle
‘the front door is wide, today I can go through it’
Give special treatment- make her more equal
Explicit- power, leave, go where she wants
Implicit- an illusion
The Handmaids reaction pg.126 upper
‘we are one smile’
‘we are no longer single’
‘we are jubilant’
‘a victory for all of us’
The Commanders reaction pg. 116 lower
‘probably he’s figuring out when his promotion is likely to be announced, if all goes well’
The Wives reaction pg. 116
‘spread with a buffet: ham, cheese, oranges- they have oranges!’
‘we’ll get milk and sandwiches on a tray later’
‘But they have a coffee urn and bottles of wine’
The Wife’s reaction pg.125
‘she scrambles onto the Birthing stool, sits on the seat, behind and above Janine…Janine is framed by her’
‘a hostess at a party she’d rather not be giving’
Janine’s reaction pg.126 lower and pg. 127
‘we stand between Janine and the bed, so she won’t have to see this’ (the naming)
‘crying helplessly, burnt-out miserable tears’
‘she’ll be allowed to nurse the baby for a few months’
‘she’ll never be sent to the colonies…That is her reward’
Offred’s mother’s birth- through analepsis pg. 120/ bottom pg 122
‘You were a wanted child alright!’
‘When I was six months pregnant, a lot of them started sending me articles about how the birth defect rate went zooming up after 35
‘A man is just a woman’s strategy for making other women’
‘I didn’t want to be the model offspring, the incarnation of her ideas… I want her back. I want everything back’
How does Janine’s birth contrast her mother’s birth?
Janine was forced- oppression whereas Offred’s mother wanted one
Ironic- critical towards her mother, lacks support
Janine had support when giving birth
Both have judgement about their pregnancies
Women are superior in Offred’s mother mind- against Gilead, Genesis
Gets to keep the baby unlike Janine
Atwood places the memory in the same section as Janine to act as a comparison
Neither the new form of birth or the old form of birth are perfect
General critic on the treatment of women
Even though at the time she didn’t agree with her mother the feminist ideals her mother were important
How does Moira’s escape pg.130 make Offred feel?
Inspired- ‘loose woman’
Scared- ‘we found this frightening’
Hope- ‘Moira was our fantasy’
Hope that she will resurface one day
How is Birth Day linked to Genesis Chapter 3?
Women’s punishment was a painful birth and that men would rule over women (patriarchal society)
Men’s punishment would be painful work to provide for their family
They are punished for disobeying God- punish all of mankind
