Chapter 16 Flashcards

1
Q

Setting

A
  • “Healthy white cotton drawers”
  • “Large white canopy”
  • “Colonial-style four-poster bed”
  • Lots of blue indicate SJ’s territory
  • Depiction of white suggests innocence and purity which contrasts with the act
  • SJ’s bedroom is the most private space which holds a public event
  • “Cold” suggest emotionless and cruelty
  • “Colonial”: idea of colonization, to take what does not belong to you
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2
Q

The act (Sex)

A
  • We are one flesh, mocks christianity
  • Rape
  • Taboo: “fucking” not a romantic act
  • Commander hums “humanizes him” sympathizes with him and makes him less of a monster
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3
Q

Attitude of the narrator (Offred)

A
  • No adjectives that reference emotions, does not share emotions
  • Offred avoids the trauma of story-telling
  • Comical “I dare not laugh”, shows that she is becoming used to the ceremony, subsumed by the laws of Gilead
  • Reflects on what the commander and SJ might be feeling
  • Doesn’t see the act as rape which makes her an unreliable narrator
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4
Q

The commander

A
  • Views the ceremony as a duty/ chore
  • Attempts to detach “one detaches oneself”
  • Stoicism
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5
Q

Serena Joy

A
  • 100% Gilead during the ceremony, conforms
  • After the ceremony, she rebels “Get up and get out”
  • Reduces the chances of Offred getting pregnant and conceiving
  • Questions her desire for a child
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6
Q

Whom is it worse for?

A
  • In Offred trying to humanize the commander and SJ, you have to pity Offred, increases tragedy around her
  • “The ceremony goes on as usual”
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7
Q

Positioning of the characters

A
  • Both women lie down/reclined, indicating passive participation
  • The commander towers over them indicating he has control, active participant, authority, power
  • “If I were to open my eyes”: Offred tries to escape the reality of the ceremony
  • “The rings of her left hand cut into my fingers”- SJ takes advantage of the situation showing that some women are complicit with women suffering
  • “Hanging over my torso”- Highlights how Offred has been reduced to a body part and only useful for reproduction, also shows hierarchy
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