HMT chapters 41-46

Question 1

what did Atwood state about the Utopian idea?

Answer 1

“gilead has utopian idealism flowing through it’s vein” the regime is based upon the notion that “it is improving the conditions of life”

Question 2

what is the significance of communal violence?

Answer 2

this is a form of violence that is perpetrated among ethnic or communal lines, the term includes conflicts, riots and other forms of violence within communities.

Question 3

what are the different perspectives of the ending of the novel?

Answer 3

“the ending of Offer’s story emphasis her passivity”
“it is up to the readers to decide the faith of Offred”

Question 4

what did Atwood state about the novel?

Answer 4

“her little message in a bottle has gotten through to someone-which is all that we can hope, isn’t it?”

Question 5

key context?

Answer 5

• the American new right, anti-feminist, anti affirmative action etc…..
• puritanism, this sought to purify the church, women were inferior in the social hierarchy.
• slavery, the transatlantic slave trade; a similar practice is alluded to with the “children of ham” chapter 14. Though, this did lead to an escape route in places like Canada
• Hitler, the hitler youth movement is reflected in the description of the guardians “the youth ones are the most dangerous”, Nazi book burnings. In the third reich people were encouraged to betray each other
• China and the cultural revolution, this was designed to reinforce communism
• islamic group and regimes, in 1978 Atwood visited Afghanistan writing later that the HMT was influenced by her observations about women’s dress.