PASSIVITY Flashcards
What quote indicates the link between mental and physical passivity?
I lie, lapped by the water (12.13)
The narrator’s mental passivity is echoed by her physical passivity here as she “lie[s], lapped by the water” in her bath. Her mind wanders even though her body cannot.
Which quote links the idea that women are universally passive?
They were paintings about suspended animation… (13.1-2)
The narrator is in a state of “suspended animation,” just like the women in the paintings. If they were “about objects not in use,” she too is an object, and not only is she not being used, she’s being kept from using the very parts of herself that made her a person rather than an object.
Which quote suggests Moira has become passive?
She is frightening me now, because what I hear in her voice is indifference, a lack of volition… (38.62)
One of the things that scares the narrator most is the change in Moira. Once rebellious, she now seems passive, speaking with “indifference” and “a lack of volition.”
How is passivity linked to survival?
In order to survive in Gilead, characters have to be blank slates. They have to be willing to take on new names and go where they are told.
Give a quote that relates to passivity and forgiveness.
‘Maybe its about who can do what to whom and be forgiven for it’ (23.4)
- Offred separates the issues of forgiveness and control, digressing about whether the real question is who can command forgiveness while participating in the terrible things society has endorsed.
- Links to how Stella can forgive Stanley when he hits her.
