Setting quotes & analysis Flashcards
For the generations that come after, Aunt Lydia said, it will be so much better. The women will live in harmony together,
Indoctrination & propaganda = future generations will also not remember previous freedoms. ‘Harmony’ – biblical & suggests women v women. Communism?
Life, if you looked about you, bore no resemblance not only to the lies that streamed out of the telescreens, but even to the ideals that the Party was trying to achieve.
Propaganda & indoctrination. Perception v reality.
The Republic of Gilead, said Aunt Lydia, knows no bounds. Gilead is within you.
Connotations of power, might and expansion of ideals/empire. Short, punchy declarative sentence to emphasise that ideals of Gilead are intrinsic to their existence. As Handmaid’s they incubate future leaders of Gilead and the spread of the message and ideology
The door of the room – not my room, I refuse to say my
Dash – creates a pause to emphasise the declarative statement. Refusal to use possessive pronoun – she owns nothing – a form of resistance.
gritty dust… The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. It was no use trying the lift. …at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours.
Privations of constant war – familiar to readers still under rationing – fear of future conflicts v USSR because of the Cold War. Day to day physical discomforts – loss of old luxuries previously taken for granted.
Victory Mansions…
Ironic – victory never achieved and the dilapidated building is decaying – symbolising the decay of the regime.
four ministries… in Newspeak: Minitrue, Minipax, Miniluv, and Miniplenty
Neologisms plus ironic as none of the ministries fulfil the remit their name suggests. ‘Sound bites’ & propaganda.
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
April – Spring = new beginnings associated with new life and growth but reality is different. ‘Thirteen’ unluck number plus – impossible so immediately establishes unsettling atmosphere – ominous and sinister. Establishes fictional setting where time and everything measured differently – means days are longer – workers work longer. i.e. Stakhanovite – encourage.
swarming disregarded masses, 85 per cent of the population of Oceania… [referring to the proles]
swarming’ – insects – dehumanises proles – powerless – numerous – but powerless. Stamped upon.
The birds sang, the proles sang, the Party did not sing.
Singing = freedom and joy – ability to experience emotion rather than being regulated and controlled.
