Storytelling and memory theme Flashcards
structure
is characterised by many different kinds of storytelling and fiction-making
Historical Notes on the Handmaid’s Tale
frames the entire novel as Offred’s story, that she’s said into a tape recorder in the old-fashioned storytelling tradition
Aunt Lydia’s Lessons
punctuate her story as the novel continues
flashbacks
her flashbacks can be triggered by the slightest impression and they occur so frequently through the novel, that it seems like Offred lives in several worlds’s
tenses
adding to the overlap of the past and present, the tenses are always shifting, with some memories in the past tense and some in the present
Offred’s fiction
she constantly makes up fictions. She’s often filled with questions
she keeps several stories in her mind at once- seen in her imaginings of Luke’s fate: dead, imprisoned or maybe escaped
storytelling as a pastime
no access to entertainment so makes up events from other people’s points of view, making up what they could be saying or thinking
ex: Aunt Lydia and Janine talking about Moira- her frequent memories of the Aunts show how Gildea has dominated her memories
“I would like to believe this is a story I am telling”
repetitive
with more stories and memories than current-time actions, the book is profoundly repetitive
like Offred, we are trapped within the echo-chamber of her mind
“I try not to think too much”
Offred often uses
lengthy sentences which convey the languorous feel
taking her time because she has time to waste
Offred maintains her identity
through making her record
through telling her story
Offred learns to see differently from the way she is supposed to, which allows her to see the subversion and cracks in the Gileadean regime
effects of Offred decision to see clearly
she understands that the visual is vulnerable to manipulation so changes the way she appears to others in order to survive
drawing on Lacanian psychoanalytic theory
one could perhaps see Atwood’s fragmentary and contradictive narrative as reflecting Offred’s own state of mind
function of Historica Notes
Offred’s view of Gilead was restricted so it provides the reader with more detail, as well as telling that Gilead hadn’t lasted indefinitely
also told she got near Canadian border, which gives us hope for her escape
female narrative
Atwood felt that most dystopia had been written by men in the point of view of men
link to 1984
Newspeak uses the prefix ‘un’ to express the opposite of something - “ungood”
Atwood also uses this - “unbabies” and “unwomen”
Aunt Lydia often
misrepresents history as a way of justifying Gilead
similar to 1984
Gilead often twists language
in an attempt to create a new truth - forbids the word “sterile” as a way to eliminate the concept
as Aunt Lydia points out, the next generation will know no other truth than what they are told
the Historical Notes
undermine her narrative and forces the reader to re-evaluate her “story”
called a “tale”
and she recorded it in retrospect, which could make us wonder at the truth of her narrative
