The Handmaid's Tale Flashcards
What are dystopian characteristics in THT?
- protagonist knows what is happening in society is wrong
- characters are being watched
What are the themes in THT?
- power
- identity
- the home
- sexuality
- power of language
- freedom
- confinement
- moral relativism
- gender conflict
- feminism
- politics
- religion
- environmental issues
- jealousy
- social hierarchy
Offred
- narrator
- protagonist
- ordinary woman placed in extraordinary situation
- fails to escape with husband and daughter
- contrasts mother
- affair with Nick= absorbed by the physicality and autonomy Gilead has denied her
- escape comes through Nick
- inertia shows how oppressive regime like Gilead can destroy most people’s ability to resist it
The Commander
- ethical problem for Offred
- agent of her oppression
- founder of Gilead
- more sympathetic and friendly towards O than most people
- unhappiness and need for companionship make him seem a prisoner like everyone else
- visits with O are selfish, rather than charitable
- moral blindness highlighted by visits to Jezebels; the club reveals the rank hypocrisy that runs through Gileadean society
Serena Joy
- Commander’s Wife
- advocate for ‘traditional values’
- obvious unhappiness= at the edge of readers’ sympathy
- forfeits any sympathy the readers may have more herby taking her anger out on Offred
- no compassion for Offred
- can see the difficulty in her own life, but not another woman’s
- arranged for O to sleep with Nick
- always knew where O’s daughter was
- lack of sympathy= perfect tool for Gilead’s social order
- cruel and selfish woman= glue that binds Gilead
Moira
- friendship with Offred epitomises true female friendship
- embodies female resistance to Gilead
- lesbian
- only character who stands up to authority; 2 escape attempts, 1 successful
- the manner in which she escapes ( putting on an Aunt’s uniform) symbolises her rejection of Gilead’s attempts to define her identity
- represents an alternative to meek subservience and acceptance of one’s fate that most women adopt
- prostitute at Jezebels
- fighting spirit eventually worn down; resigned to her fate
- comes to exemplify the way in which a totalitarian state can crush even the most independent spirit
What is the structure of THT?
- discontinuous narrative
- time shifts; gradually reveals whole story
- mixture of things that actually happen and her psyche developing; psychological events and external situations
- tells herself stories
Where is Gilead based on and why?
Gilead is based on Cambridge, MA, specifically the Harvard area, outside Boston. Atwood made this choice because of the region’s Puritan background and history of intolerance.
Forced Pregnancy
(Context)
In Cambodia, mass forced marriages (and therefore pregnancies) were carried out. If you refused, you would be executed.
Children’s Kidnapping
(Context)
In World War II, the Nazi regime kidnapped children, specifically those with blonde hair and blue eyes. They were taken to Germany to be ‘Germanised’.
Death Penalty
(Context)
At the time of Atwood writing, the death penalty was still used in North Korea and Iran.
Clothing
(Context)
Due to the Islamic revolution in Iran, women went from wearing short skirts and high heels, to being forced to be covered from head to toe from their 9th birthday.
Homosexuality
(Context)
This was considered a sickness that required prevention and treatment. It took 30 years for the US Supreme Court to legalise the registration of same-sex couples.
Female Circumcision
(Context)
This procedure was carried out in 30 countries at the time of Atwood’s writing (mainly in Africa and the Middle East). Shockingly, it has been a standard medical procedure in the US for most of the last 2 centuries.
Abortion restrictions
(Context)
In communist Romania, over 10,000 women died from botched home abortions. It served as a warning for what happens when a country tries to control reproductive rights.
Atwood sees her novels as being able to?
Explore:
- consequences of new and proposed technologies
- nature and limits of what it means to be human
- relationship of man to the universe
- proposed changes in social organisation
- realms of the imagination
Nick
- has sex with Offred and tries to help her
- winks at O and is smoking the first time we see him
- Propp’s Character Roles show him as a Princess
- represents O’s desires
- can give O a baby; offers her salvation
- secretly an Eye
- connections with SJ
- not honest; dilemma of who to trust- he goes against the patriarchy BUT is an Eye?
What was Serena Joy before the new society?
A gospel singer and advocate of ‘traditional values’
What is Serena Joy’s role in Gilead?
She is a Commander’s Wife, which is the highest-ranking position a woman can hold. As a result, she is happy with her position. She is an infertile woman, and all she wants is a child, so she plans to get Offred pregnant by having her sleep with Nick.
What is Roe Vs Wade?
(Context)
It is a U.S Supreme Court case that legalised abortion in the United States in 1973. The case created the ‘trimester system’, which allowed an absolute right to abortion in the first three months, some government regulation in the second trimester, as well as states to restrict or ban abortions in the last trimester. In 2022, R V W was overturned.
What are some features of fantasy novels?
- other worlds
- magic
- universal themes such as good vs evil, freedom vs captivity
- heroism
- special character types e.g. fairies, ogres, centaurs
- fantastic objects that allow characters to perform the tasks they need to
- anti-realism; a focus on places, events and characters that are not part of the real world
Dystopian Control
Most dystopian works present a world in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through one or more of the types of dystopian controls.
What is corporate control?
(Dystopian Control)
One or more large corporations control society through products, advertising and/or the media.
What is bureaucratic control?
(Dystopian Control)
Society is controlled by a mindless bureaucracy through a tangle of red tape, relentless regulations and incompetent government officials.
What is technological control?
(Dystopian Control)
Society is controlled by technology, through computers, robots, etc
What is philosophical/religious control?
(Dystopian Control)
Society is controlled by philosophical or religious ideology often enforced through a dictatorship or theocratic government.
When did Atwood write THT?
She wrote it shortly after the elector Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, during a period of conservative revival in the west, partly fuelled by a strong, well organised movement of religious conservatives who criticised the ‘sexual revolution’ of the 60s and 70s.
How are women’s bodies used as political instruments?
(Themes)
Gilead was built around a single goal: control of reproduction. Women are reduced to their fertility, treated nothing more than a set of ovaries and a womb. In one scene, Offred lies in the bath and reflects that before Gilead, she considered her body an instrument of her desires. Gilead seeks to deprive women of their individuality, in order to make them docile carriers of their next generation.
How is language used as a tool of power in Gilead?
(Themes)
Gilead creates an official vocabulary that ignores and warps reality to serve the needs of the new society’s elite. Specifically created terms define the rituals of Gilead, such as ‘Prayvaganzas’, ‘Salvagings’ and ‘Particutions’.
Who is the Giver and why?
(Griemas)
Serena Joy= tasks Offred with sleeping with Nick to get pregnant
Who is the Receiver and why?
(Griemas)
Nick= if the household gets a child, everyone benefits; has fancied Offred from beginning
Who is the Subject and why?
(Griemas)
Offred= main character, narrator
Who is the Object and why?
(Griemas)
Offred’s daughter= O wants to escape to get her old life back
Who is the Helper and why?
(Griemas)
Moira= Offred’s best friend and positive influence of hope and symbol of the past
Who is the Opponent and why?
(Griemas)
Commander= takes advantage of his role and power
Who is the Villain and why?
(Propp)
Commander= takes advantage of his role and power
Who is the Hero and why?
(Propp)
Offred= adapts to her environment and gains knowledge by learning about society from the Commander to stand up against Gilead
Who is the Donor/Provider and why?
(Propp)
Nick= sleeps with Offred to get her pregnant and helps her leave with Mayday??
Who is the Dispatcher and why?
(Propp)
Serena Joy= tasks Offred to sleep with Nick to get pregnant
Who is the Helper and why?
(Propp)
Moira= best friend and is a positive influence of hope and a symbol of Offred’s past life
Who is the Princess and why?
(Propp)
Luke= Offred’s husband and father of her child, but were separated when society changed
Who is the False Hero and why?
(Propp)
Aunt Lydia= sees handmaids’ role as good and positive for society and deserves respect, when in reality they are disrespected
