Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda by hotdogccm on Polyvore.com

Journal #3

This novel criticizes and warns people about anti-feminism. The society in this book is very controlling of women. They make it seem like it is fair and good but they are just taking away women’s freedoms to give them safety. This book warns people about the reversal of women’s rights. The citizens of this new country are placed in different categories. The women are either Handmaids, Wives, Prostitutes, Aunts, Daughters, or Econo-Wives. The men are Commanders, Guardians, Eyes, or Angles. There are strict rules placed on the women of this society more than the men. For instance the men are commanders and policemen while the women are just wives and prostitutes. The women aren’t even aloud to read. This is a form of mind control and suppresses the women in this society a lot. The author, Margaret Atwood, creates a powerful message towards women of this reversal of women’s rights. She really shows us that we shouldn’t take things for granted and that women have to keep fighting to make sure their new found rights are kept. This society seems almost like a science fiction society because of the infertility. But overall the book sends a very powerful message of suppression to the extreme. Atwood uses flashbacks a lot in this book to give her reader a constant reminder of how things used to be for Offred. It is a juxtaposition of past and present and how much women’s freedoms have changed. Readers are hopeful for Offred when they find out about the resistance groups and that the Commander, Nick, Ofglen, and even Serena help Offred along the way.

Journal #2

I am currently on page 218 in The Handmaid’s Tale.

Offred doesn’t like the Republic but she is very passive. She is victimized by the Republic because she is forced to be a Handmaid. She had a choice to either become a Handmaid, become a prostitute or be sent to the colonies where people die from the conditions. Offred, being the passive person that she is, chose to stay a Handmaid. She lives in a house with a Commander and his wife. Her job is to make babies for the couple. She resists the rules by breaking little ones. For instance she uses butter as lotion every night. The Handmaids aren’t aloud to have lotion because the only thing they need to take care of is their uterus. She also steals small things from the living room and hides them in her bedroom. This makes her feel like she has power over her life. This resistance is only successful on a internal level. By breaking the little rules she isn’t changing the society, but she is making it easier on herself. Offred also resists by having sex with the Commander’s chauffeur to better her chances of getting pregnant. This is a very big deal because if she doesn’t get pregnant then she will be considered useless and forced to become a prostitute or be sent to a colony. Also, if she gets caught with this man she will be in big trouble. The worst punishment would be hanging her on the Wall. If she is successful and she becomes pregnant, she will be able to stay a Handmaid.

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Journal #1

THE SOCIETY: The Handmaid’s Tale

“These men, we’ve been told, are like war criminals. It’s no excuse that what they did was legal at the time: their crimes are retroactive. They have committed atrocities and must be made into examples, for the rest.Though this is hardly needed. No woman in her right mind, these days, would seek to prevent a birth,should she be so lucky as to conceive.

What we are supposed to feel towards these bodies is hatred and scorn. This isn’t what I feel. These bodies hanging on the Wall are time travelers, anachronisms. They’ve come here from the past.

What I feel toward them is blankness. What I feel is that I must not feel. What I feel is partly relief, because none of these men is Luke. Luke wasn’t a doctor. Isn’t” (33)

This society is called The Republic of Gilead. It is located where America used to be. There are Commanders who have a Wife, Marthas, Guardians and a Handmaid. Angles are soldiers and Eyes are the people who find out who is breaking laws. Handmaids are fertile women who are supposed to provide the Commander with babies. Aunts train the Handmaids.

It seems that the primary goal of this community is to make babies and follow the rules.People are closely watched in this society. There are Eyes, Guardians, and Angles who help enforce rules and laws. This society blames infertility on women only. They won’t believe that men can be infertile. Women are not allowed to read. At the market the signs on the booths are pictures. They are allowed to have two walks a day. Each walk has two different ways you can go. The churches were turned into museums, but they still use the bible. They have to go through fertilizing ceremonies. The Wife and the Handmaid have to hold hands during this. The punishment for breaking any law is to be hung on the Wall. There seem to be 3 to 5 people hanging on the Wall a day. Offred tries not to feel anything when she sees them. She usually sees doctors, scientists, and priests/pastors.