I have a piece of coursework to write on 1984, I have chossen to write about the portrayal of women and their views. It's driving me crazy, can anyone help?!?!? Please!!!
1984 + The Handmaids Tale
I have a piece of coursework to write on 1984, I have chossen to write about the portrayal of women and their views. It's driving me crazy, can anyone help?!?!? Please!!!
Natalie xxx
Im afraidf I can only help you with the handmaids tale if you need that
My mission in life is to make YOU smile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The time has come," the Walrus said,"To talk of many things:
Forum Rules- You know you want to read 'em
|Litnet Challange status = 5/260
|currently reading
That would be great Night shade!!!
What is it that you need help with exactly, derangedangel18? If you are more specific, maybe some members can offer their views on the issues you are stuck with.
~
"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
ok Well lets see women in Ht there are 4 types as well as the Aunts. all are colour defined. Oh and dont forget the Unwomen. lets see Moira is the modern post feminist woman. whats her name the narrators mother was a feminist. Women are betrayed as secondry to men always.umm you know what Im going to need less vauge outline of what exactly you need.
My mission in life is to make YOU smile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The time has come," the Walrus said,"To talk of many things:
Forum Rules- You know you want to read 'em
|Litnet Challange status = 5/260
|currently reading
Nightshade
I'm looking more for specific areas of the novel now which show how women are portrayed and their views on the society. I have discovered that offred doesnt really express an opinion of her own, she just comments other peoples opinions. I'm also looking at sexual relationships in some depth and how they compare with 1984. Also psychological manipulation, physical control, fear, and the control of sexual pleasure. The control of information e.g news and the control of language e.g limits individuals ideas and capability of expression. Is something i would like to add to my essay so any links to passages or quotes which are relevant to these topics would be helpful for either novel.
Today I found that the red-armed prole woman in 1984 could represent a prime example of reproductive virility. Does any one think it would be a good idea to link this to the colour of the handmaids dresses in HMT?
Can anyone help me out with some quotes and/or passages to link these points to the novels?
1. restriction of language and personal expression
2.use of propaganda to rule
3.ambiguous ruller/ who is Big Brother
4.missinformation and lack of it
5.restriction of sex except for "breeding purposes"(The Handmaid's Tale)
6.both prophetic novels, based on past historical events
7. Both winston and offred use form of mental escapism
Number one is the bit about the faith cushion.
2 is the bit in the chapter before the cermoney where they listen to the news also most everything the Aunts say.
5 hummm the bit about the 2 young guards where she says somthing along the lines of they now only have each other and that is a sin or somthing.
My mission in life is to make YOU smile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The time has come," the Walrus said,"To talk of many things:
Forum Rules- You know you want to read 'em
|Litnet Challange status = 5/260
|currently reading
I definitely think you could color symbolism to relate the role of the women in the Handmaid's Tale. Specifically, the red garment of the Handmaid's and the blue garment of the Commanders' Wives.
Let's start off with red (source=The Dictionary of Symbolism: "In the Christian artistic tradition,...women of easy virtue wore red" (Biedermann 287). Thus, in relation to the Handmaids, this could represent the outlook of the Wives of the Handmaids. They seemed to think that women such as Offred had loose morals perhaps because they were jealous of them. Also, red is a symbol of blood and thus it can be seen as a representation of the fertility of the Handmaids. The lack of red for the other women (e.g. Marthas) could signify the lack of their fertility. In addition, the women in this society seem to gain attention as soon as they reproduce. Thus, red could symbolize the envy and anger directed towards the handmaids when they reproduce. Also, a great quote to support the role of women being childbearers is seen on page 221 of The Handmaid's Tale: "Notwithstanding she shall be saved by childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety" (originally from 1st Timothy: 2).
However, blue (garment color what the Wives wear) is used quite ironically in my opinion. "Blue, the symbol of the truth and the eternity of God (for what is true is eternal), will always remain the symbol of human immortality: (Biedermann 44). This obviously not the case for the Wives for they gossip, get things from the blackmarket, encourage the Handmaid's to "wrongfully" carry out relationships with other men to produce, and they further their husband's careers through soul scrolls (pg. 167).
Last edited by hp 4ever!; 01-27-2008 at 05:06 PM.
Censorship:
"They only show us victories, never defeats. Who wants bad news?" (Atwood 83).
Forbidden words:
"I almost gasp: he's said a forbidden word. Sterile. There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore,, not officially. There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren, that's the law" (61).
Use depictions rather than words since words are forbidden:
"The two others have purple placards hung around their necks: Gender Treachery" (43).
"I take the tokens from Rita's outstretched hand. They have pictures on them, of the things they can be exchanged for: twelve eggs, a piece of chees" (11). ***This is significant because it shows that they cannot even talk to get the groceries. They just show a picture of the item and then they get it.
Silence:
"How I used to despise such talk. Now I long for it. At least it was talk. An exchange, of sorts" (11).
"We learned to whisper almost without sound. In the semidarkness we could stretch out our arms, when the Aunts weren't looking, and touch each toehr's hands across space. We learned to lipread" (4).
Semaphores:
FIND THIS QUOTE: When Nick uses his hat as a signal for Offred to indicate whether or not she has to meet the Commander. The signal "5" that Moira gives to Offred indicating to meet in the washroom in 5 minutes.
**Restricting the language of the people is restricting how much of their identity can be expressed because language is a key aspect in expressing your individuality. Yet, since it is regulated, it will be easier to control the people for without language, certain inhabitants of Gilead are left w/ little to no identity, and those without an identity are easier to control for the government can install one for them. (e.g. Offred loses majority of identity when she sees her little girl happy without her. Towards the end, she begins to accept Gilead as her home whereas earlier she wanted to escape and find her family).
Also, Scrabble games demonstrate the power of language.
Last edited by hp 4ever!; 01-27-2008 at 05:05 PM.
Throughout our English course over the year, we've examine the aspect are often used to demonstrate a certain aspect of a character/characters (e.g. see my post on Nathan Price in The Poisonwood Bible). The same seems to true for Handmaid's Tale, except the religious aspect of the society is to demonstrate a common element in dsytopian novels: a deceptive societal goal. Firstly, let's start off by examining the name of the society, which is Gilead. Gilead is a religious reference to the Bible and it describes an area that was a peaceful and healing area. Yet, in reality, Gilead in the novel is the extreme opposite for the women. This is demonstrated by Offred's pain due to her new life: "I want her back. I want everything back, the way it was" (Atwood 122). Offred is filled with despair for her child and her husband are both far waay from her. She claims that "[t]here's nobody [she] can love, all the peoople [she] could love are dead or elsewhere" (103). This seems to quite a healing society huh? (being quite sarcastic there). Also, the concept of peace in this society is laughable for there is wall full of hangings! Thus, it can be concluded that this biblical allusion is used in an ironic sense.
Yet, it seems the majority of the allusions are used in an ironic sense. The Book of Job is another one for it is primarily about Job being tested by having Satan taking things away from him and Job not blaming God at all. Although this is taught to the society members to be willing to sacrifice everything for God but even those in power don't follow this and they make the Handmaids sacrifice all of their positions. This is seen by the existance of the black market (the Wives get Cigarettes and the Commanders get Vogue).
So, the main question is, why are the religious illusions used ironically. Well, I believe it is to show that the goal is deceptive for no one is healed nor does anyone seem to be paid for the sacrifice. The is a perfect element to demonstrate a dystopia and perhaps that's why Atwood used the allusions in this manner.
Closing thought: "Bible is kept locked up" (87) in this society: it's the source of truth. Therefore, the truth is hidden from the eyes of those that are powerless to be able to use the powerful tool of religion to justify their sinful desire for power.
Last edited by hp 4ever!; 02-22-2008 at 12:27 AM.
One of my favorite poems that I've ever read is "Ladies in Gentleman in Outer Space" by Ron Padgett. It's such an intriguing piece for it describes the inevitability of change. Also, it strongly reminded me a of a renoun dystopian piece: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Both the poem and the novel have the protagonist commenting on the fact that life changes so quickly. This is seen in the poem when the protagonist says that everything "changes...so quickly it literally surpasses [his/her] belief" (lines 2-6). Similarily, in Handmaid's Tale, there is a moment in where Offred contemplates on how her life had changed so quickly. Thus, perhaps the message in both of these works concerning change is to "butter and serve" (16). I belief this means to "coat" yourself with knowledge (like how butter coats the vegetables) so you'll be prepared for the change and so your mind will not be clouded with disbelief due to the astounding change (brace ourselves for change).
Yet, it all depends on your interpretation!
Butter and Serve to me almost agrees with the dystopias. I see it as more of a "Go along with whatever comes at you and you will be ok, so if you go along with whatever comes at you, it suggests that you do not attempt to resist the oppression that is coming from the dystopia. In this sense, "Ladies and Gentlemen" would be perhaps an ironic look at what most people within a society would do if they experienced oppression.
The slogan for this society has been the most interesting aspect in this novel to me because it is a form of doublethink. To clarify, the slogan that I'm refering to is:
"WAR IS PEACE(Orwell 16).
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH"
It is a form of doublethink as seen by the following passage: "[Smith's] mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink....[T]o hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them" (35).
The different verses of the slogan are quite contradictory as seen by the first one: war is peace (normally one associates the act of war with violance). The act of doublethink benefits the society by creating confusion in the mind of those engaging in it as we discussed in class. Yet, there are other benefits as well as seen with this slogan.
Let's start off with the first verse: war is peace. The government wants its members to believe in this statement because if the members of the society are constantly at war, then the government is able to benefit in 2 ways: 1). The members of the society are able to channel their anger for the government towards the enemy nations. As a result the people will be calmer(this shows how the government controls their emotions as seen in Handmaid's Tale). In addition, the members of society are kept busy so that they won't have time to plot against the government. All of these aspects maintain peace in between the government and its people.
The second verse: freedom is slavery. The freedom of the people would result in the slavery of the government becuase the people would hold the power to command the government to do certain things making the government a subordinate, powerless slave. Thus, the government strongly limits the freedom of the people to make the people the slaves (this allows for the gov. to have an omnipotent status).
Lastly, ignorace is strength is quite crucial for the government becuase the ignorance of the people will result in the people's lack of knowing things that can be used against the government (e.g. the photograph Smith had).
The result of the action reflects the what the government desires (war=result of peace b/w the gov. and its ppl. This reflects the government's desire to maintain total control including the control of the ppl.'s emotions....freedom=result of slavery for gov. so the gov. takes it away since it desires to be in control). So it seems so far the slogan reflects that (on a large-scale basis) the government's focus is more oriented towards the result rather than the act (care about the fact that the war would result in peace rather than what enemy nation war is ag. or what weapons). This could ultimately result in the downfall of the government becuase let's say for instance that the nation was fighting against Urasia and lost. Well, firstly the government would have new problems becuase it would be quite difficult to remove any evidence of Big Brother saying that Urasia would lose. This would be obvious and concrete proof that Big Brother isn't all that knowledgeable or powerful since his crummy army lost to Urasia.
I think that the Party Slogans are not so much as tools to manipulate the people as they are actual truths into how they keep the social hierarchy of the proles, outer party, and inner party, or low, middle, and high classes. The Book that Emannuel Goldstien (aka. O'Brian) wrote actually explains in great detail of the main intentions of the party on page 184.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote