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Essay about control theory
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In the excerpt on pages 134 and 135 of A Handmaids Tale, Margaret Atwood uses repetition and form-follows-content to express both her distress and hope toward her current situation, as well as highlighting the everlasting power struggle that exists in the world. The first paragraph of the excerpt begins with “This is reconstruction” (Atwood 134), at first the sentence is vague and does not have any meaning. However, the term “reconstruction” is then repeated several more times in the same manner, as if it is a well known secret. This emphasis through repetition indicates that “reconstruction” is in fact a well known secret, at least to those who recall history classes from the time before Gilead. Reconstruction referred to the rebuilding of …show more content…
the South after the Civil War. The intention behind it was good; it gave a disenfranchised group of people freedoms and attempted to integrate the South back into the Union. However, corruption did not fall far behind with the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and corruption within the government. Offred says “All of it is reconstruction.
It’s reconstruction now, in my head […]” (Atwood 134), in this quote she is referring to both the society of Gilead as well as her own self. By this statement, Offred is trying to compare the situation of Gilead to the reconstruction of the South, a new beginning with a corrupt upbringing. If the situations are the similar then Offred is claiming that the ruling party of Gilead is corrupt and based off of lies and secrecy, a fault in the perfect society. Her mind is no different. While it is being rebuilt with the new laws of the society she lives in, the question lies in whether it is this society that it is corrupting her or her inability to relinquish the past. By repeating “reconstruction”, she makes it clear that it is an idea that is troubling …show more content…
her. Throughout the excerpt, Atwood utilizes form-follows-content in order to portray the unease in Offred’s mind. The sentences are scattered and jumbled, in no particular order and jumping from one subject to the next. This arrangement mirrors what is going on inside of Offred’s head. As she struggles to sort out her thoughts on a single topic she switches to another, as if she does not want a finite answer. This is most likely because, just as Offred refuses to believe her friends and family are in specific situations, she would rather leave her thoughts opened ended in order to keep them open to all possibilities. Not only does this use of form-follows-content display her uneasy mind, but also her hope for what the future holds. Toward the end of the excerpt Offred begins to speak of the possession of power and it’s relation to other concepts.
In a society where women have little to no control over their lives, power is a popular topic. Offred in particular always tries to figure out who has the most and how to gain more. “Maybe none of this is about control. Maybe it isn’t really about who can own whom […] Maybe it’s about who can do what to whom and be forgiven for it” (Atwood 135). The claim made in this quote is that all power is derived from forgiveness, whether it is being bestowed or begged for. Originally Offred had believed that power was equivalent to control. If she could hold on to the secrets of those around her, she’d have some meager amount of control over them thus having power. In the previous quote Offred comes to the realization that control is an inevitable byproduct of power, not the
root. The excerpt ends with “Never tell me it amounts to the same thing” (Atwood 135), which solidifies Offred’s thought. The first thought that was solidified out of her entire rambling. This is signifying Offred’s coming to terms with the situation she lives in. However, she does not end the excerpt saying that she has no power, although it becomes apparent that she can never give or ask for forgiveness, instead she once again leaves it open. This indicates that while she may struggle with power, she has not given up on attempting to gain control of her life again. Through the use of repetition and form-follows-content, Margaret Atwood was able to aid Offred in expressing her distress and hope toward her current situation, as well as highlighting the everlasting power struggle that exists in the world. Overall this excerpt portrays Offred as a woman who will not give up, even when she has no true power and her life is uncertain. She will always maintain hope and with that, her strength.
The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood is a novel about a totalitarian state called Republic of Gilead that has replaced the United States in which the women of society have been taken away from their families and forced to be
Staels, Hilde. "Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale; Resistance Through Narrating ." English Studies (1995): 455-467.
Unlike men, women have been facing unique problems for centuries, and often women experience harassment and discrimination. In today's society, females are trying to combat their tribulations through lawsuits and protest rallies. Literature often deals with people being unable to articulate their problems. Often, unforeseen circumstances force people to conceal their true emotions. In The Handmaid's Tale, the main female characters find ways to escape their situations rather than deal with them.
Thesis Statement: Both 1984 by George Orwell and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood are similar as they are placed in dystopian societies with governments that have complete control over their citizens, however, the roles of the narrator in both novels contrast with each other. In 1984, the point of view is Limited Omniscient while the point of view in The Handmaid's Tale is first person. 1. Topic Sentence: As there are differences in the narration of both the novels, 1984 and the Handmaid’s Tale, the role of the narrators will be quite different as readers see different perspectives in each novel. In The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, readers are introduced to Offred, who is a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead.
Offred is a handmaid, in the novel The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood, who no longer desired to rebel against the government of Gilead after they separated her from her family. When Offred was taken away from her family the Government of Gilead placed her in an institution known as the Red Center where they trained her along with other women unwillingly to be handmaids. The handmaid’s task was to repopulate the society because of the dramatic decrease in population form lack of childbirth. Handmaids are women who are put into the homes of the commanders who were unable to have kids with their own wives. The Handmaids had very little freedom and were not allowed to do simple tasks by themselves or without supervision like taking baths or going to the store. There was an uprising against the government of Gilead and many people who lived in this society including some handmaids looked for a way to escape to get their freedom back which was taken away from them and to reunited with their families which they lost contact with. Offred was one of the handmaids who was against the government of Gilead before she was put in the Red Center, but she joined the uprising after she became a
Staels, Hilde. “Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale: Resistance Through Narrating.”Critical Insights (227-245) From English Studies 76.5 (1995): 455-464. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
Callaway, Alanna A., "Women disunited : Margaret Atwood's The handmaid's tale as a critique of feminism" (2008). Master's Theses. Paper 3505.
Throughout the majority of the novel, Offred recounts on her mother’s character, whom she thinks is dead. She was a single mother and a proud feminist. In the first quarter, Offred recounts on a flashback of her mother burning porn magazines, claiming that they are degrading to women. However, towards the end of the novel, Offred learns that she is in fact alive, yet is living in the Colonies. Moira had seen her in a video about women living the Colonies, which is completely contrasted from the beginning, when Offred viewed her mother in a documentary protesting. This shows how Gilead has significantly changed her as a person. Living in the Colonies is just as bad as death because although she is alive she is required to do menial and even dangerous labour like cleaning radioactive waste. Earlier in the book, during Offred’s flashbacks, her mother was always a strong female character. She was always speaking and acting on behalf of women’s rights, yet now she has not fulfilled these expectations. She has been subjugated and indifferent like the rest of the women, not at all optimistic and energetic like she was in her previous life. Her complicity shows the reader how oppressive the society is and how even the toughest characters become
The ability to create life is an amazing thing but being forced to have children for strangers is not so amazing. Offred is a handmaid, handmaid's have children for government officials, such as Commander Waterford. Offred used to be married to Luke and together they had a daughter but then everything changed; Offred was separated from her family and assigned to a family as their handmaid. The society which Offred is forced to live in shaped her in many ways. In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses cultural and geographical surroundings to shape Offred's psychological and moral traits as she tries to survive the society that she is forced to live, in hopes that she can rebel and make change.
Offred had been though many mixed feelings throughout this entire book. She has been able to feel, experience and thinks thoughts that she had not ever imagined that she would have. Offred can not escape the fact that in spite of the treatment from Serena Joy and the commander, that they both will have if not already have an impact on her life. Not to mention Nick also. Nick gave her the comfort and the security that she wanted, and at the end nothing done to her by the commander or his wife mattered to her. Living in the Republic of Gilead will always be a memory that she will probably try to forget.
Feminism as we know it began in the mid 1960's as the Women's Liberation Movement. Among its chief tenants is the idea of women's empowerment, the idea that women are capable of doing and should be allowed to do anything men can do. Feminists believe that neither sex is naturally superior. They stand behind the idea that women are inherently just as strong and intelligent as the so-called stronger sex. Many writers have taken up the cause of feminism in their work. One of the most well known writers to deal with feminist themes is Margaret Atwood. Her work is clearly influenced by the movement and many literary critics, as well as Atwood herself, have identified her as a feminist writer. However, one of Atwood's most successful books, The Handmaid's Tale, stands in stark contrast to the ideas of feminism. In fact, the female characters in the novel are portrayed in such a way that they directly conflict with the idea of women's empowerment.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, social turmoil after a staged terrorist attack has led to a totalitarian Christian regime. In this dystopian future, the roles of men and women are much different than in today’s society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are unequal because they have no choice about their bodies, their dress, or their relationships.
This is the way Atwood gets across her feelings about the future world that Offred lives in. She forms a close relationship with the reader and the character, and then shows the reader Offred’s feelings about different aspects of the world. This is not to say that everyone reading the book will get the exact same thing from it.
Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, the author Margaret Atwood gives the reader an understanding of what life would be like in a theocratic society that controls women’s lives. The narrator, Offred gives the reader her perspective on the many injustices she faces as a handmaid. Offred is a woman who lived before this society was established and when she undergoes the transition to her new status she has a hard time coping with the new laws she must follow. There are many laws in this government that degrade women and give men the authority of each household. All women are placed in each household for a reason and if they do not follow their duties they are sent away or killed. Atwood bases the irrational laws in the Gilead republic on the many
Though Offred is developed as a character through her opinions on female sexuality, she is further characterized by her individuality and willingness to defy her social expectations as a female, assigned to her by her government. In Atwood’s work, the narrative is told by an intelligent individual named Offred who is oppressed by Gilead’s female expectations but is not afraid to defy these assigned roles despite not being a traditional heroine (Nakamura). Even as Offred’s previous identity is stripped away from her, she retains small pieces of her womenhood and individuality through defiant actions such as manipulating men with her feminity from swaying her hips slighty in their line of sight to making direct eye contact with certain men, which she is forbidden from. On the other hand, a major act of rebellion from