Handmaids+Tale

= this wiki was collaborative with lakly's class = Author: Handmaid's Tale Genre:

Notice important features of each device. What purpose does each serve? What impact does this device have on the novel as a whole? Other questions that may server your analysis: Are there any themes that relate to the larger political and societal trends of the time? Are there observations about any literary elements that you can connect to current political and societal trends?

What is revelead through him/her? Everything. The willingness to survive. Societal structure. The changed lifestyle and ramications. Conformity, the ability to live without really living. ||  || What is revealed through him/her? That women are only used to procreation; inner-workings of opression; caste system ||  || work and important traits: Ofglen, Luke, Moira, Nick, Commander, Serena Joy, Aunt Lydia. Ofglen represents a Christ figure as she sacrifices her life for the "sins" of the women involved in "mayday" the secertes she knows die with her. protecting the others allowing them to "live for eternity" ||  || for this choice: 1st person- Really to show how the change in society affected the individual - the piece is seen through flashbacks a majority of the time - she is surviving the present by focusing on the past. ||  || (i.e. sentences - not one word) Handmaid's Tale Edit [| 0] [| 13] [|…]
 * **Protagonist(s)** - Who this person? Offred
 * **Antagonist(s)** - Why this person? Society/ Government
 * **Other characters** who impacts the
 * **Point of View** - identify and give reasons
 * **Setting** and its significance: Gilead [Hill of Testimony; Where you go to experience something]; (feels like it used to be a college town); small; Time Period: Every other chapter was night [Light VS Dark]; Futuristic - t The town is a place she once knew, as she can recognize what places once were (she identifies one of the market stores as having been a ice cream shop) - this may also point to the fact that this takeover could happen any where. ||  ||
 * **Tone and Style** (with examples): Style: Narrative Structure by way of 1st person; Tone: Alot of flashbacks; Nostalgic about Luke and Child; Reminiscent about some memories; Resigned - removed from the present situation ||  ||
 * **Symbols** Night and Day; Sexuality/Profession; Colors; The Eye, Ofglen ||  ||
 * **Conflict(s)** Woman Vs. Society; Man Vs. Self; Woman Vs. Man; ||  ||
 * **Theme** - think in terms of complexity
 * Dehumanization is a theme present in this novel.
 * Complacency is a theme.
 * The presence of a caste system is a theme.
 * The struggle of power is a theme.
 * Influence of sexuality is a theme.
 * Treating women as commodities/political "tools" is a theme.
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Author: Handmaid's Tale Genre:

Notice important features of each device. What purpose does each serve? What impact does this device have on the novel as a whole? Other questions that may server your analysis: Are there any themes that relate to the larger political and societal trends of the time? Are there observations about any literary elements that you can connect to current political and societal trends?

What is revelead through him/her? Everything. The willingness to survive. Societal structure. The changed lifestyle and ramications. Conformity, the ability to live without really living. Offred constantly longs for her old life, but she never takes action. She never plans an escape, or takes matters into her own hands. Even when Ofglen reveals her true, rebel identity, Offred freaks out a little bit and pulls back. Fear and longing have pushed her into a corner of society, where she lives a "life" of rehearsed motions and phrases. This is not to say that Offred is not her own person, or was not her own person at one time. However, Atwood chooses not to reveal her name to us, even when the opportunity presents itself as she escapes...Offred remains a dehumanized, nameless woman even to the end of the novel. Offred's namelessness also serves to show that her situation could happen to anyonef care is not taken by all individuals to be aware of present happenings and to protect personal freedoms. ||  || What is revealed through him/her? That women are only used to procreation; inner-workings of opression; caste system. ||  || work and important traits: Ofglen, Luke, Moira, Nick, Commander, Serena Joy, Aunt Lydia. Ofglen represents a Christ figure as she sacrifices her life for the "sins" of the women involved in "mayday" the secertes she knows die with her. protecting the others allowing them to "live for eternity". Serena Joy is one of Offred's many keys to her past. However, while Serena Joy was a happy figure in Offred's past, she has evovled to represent a loss of freedom and control in Offred's future. ||  || for this choice: 1st person- Really to show how the change in society affected the individual. the piece is seen through flashbacks a majority of the time - she is surviving the present by focusing on the past. Offred's way of coping in her present situation is retreating to the past. By refusing to acknowledge the present by living in the past, Offred makes her present prediciment seem almost unreal. ||  || The town is a place she once knew, as she can recognize what places once were (she identifies one of the market stores as having been a ice cream shop) - this may also point to the fact that this takeover could happen any where. The recognizable town and Offred reminiscent memories attributed with it combined with the ambiguity surrounding where she is (we don't even know what region of the country she is) serves as a warning. This //could// happen anywhere. The town is very generic in nature (due to societal's tight grip), giving the setting a very bland, helpless, stiff feeling. ||  || Removed from the present situation, complacent, dehumanized - they don't even have real names, I mean, how dehumanizing is that!? Aloof when describing the town, but also somewhat nostalgic (for the gymnasium where school dances used to be held - she is incredibly nostalgic for this college life) ||  || Ofglen; the handmaids' lack of original names ||  || (i.e. sentences - not one word)
 * **Protagonist(s)** - Why this person? Offred
 * **Antagonist(s)** - Why this person? Society/ Government
 * **Other characters** who impacts the
 * **Point of View** - identify and give reasons
 * **Setting** and its significance: Gilead [Hill of Testimony; Where you go to experience something]; (feels like it used to be a college town); small; Time Period: Every other chapter was night [Light VS Dark]; Futuristic.
 * **Tone and Style** (with examples): Style: Narrative Structure by way of 1st person; Tone: Alot of flashbacks; Nostalgic about Luke and Child; Reminiscent about some memories; Resigned.
 * **Symbols** Night and Day; Sexuality/Profession; Colors; The Eye;
 * **Conflict(s)** Woman Vs. Society; Man Vs. Self; Woman Vs. Man; ||  ||
 * **Theme** - think in terms of complexity
 * Dehumanization is a theme present in this novel.
 * Complacency is a theme.
 * The presence of a caste system is a theme.
 * The struggle of power is a theme.
 * Influence of sexuality is a theme.
 * Treating women as commodities/political "tools" is a theme.
 * When society ultimately breaks down into a situation as in Handmaid's Tale - with an obvious inbalance of power -, it is up to the individual to take action if anything is to change. Atwood is practically screaming out a warning- Offred's never takes action, always moves along in the flow of societal power. Without a will to fight, complacency is eminent.
 * An imbalance of power can happen anywhere, between any given people. A world that is free today is not guaranteed to be free tomorrow. If one allows oneself to not pay attention to the world around, others will often take advantage and place themselves in a position of power above that clueless person, and that person might never gain his or her freedom back. ||