Handmaid's Tale-Journal 3

Topic C

I think that Margaret Atwood creates a society that is not quite believable, but it is very powerful.  I don’t think that it is believable because for it to happen the government would have been taken over by a religious group with no opposition at all, as it says in the book.  I do not think that this could happen because of the diversity of the United States and I find it hard to believe that there was not one person or group who did not take action against this group.  I think that Atwood creates a powerful society because unlike a lot of other dystopian novels Atwood sets the story during the transition period.  Other authors set their dystopian novels after the society has been founded and there is no longer any transition.  Setting the novel in a transition period makes it so the reader can see how the society directly relates to the old society.  This relation occurs because the narrator has been a part of the old and the new society.  The old society was one of rebellion by women.  The author does give us hope that not all people in the society agree with the oppression that is happening and other things that are happening.  Atwood creates this sense of hope through the small acts of rebellion performed by the characters.  These acts show that people can still make a choice and they are still human, not brainwashed members of society.  Atwood paints a picture of two extremes in society, and I think that she is trying to warn us that we may get to close to one of the extremes.  For a society to be balanced and function properly, it needs to be in the middle of the extremes.

Handmaid's Tale-Journal 2

Topic B

Moira, Offred’s friend from before she was a handmaid, is a character involved in a struggle in her society.  Moira is a strong willed woman who does not like to be controlled and oppressed.  Against her will, she ends up at the Red Center, where women are trained to be handmaids.  Moira resists this fate the entire way.  She talks to Offred in the bathroom through a hole in the stall, risking a lot.  There is also an instance when Moira tries to escape.  When the Aunts catch her, they hurt her feet to the point that she cannot walk.  Moira knew that she would be punished, but she tried to regain her freedom anyway.  Later, Moira corners an Aunt and threatens her.  Moira makes the Aunt switch clothes with her and this gives Moira the opportunity to escape.  Moira was the only woman in the Red Center that resisted and she got her freedom somewhat back.  Compared to the alternative life for Moira, being a handmaid, I think that her resistance was not in vain.  Moira ends up working at the place where Commanders bring handmaids to have sex and where they can have sex with prostitutes.  Although this is not an ideal lifestyle and she still has to hide (because places like where she works are illegal) she still has freedoms that Offred does not have.  I think that because Moira resisted, she is able to live life in the best way possible for her considering the circumstances.

Handmaid's Tale-Journal 1

Topic A

“Serena Joy lets go of my hands. ‘You can get up now,’ she says.  ‘Get up and go out.’  She’s supposed to have me rest, for ten minutes, with my feet on a pillow to improve the chances.  This is meant to be a time of silent meditation for her, but she’s not in the mood for that.  There is a loathing in her voice, as if the touch of my flesh sickens and contaminates her.  I untangle myself from her body, stand up; the juice of the Commander runs down my legs.  Before I turn away I see her straighten her blue skirt, clench her legs together; she continues lying on the bed, gazing up at the canopy above her, stiff and straight as an effigy.  Which of us it worse for, her or me?” (Atwood 95).

This passage comes during the Ceremony.  All of the members of the household had to sit through the Ceremony because that is what is required of them by the government.  The government makes people sit through this ceremony because they believe that it is part of the process of having a baby.  The ultimate goal of the government is to have babies be born and this is shown through the mandated rest time that is supposed to happen.  The word “supposed” makes it known that someone is making Serena give Offred that rest time, which further reveals what the government’s goal is.   Serena tells Offred what to do and when to do it and this shows that women in Serena’s position, wives, have control over women in Offred’s position, handmaids.  Earlier in the section there are multiple events showing the restriction put on Offred by the Angels and the Guardians, the “police force” of the government.  The restriction is explained through this passage by showing the lack of control Offred has and why she has that lack of control; to ensure that babies are born.  Serena’s “loathing” shows the lack of peace within the society, specifically between Wives and handmaids.  This lack of peace occurs because the government requires men to have handmaids to ensure that babies are born.  This upsets the traditional standards of marriage.