Asad Rizvi
The Handmaid’s Tale
Explain what is unusual about how the story is told and how what’s unusual about the telling of the story enhances the novel’s meaning or significance.
The narration of The Handmaid’s tale, by Margret Atwood, is very interesting as it is told from the perspective of Offred, a woman living in a society in which women have limited access to the world around them. Due to this fact, the reader only learns about Gilead through Offred’s past experiences and how she specifically sees the world. Furthermore, readers only learn about the formation of the totalitarian regime, that is Gilead, through Offred’s story. Thus the reader must take her word about what is happening in the world around her, which builds a connection …show more content…
Gilead is the religious totalitarian government ruling over Offred’s life as a Handmaid, in which she is forever to serve the Commander and his wife as a means to bear children. As expected, Offred desires to leave the service of the Commander and escape Gilead to reunite with her husband Luke and her daughter. She feels the need to rebel, as seen when she says that “I would like to steal something from [the Commander’s] room” because “it would make me feel that I have power.”
Although sometimes it is unclear if Offred actually wants to leave as she expresses thoughts such as “I use to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement of the accomplishment of my will…” These Gildean ideas that Offred expresses oppose her principle desire to escape her harsh life. The very fact that she even thinks of these idea illustrate that she is uncertain about her life in Gildean, and convey the complexity of Offred’s nature. She wants to leave the totalitarian regime and see her family again, but still questions whether it’s the right thing to do. As a reader this power struggle seems confusing and
The Handmaid’s Tale
Explain what is unusual about how the story is told and how what’s unusual about the telling of the story enhances the novel’s meaning or significance.
The narration of The Handmaid’s tale, by Margret Atwood, is very interesting as it is told from the perspective of Offred, a woman living in a society in which women have limited access to the world around them. Due to this fact, the reader only learns about Gilead through Offred’s past experiences and how she specifically sees the world. Furthermore, readers only learn about the formation of the totalitarian regime, that is Gilead, through Offred’s story. Thus the reader must take her word about what is happening in the world around her, which builds a connection …show more content…
Gilead is the religious totalitarian government ruling over Offred’s life as a Handmaid, in which she is forever to serve the Commander and his wife as a means to bear children. As expected, Offred desires to leave the service of the Commander and escape Gilead to reunite with her husband Luke and her daughter. She feels the need to rebel, as seen when she says that “I would like to steal something from [the Commander’s] room” because “it would make me feel that I have power.”
Although sometimes it is unclear if Offred actually wants to leave as she expresses thoughts such as “I use to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation, or an implement of the accomplishment of my will…” These Gildean ideas that Offred expresses oppose her principle desire to escape her harsh life. The very fact that she even thinks of these idea illustrate that she is uncertain about her life in Gildean, and convey the complexity of Offred’s nature. She wants to leave the totalitarian regime and see her family again, but still questions whether it’s the right thing to do. As a reader this power struggle seems confusing and