Handmaid's Tale - Blog 7

Final blog, excited much? Heck yes.

Well, since it's the end of the blog, I think I'd like to reflect on the book. What I like, what I didn't, etc, etc, etc.

I enjoy how each character comes to life. I can actually see a woman like Offred living in the world we live in today. Sure, she may not be in the same situation, but she'd probably think the way she does. I see a woman, not so good looking, but not bad either. She had an okay life, a mother that wasn't around, but she still got through it. Fell in love, had a child, etc. Her life was the one of an average person until some major event would change it forever. See, that's a real person. I'm sure that you could find at least 3 or 4 people on each street that would fit this description.

I hated how everything seemed to make me angry. I hated it that Offred didn't fight back. I hated that she didn't stand up for herself more. I hated that she went through this inhumane lifestyle. I understand why she wouldn't, but I could see how much she wanted to with her freakish ideas of burning the house with a match. It's not that I hate she wouldn't do it, I hate that she didn't do what she wanted.

Nick and Offred. Their relationship was so vague. I wish the author would have made it more clear of what was going on in their relationship. We all knew there was sex and comfort, but was it real? Were they in love? Did she still love Luke? What would she do if he was still alive?

Well, yeah.

Handmaid's Tale - Blog 6

If I were a character in the book...

I'd choose to be a Martha.

Sure, I'd be like your average maid, but still. It's better that what the handmaid's got. I would not have to go through all that brainwashing they go through in the schools. I'd be to stubborn and would end up worse than Moira did. Plus, I could not give up my body for someone to use. If I were to bear children, they would be my children. Not yours, or hers, or his, but mine. Plus, I could not stand having some old guy touch me in that way. Can you say pedophile?

Oh and the Wives? Man, do they have it bad. If I were a Wife, I'd be so angry all the time. I would not want to share my husband just so I could repopulate the city. Sure, call me selfish, whatever. I DON'T CARE. You want to go into the bible and see that famous men of God had multiple wives? Old Testament. Plus, God create one man for one woman.

The Aunts. Well, I don't think my personality would fit the one of an Aunt. If I was an Aunt, I'd probably be one working to get the handmaids out of their sticky situation.

Good thing this is fake and women are subjected to these categories.

Handmaid's Tale - Blog 5

The Handmaid's Tale and the real world.

The Handmaid's tale seems to be a whole bunch of event in the real world all wrapped into one with a little sugar on top.

1. The Handmaid's Tale and the Holocaust. Well, sort of. They do make the handmaids wear certain clothing as the Jews wore the stars, but then again...the Polish did not wear clothes pertaining to their ethnic background.

2. French Revolution. Dude, guillotine?!?! That says it all. WHACK! Chop off head, leave on spike, allow whole town to see. Maybe in the book, they went a little easy on the details of death, but they did leave the bodies hanging on The Wall.

3. Salem Witch Trials. Holding women down with rocks and seeing if they sink in water without the use of their hands and feet? Well, witch or not, she's gone. Man, those public executions suck. Poor women at the end of the book who were hung. Oh, and that one guy. He was with that group Ofleng was in. Poor him, he was stomped on by a bunch of women.

Man...author made some serious connections with her book and the real world.

Handmaid's Tale - Blog 4

I'm running out of things to write in here.

Uhm. The Red Center. I hate that place. I haven't even been there, neither does it even exist, but I hate it! And the people that work there, the Aunts, the make me sick to my guts. No joke, true story, for real. The place is the epitome of somewhere to be brainwashed. They take things from the Bible and twist the words around so they can make the best handmaids. 

Who would want to be one anyways? I think these women got the short end of the sticks, yennoe? First off, how did they even get the position of a handmaid? Were there certain qualifications that made you a handmaid, an Aunt, a Martha, etc.? How about the Commanders? Why couldn't Luke be a Commander with Offred at his side as a handmaid? Sure, they're young, but it's more likely that a younger male will impregnate a female? So why take the chances with a guy that's more than likely unsterile?

I think that this is the most unjust world and even though some women didn't have the best of lives (they were raped, didn't have a good childhood, bad parents, no friends, etc.,) it's a whole crapload better than the lives these women live now. They can't have a job, they are only used for certain reasons, they can't speak their minds, their thought for instead of using their on thinking, etc. So I'd rather take my chances of getting beat up for my money than not having my own life to live.

Handmaid's Tale - Blog 3

Power of knowledge.

 

In Gilead, women aren't allowed to read. Instead of a shopping list, they are given photos of the food needed. Books aren't allowed near them, not even the Bible!

 

I figure that if they had books, they'd have knowledge. We all know that knowledge is power. The most power people in the world have degrees from major colleges and such. If women were able to be intelligent, they could rebel. The older adults, Commanders, Wives, Aunts, Guardians, etc., would lose all power. They have brainwashed each handmaid to follow their orders and have taken away most of their thoughts as individuals. 

The older adults want these women only to make children. They have no other use of them except for reproduction. Now, if the women did not want to be used like this, they would probably fight anyone who’d force them. Now who would fight if they didn’t think that this way of life was wrong?

Eh, this sounds a bit sketchy and all over the place. You guys get my point. If you have knowledge, then you have power, but you can’t have power without any knowledge. Yeaaaa.

The Handmaid's Tale - Blog 2

While reading, I was deeply enriched in the scene where the Commander wants to play Scrabble with Offred. It made me question much of what could possibly be going on through the Commander's or what his actual intentions were.

I feel as if he does not want to treat Offred as a Handmaid, but as an actual human being. First off, he's acknowledging the fact that she knows how to read and spell, something women are not allowed anymore. In some sort of way, he may actually be calling her equal to himself, but she does in fact beat him the first round.

Maybe he's lonely. I'm sure his life with is actual wife isn't as exciting as it used to be. I guess this may be the only real human connection he has had with anyone in so long. You can just sense it from the way he gets tongue-tied while asking her to play. I mean, his wife seems so cold and distant from everyone in the house already, I doubt she treats her husband very differently. I kind of feel sorry for the poor guy. I guess this new world hasn't just impacted women life Offred, but also lonely old men like the Commander.

The Handmaid's Tale - Blog 1

I have to admit that this book is more interesting than I thought. I might actually have to say that I do, in fact, enjoy this book. From the very beginning the book captured my attention.

What I want to discuss is Offred's situation as a handmaid. I see that the Aunts have brainwashed her to believe that her body is a "vessel" for one to use. I mean sure, she could have it worse if the Commander beat her or would use her body whenever he pleased, but still. She had a life once, with a mother, a husband, and a daughter. They must have got deep down into her brain to get her to believe that this was what God wants her to do. To only be used to carry a child who they won't even be able to take care of and to watch grow.

I see these handmaids as an article of clothing shared among many siblings. Once one has grown out of it, the shirt or pair of jeans go to the next kid in line. Once they have found no use for it, it goes to the next, and the next, and the next. The sad part in the handmaid's life is that if they are of no good use for three Commanders, then they're send to the Colonies. I find this all completely bogus. I believe that if this were to happen, women would be at such a lower standard than they were before the were allowed in colleges or given the right to vote or even to be able to call themselves equal to men. If it were up to me, I'd most likely rebel this lifestyle if it were chosen for me. I don't believe that any woman should be subjected to such cruelty just because some radiation incident happened and left the whole country with a declining birth rate.