Handmaid's Tale

I have really enjoyed reading this novel by Margaret Atwood, and while the subject matter is something we hope never to have to experience, the themes are present in our own society today, though in a much less extreme fashion. This world of Gilead is one in which women are not women, they are merely walking fertility banks, only valued if their ovaries are functional and fertile. And even being "valued" in this society still means being a commodity. "A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze," this quote exemplifies the false sense of freedom that these handmaid's have. They are told how lucky they are, and how sacred they are but none of this is actually held true. Any shred of so called freedom is expressed by the superiors of this rigid society as an immense gift and priviledge. Part of what I love about this book is how Atwood parallels this very strict, linear, and caste system with a structure that is very free and a bit all over the place. It allows for a sort of chaos among the uniformity. Offred jumps back and forth between present circumstances and anecdotes of the past with no warning. But I like to allow her this freedom, this freedom of the mind, the only freedom she is allowed, the only thing that she, and only she, is in control of. This "jumpy" format is the only way in which I think Offred can stay somewhat sane, she needs to be able to cope with her present, horrible situation by any means possible. In today's society there are many "restricted freedoms", which seems oxymoronic but is just reality. We are told that we have freedom of this, freedom of that but nothing is without regulation and guidelines. There is no free freedom. There is always going to be a line that can't be crossed or a rule that can't be broken, and therefore we will always be, atleast minorly, controlled by the authority of our soceity. Like Offred, I don't know if I or anyone really will ever experience bound-less freedom in which there are no forces holding me down or back.

The Limit of Pleasures

Up to this point I have really enjoyed Atwood's novel. I think she is a brilliant writer, her word's filled with the perfect amount of dry truth and satirical humor.

"A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze." This sentence holds true not only in the book but for our lives today. In the book, the Handmaid's have have little or no freedom. Offred is offered only tiny glimpses of freedom, mostly when she is alone with the Commander, playing scrabble or reading books. Yet, everything else in the system is laid out. There are limits on religion, clothing, shopping-really everything is chosen for them based on their role in the new society.

What I enjoy most however is exploring the way the new society really is better. In the past there was no reign and very few limits, very similar to today. There was racy pornography, plastic surgery, and makeup galore to cover up and hide the truth, to make the world a little more attractive. Like in the old pornographies the handmaidens watched, many woman were disrespected.

"I'm not talking about sex, he says. That was part of it, the sex was too easy. Anyone could just buy it. There was nothing to work for, nothing to fight for. We have the stats from that time. You know they were complaining about the most? Inability to feel." I think this quote is very true for today. Sex, while once a special and worshiped thing has now turned into something amazingly casual and normal! High school kids take it as something fun to do on weekends, tv shows blare it across the screen, it can be found in any popular new movie and songs use lyrics so uncensored it's almost embarrassing; the intimacy of sex is completely gone. While once there was an act of courting, now drunken one night stands are accepted as normal. There used to be a point in sex, not simply for pleasure, but for childbearing and expressing love. "Saved by childbearing, I think. What would save us in the time before?" This is a very legitimate question, what does save us? We still have money to make but, "It's not enough, he says. It's too abstract. I mean there was nothing for [the men] to do with women.

It's true, it is hard to find pleasure in an act that has now become so open. In the new society even the Commander watching Offred read was a "curiously sexual act." Scrabble became sexual, short eye contact with Nick through the window expressed "the same kind of hunger", even gardening became extremely sexual. "Goddesses are possible now and the air suffuses with desire."

As Aunt Lydia says, "In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it." What I wonder is will our society ever reach a point where we are given too much sexual freedom to? Will we ever retreat back into the days of courtship and freedom from?

Whyy

Everything has a price. Especially freedom, ironically. Nothing can be gained without sacrificing something else. This seems to be the way of things. So my freedom, yes, is exceptionally limited. In this country we're given the glossy-shiny 'power to choose', which draws us in, convinces us. But there are more manipulations behind the cover that very few can perceive, and even fewer orchestrate. My freedom has bounds.

Offred has no freedom at all really. There are glimpses, tastes of it; but for her it does not exist. Slowly, she is becoming aware of avenues of power. Ways in which she can manipulate the system. We shall see if she can escape, and what that means, where it brings her.

I think my biggest issue with the novel is that I can't believe the system that is now in place. To what end is this freaky sex triangle fertility weirdness thingy? It's almost hinting that the theme of the novel is love. Which I think would be tragically clichéd or something. Somehow that would disappointing. Seems like the author has very twisted concepts of intimacy and procreation. What exactly is she criticizing (satirizing) here? Religion? Sexuality? Modern Society & Women? Also she is sometimes confusing.

The Handmaid's Tale

This novel is very interesting, i'm not sure if its because of the sex or the screwed up role that the Commander plays, but I find this book to be a good read so far. One scene that really stuck out to me was when Offred was laying on Serena Joy's "pubic bone" and the Commander who happens to be married to Serena Joy! This scene was so graphic and crazy and so screwed up. In the perfect world everyone would get the chance to have a healthy baby of their own and be happy with their husbands that are faithful to them but in reality thats rarely the case. I can relate this to my own life in a sense, but of course its not as intense as this but it just reminds me of the situation. So I had this boyfriend last year and everything was on good terms... I thought, I guess things weren't right in his mind so he decided to go behind my back and screw one of my best friends at the time. Earlier this day we had gotten into a slight tiff and of course being a girl I went to one of my "best friends" so to speak and depended on her to support me and be there for me. She helped me feel better and made me believe that he was a complete jerk, later that night when I was no longer with that friend, and I was over the situation and seemed to be doing just fine, that "best friend" went and fucked my boyfriend behind my back. She nor he had the guts to tell me to my face which is always the case because there are some really shallow and fake people in this world, so I had to find out from a fellow class mate.

This situation reminded me on Offred and Serena Joy because it talks about them being "friends" but then hating each other. I see the things that the commander does and its so wrong! Guys need respect for them selves and respect for women. Women are prize possessions no matter what people say or what stereo type are formed. And when men lie to us to make us believe what they want it screws with our head and leaves us hanging in the long run. So I feel really bad for the women in this book, because all the different task they have to preform all seem to be awful in the end.

sorry if i went off on the wrong topic this is just what this scene reminded me of

Feminism

My fascination with this book lies mainly in the rigidness of the society: the society's abundance of rules, and the overall lack of individuality. Women of the Republic of Gilead- the so called "rat maze"- aren't valued for personal character, but for their ability to reproduce. Atwood's novel is essentially a feminist overexageration on the conflicts of (then) modern society.

From news briefs, and television clips mentioned throughout the novel, you learn that islamic terrorists had essentially taken over the United States. The Republic of Gilead is an Americanized take on a women's place in modern Muslim society. You can see definite similarities (the all-covering wardrobe, leaving nearly no skin to the eye, the seperation between men and women, men being of a higher level, etc). Rape is controversial, especially when the women scold Janine for being raped (a fate that she entirely did not choose). Atwood wants to conjure strong emotions in her female readers, make them hate the society of Gilead, and therefore, empower readers to fight.

The Handmaids Tale- in particular the quote on page 163- is a feminist take on what a women's role in society may develop into (if taken to an extreme, of course).

Continuing with feminism....it's interesting to look at this idea of freedom through women in society today. Women are, in fact, jumping ahead: higher enrollement in colleges, higher test scores, earning more college degrees than men etc.... The Handmaids Tale may have been Atwood's prediction of things to come, but it seems (at least in our part of the globe) that women are proving to be the opposite of " the handmaid."The novel is ironic in that, we are proving elements in this book wrong (at least so far) as we become the new leading gender.

slow start... good ending?

I don’t dislike the book itself, it is a good idea and rightfully earns every praise it gets. However I feel as though the book is not GOING anywhere new. Its true that you learn new pieces of information the more you read on, but I feel as though it is just an illusion meant to keep the reader interested. Maybe it’s because I read only high action/adventure books and am used to the plot and storyline moving to different people and settings every few chapters. The “confined” sense that this book has makes it very hard for me to believe that something new and exciting is going to happen. It feels as though the book is just going to keep plodding on in the same ol’ depressing manner. I would like to think that Offred will become free and live happily ever after and life will go back to the “time before” but I just don’t see it. In plain English, this is just not my type of book. And just as the quote “a rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays in the maze” amplifies; Offred lives the same patterns almost every day, and since the books follows the handmaids it is also trapped in that same repetitive maze. As I said, I like the idea of a story set in the dystopia future, however it would have been more to my liking if it had been unfolded in a more interesting way.

Now, as to how the “Rat in a maze…” quote applies to my life, I feel as though that is how all life is lived, that is, with a false sense of freedom. Think of it this way. Every week day I wake up at 6:00 A.M., eat breakfast, go for a run, shower, go to school, eat lunch, more school, go to cross country practice, go home, do homework, eat dinner, homework, and go to bed. However I am always looking forward to the weekend when I can have “freedom” to do as I please. But really is it total freedom? If I decide to drive somewhere I can only drive so far, if I decide to go hiking I can not go too far from home, if I decide to got to a friends house I have to “clear” it with my mother. In all honesty, my ‘freedom’ only extends as far as my parents and the government allow. And just so the majority of the population does not recognize this, the government decided to allow you to get a drivers license at 16, vote and smoke at 18, drink at 21, and so on. This keeps the people looking forward to what will be allowed instead of looking at what is currently regulating them. It could be said that we are all “rats in a maze.”

I will keep reading the book in the hopes that it will get better and the ending will make up for a slow start. I hope I am not disappointed….

Blog response: Handmaid's tale

“A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.”

This quote reflects a form of “limited” freedom. They say that people may in a sense do whatever they want, as long as they are monitored. There are many other cases in which we see this phenomenon. School is the most evident example. As students, we are given the capacity to pick our own classes, play sports, etc, but we are forced to do all of these things under the supervision and monitor of teachers and associates. We cannot wear the clothes we want, leave school without permission, or really have any first amendment rights without violating school codes. Although we do have many rights and abilities outside of school, we are limited to what we can do under the influence of an academic atmosphere.

Questions and thoughts about the book:

· I’m interested to see how many tries it will take for Offred to get pregnant

· Will the Scrabble and creepiness with the Commander continue, or will Serena find out and have Offred sent away or hurt?

· Will Luke show up?

· Where is Offred’s daughter, is she alive?

· It’s still unclear to me who exactly Rita and Cora are

· How many times will Offred sneak off with the Commander before she is detected?

"Freedom"

Well first of all, how would one define freedom? We even consider this country to be "free", but what does that really mean? It's not like everyone can go parading down the street, doing whatever they want without conflict or interference, so I think we think of freedom as something different than it really is. It's almost as if it acts as a term just to make us think we have control. But in a way we do. Most of us lead our own lives, but within the boundaries of course. We choose whether to participate or not in school, but we are still obligated to attend until the age of 16. We can technically do whatever we want, as long as it's not against the law. Just as Atwood states "A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze." Now personally, I don't feel like we are being strongly oppressed as a people, but if everyone had the choice to do as they pleased, we most likely wouldn't even be having this conversation, or even in existence. I don't know. It's an interesting point...I get how many feel like school is a box retaining us from so many more possibilities (and in some cases i totally agree), but what else would we do? How else would we run a society for as large of a population we have today? Hm. And maybe that thought is just thanks to the monotone rhythm that I have been following for the past 15 years of my life, instigated by those who really hold the "power". They always tell us that we're lucky to get an education, that we're lucky to have such resources at such an amazing school. I'm convinced though. Or brainwashed. Whichever way you choose to look at it. The only thing I can point out in my head (if possible), is that this current life is what I want to thrive on for the moment. Who knows what happens afterwards, but I don't want to spend the present thinking about my unknown voyage afterwards. I want to take part in what our society believes is a just education (I can't believe i just wrote that). Actually woa, wait, I'm not sure if I mean that. I think all in all, since my goal in life at this point isn't to try and burst the bubble of this ostensible freedom we are controlled by, I would rather just move along in life appreciating the "freedom" I do have. I'm content. I don't feel oppressed. But should I? Oh this is weird. THis is bouncing back and forth a lot. I just don't know. Maybe I'd just rather continue living life with an ignorance towards this. Or wait, would I really consider a school for example a method of controlling the people? Well yes of course, but maybe it's not all that bad. What would we be if we all controlled ourselves? Disconnected. Probably then we would start to try and control others, then kill each other, and that's that. OK, now I'm sort of going back to my point at the top. I'm just babbling.

Handmaids Tale

The quote on page 163, "A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze" comes up in many situations today. It is a relevant statement especially for students going to a public school. The constitution is filled with statements explaining an individuals right. We go on with our day to day lives knowing those rights are there and we are living in freedom. In high school, these rights are taught to us making sure we know what we can and cannot do. Ironically all of these rights are eliminated when we walk into the building. We do not have freedom of speech, right to fight against what we believe in, and many other rights that we are given in the constitution. We are allowed to say how we feel, as long as it does not go against a teacher, we are allowed to fight for what we believe in as long as it does not involve being disrespectful to a teacher. As someone who often disagrees with what the teachers think and believe, I find this to be a battle i fight everyday. I find it hard to keep my mouth shut and not tell them how I feel. As students we are the rats in the school (maze).

Handmaid's Tale

Atwood's novel has been interesting, to say the least, so far. I enjoy the writing. In fact, the style may be my favorite part. I love how she keeps your attention by not only using interesting sentence structure, but also changes scenes quickly. I suppose this can become frustrating, but it keeps the book fresh, and makes sure the reader is truely appriciating what is happening.

Having said this, I have to admit I do not like what the story about at all, which actually marks Atwood as a skilled writer simply because she has created a world her readers do hate. I not only resent the fact that the entire world has seemed to take a large step backwards, but how women are the root of their own oppression. This is not a story about men against women, but rather older women, who are, ina sense, feminists, oppressing younger women for their own gain. And if that isn't bad enough, I hate how the oppressed are allowing this without struggle. Perhaps the struggle took place before the story began, but I sitll wish there were more attempts made. I know there are women escaping to Canada, and that a few handmaids have made thier own attempts, sometimes successfully, but I don't understand why the rest of the girls seem to go with the new norm.

The comment Offred makes about being "A rat in a maze...free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze," is actually how many people are treated until they are finnally eighteen and allowed to control their own lives. Sure, some parents have lax rules, but until that golden age, there is still bondage. As I am underage, I cannot simply get up and leave anywhere, anytime. I have to make a phonecall to my parents at least once a day to run things by them. I'm allowed to go out almost anytime I'd like, much of the time there is no problem with me going away for the weekend, and most of the time I'm not told to stay away from friends they disapprove of, but every aspect of my life is still fun through my parents. So, yes, I am free to go out, eat what I want, listen to what I want, see who I want, but only after I have been let through the gate by my parents.

The Handmaid's Tale...

This book drives me crazy in both good and bad ways. On one hand, it's written extremely well and I feel like I'm part of the book, like the events are happening to me. She makes the characters very believable. What drives me crazy is what's going on in the book. How can women just succumb to that society? How could people actually agree to make that kind of society? How can women willingly get used just to make babies? Babies you can't even keep, or raise, or claim they're yours. It's ridiculous. And the men don't even know half the shit that's going on in the households. They're too busy making sure they get a promotion.

A really weird thing about this book is the whole baby-making process. Wtf? That is just too weird to be lying your head on some ladies crotch and just lying there while some guy bangs you. And then to make it even more obnoxious, the Wife has to squeeze Offred's hands and moan like she's getting screwed? Nuh uh. That's gross. Another thing is when the baby is actually born. I think it's freaking hilarious when everyone spikes the grape juice and they can all gather around, but does the Wife really have to be there AGAIN and act like she's giving birth? Then she gets all tired and everyone congratulates her instead of the chick who actually gave birth. It's not even the Wife's baby.

I guess the book must be pretty damn good if it can get me all fired up. I just can't imagine a place like that, where women are used for babies, and men are on top even though they don't do anything. I hope we never get to that point.

The Handmaid's Tale

I have really like this book. Theres a lot to think about I have to read it slowly to get all of whats going on. But I like how Atwood wright she has a way if describing things so that you know what she is talking about wit out outright saying it. Its interesting that we are reading it at this time. It almost seem like the US is going in that direction of falling apart, something big happening. If you watch people right now they’re like horses running around the corral right before a earthquake.

Freedom as a mechanism of control is everywhere through out our entire life. When we are little its or parents telling us what we can and cant do, legally that stops at 18 but in truth that doesn’t stop until you move out and for some it will never stop. Its also in school teachers telling you to do this and do that, you have to be at this place at this time. When you get older it turns in to you are free to do what you want with your education but do this so you can get a good job and make money. After at lest 16 years of schooling, more if you want to do anything that makes good money, you have your boos, you have to do good or they will replace you. Through out your life your free to do what you want but if you don’t follow the system then you will have a hard time surviving you’ll have a ruff life. There are few people that make it to a point where they don’t have to follow someone else but they still had to go through the system to get there.

The Handmaids tale

The quote "A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze," to me reminds me of my life because as a teen your parents always give you boundries and rules. For example my whole life growing up i have had a curfew. Each year i get older and older, my durfew becomes later and later. Just llike the quote i am free to do what i want but i have to be home at a certain time. Living with rules lets you do a certain amount of things but not everything. Again like the quote the rat is free to do anything and or go wherever he or she wants to go as long as he or she is inside that maze. In the novel The Handmaids Tale Offred also has the same boundries this rat does. She has to listen to the Commander and his wife. She can't go out and do things just to have fun. Offred has to stay in her boundres and listen to the rules surrounding her and others.

Freedom Pizza

Freedom these days sucks. As in the novel, it has become fake. Like a rat in a maze, we are free to go anywhere but within limits. True freedom has never been achieved, but it's illusion has brainwashed billions into thinking it is awesome. In our lives, we are not free to do much. The law governs our freedom and takes it away in the form of school. They separate us from the rest of the world and take away our rights for seven hours a day kind of just as is done to the handmaids. Freedom is not freedom anymore. If freedom really existed, we could do whatever we want whenever we want without consequence. Unfortunately, it does not exist and has had boundaries wrapped all around it. Laws limit people from doing what they want. If I was truly free, I could crack a beer, slap the Diggity Dogg guy, and take a dump on the steps of the Courthouse. Too bad I would get arrested for it. I should be able to do what I want in a country that was created because of freedom, but instead the government has tried to hypnotize everyone into thinking confinement and regulation is freedom. Like in the story, we are not free. The handmaids and people of Gilead are stuck in a false free world that sucks. Freedom isn't freedom, but instead is confinement with the ability to do some things but not all. It's totally lame.

हन्द्मैद'स क्रेप

To be straight up and blunt, this book sucks. I am not saying this just to be a pessimistic downer, only to depict my frustrations with this book. As the story drags along I find it harder and harder to keep up because my general interest declines at an exponential rate. The only thing worse than a book that plays with the idea of woman’s rights, is a book about woman’s rights with a futuristic Nazi regime resembling setting. It could be that I do not pick up on the intellectual references and merely am angered by the horrendously drawn out descriptions of random shit of no importance. “I saved the cupboard until the third day. I looked carefully over the door first, inside and out, then the walls with their brass hooks- how could they have overlooked the hooks? Why didn’t they re-move them? Too close to the floor? But still, a stocking, that’s all you’d need. And the rod with the plastic hangers, my dresses hanging on them, the red woolen cape for cold weather, the shawl.” BLAH BLAH BLAH. I’ve had enough of reading about a description of things like oranges for a page and a half. The one quote I liked in this book really related to me and is probably the only thing I will care enough to underline. “I lie in bed still trembling. You can wet the rim of a glass and run your finger around the rim and it will make a sound. This is what I feel like: this sound of glass. I feel like the word shatter. I want to be with someone.

"A Rat in A maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze"

In the world today many people are limited by the rules and regulation of a bigger power. Although some may claim that they are "free" they are still seriously limited. some of these include school, jobs, parents, and many more. In the Haidmaid's Tale, Offred is trained to believe that she is free, but she is so limited. she is completely dominated by the opposite sex, and the more elite. However, she is much to smart to think that she is considered free.

My favorite scene we have read so far is the scene in the doctor's office. Offred is confronted with an offer. an offer to sleep with the doctor and easily become pregnant, however she is smarter, and has much more dignity. She denies the offer, however, if i was in her situation i don't know what i would have done. The doctor informed her that she was slowly becoming less and less able to have a child. I would feel so much pressure to become pregnant and not be killed, that I very well might have taken him up on his offer.

Post-Apocalypse Novel? Hell Yeah!

I am digging this book currently. I might not be digging the actual content between every page, another feminist novel is not a plus in my book, but if its post apocalyspse I'm in. i have always been drawn to that particular theme. Everyday when we are dicussing the commander and Offred actions or the situation that the fertile women have been put in, I am indulging myself with thoughts of how it got the world, and America got to be this way. I am aware of the great war, the bibles having some involvement in this war. Now apparently the Commanders have taken over America, as far as we know it does not reach past the American borders so I can assume there was a collapse of government and a shift in power and contorl in America. Now i would say it had to be somewhat planned out by the commanders because of the obvious sucess they had( You don't take over a country, certainly noty one like America with out some planning). This means that they would have to bring down democracy first. The easyiest and most effeint way to do that would be to first envoke fear and chaos, most easlily done with an grand act of terror, similar to 911 but all across the board. This would put the government into defense mode, all that matters is gaining control and matianing protection. This would make it easy to ease out of democracy and into more of a dictarorship. Next you would have to divide the people(united they stand divided they fall). You could do this through political manipulation, and desperation. Take away what people need and they will look for a side to fight on. Take away there money credit cards and bank accounts, and now you really have chaos. Next you must take out comminication. With cellphones and internet gone people cannot band together but must choose to follow one side for that is all they can organize. All that is left is the war, Get half the people behind you ,and simply kill, pilllage and starve the otherside till it submits. Take out food sources, commit atroucities to inspite fear, take away needed reasources(oil, clean water, ect.). Eventually the weak ones on the otherside will submit and the strong on the other side will die off. and there you have it, you just overthrew a great country and people and gained unlimited control and power, do with it what you will.

Blogging on The Handmaid's Tale

"A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze." I think this applies to almost everybody at some point in their lives. Every on is traped or restricted by rules, some more than others but at some point every one is restricted from doing something. It is just up to that person if they want to break the rules and risk the real freedom or live inside the boundries with no hassle. I feel like this is a major turning piont in how people become who they are. Some choose to live freely always doing as they are told and never stepping out of the red line. Others choose to run their lives the way the always choose. No matter what any one esle says, they ar in Charge and they will go to any lengths to keep it like that. Certain examples of this are listening to your parents or your school or even the law. If this rat was born into the maze then there would be no need for it to care about what was on the other side of the maze walls. A rat that once lived a happy life in the world and then was put in this maze would always be looking for a way to get out. Part of the decisions we make is curiosity, and wonder. Unfortunatly I think this book is more about a way of getting back to how things used to be then just searching for something new. I hope Offred tries to escape and she tries to do something with her sorrow rather then just thinking and hoping that one day Luke will come find her. I hope we get to some part of the book where all hell breaks loose. At this point were still getting used to the way she lives, i think it is really weird how together these people are. Like how the wife witnesses the sex and the whole community witnesses the birth of a child. Im not sure i like the society at all. I would raise hell.

Babies, Wall, Stopwatch, Commander

Generally, I like the book because it is basically feminism on crack. Females are supposed to appreciate their bodies, be proud of their gender, and make healthy babies. However, females aren't allowed out of this realm and the baby is the most important aspect of their lives, the amount of children defines their success. This situation brings out classes of people through fertility and pregnancy. The only way to be upgraded is to have a child. What I don't understand is why having a baby so important. I understand that children represent innocence and hope, but why does a quality life depend on it.

The quote "a rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze" is confusing because around that same page she describes how she is outside of the wall. The entire story I thought that they were enclosed, but it's the university that is within the wall and she believes that Luke is in there. Perhaps in the library. Why are they on the outside? What is really on the inside?

In my life, the only things that control me is school and my mother. My mom tries to argue that she has no control over me and that she hardly even sees me recently. However, she threatens me to behave and stay in her realms of rules or else she won't pay for my college. Then I am controlled by high school and college. Everything has it's own rules and if I want to be a part of it I must abide by them. In at 8 15. Out at 3 15. Monday through Friday. Do homework daily. College applications by November and January. Personal Portfolio. Good sportsmanship. Sprint faster. Its a stopwatch that measures if I am on track, on time, and how fast can I do it. Life is a stopwatch of how much you can succeed within 80-100 years.

My last thought is that I love how the author makes Fred, Offred's Commander, a wimp who gives her power over his wife from his interests. He breaks the very rules that has made him successful. He represents males; putting his desires over the law when he feels like it, and using the law when it fits to his benefits.

The handmaid's tale

As boring and uneventful as this novel has been so far, the book certainly portrays the theme of false freedom and control in a very insightful manner. The book makes the statement against the extremes of society, extreme left, extreme feminism, extreme right and extreme religion. The author depicts a society where the extremists have taken over and now run the government in which they control the lives of the people on a personal level. To justify this, the people in charge tell the citizens that they are better off than they were before because they have been given freedom from rather than freedom. This clearly correlates to real fascist and communist governments in which censorship and control are prevalent. In governments of the past, this manipulation of freedom has been present in various regimes, and it is a major part of fascism because it allows the people to believe that their lives are better off controlled and protected rather than exposed to the dangers of a free government where people are free to express themselves.

Handmaid's Tail... Depressing

Although the plot of this novel, and the idea of a civilization collapsing under the weight of war and transforming into a controlled system is unique and creative, the tone and pace that this book reads with is unbearable. I understand that this piece is supposed to have a slightly depressing undertone to emphasize the monotony of the situation that plays out everyday in these handmaid's lives, but at the same time I don't think it is neccessary to pinpoint every detail and continue to talk about until it is nothing more than another meaningless object. Because the author does this it makes the reading go very slow and sluggish, there are definitely sections of the novel that keep you reading more than others, but the majority of this book is dull and I find myself tired after reading a chapter. Part of me wants to read on to see if anything more interesting will be residing in the next chapter but after a couple pages in you realize it is just the same, somewhat repetitive, depressing descriptions and guidelines (by guidelines I mean the fact that whenever Offred thinks of something she always contradricts herself and decides the smart and boring option that never leads the book anywhere). Towards the end of the reading for today, Wednesday, she did start to step out of her boundaries a little bit and the novel became a little more interesting, with her deal with the Commander and the idea of a secret society of nonbelievers, but for the most part I find it slow and not entertaining to read, not because of the story line but because of the continuous depressing mindset.
The quote on page 165 where Offred says, "A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays in the maze," explains how the Commanders give these handmaid's a somewhat false scense of freedom, the freedom to wander around and get the food, but at the same time they must stay within the confines of the walls and travel with others so there can always be someone watching. This also applies to the minds of the handmaids. They are free to think as the wish as long as they stay in the boundaries, Offred knows exactyl what is acceptable and what isn't, such as no showing of emotion or connection to others and the inability to read or converse. This shows that the Commander has not only placed boundaries around their physical precence but their mental precence as well. Overall I think that the plot and idea for this book are unique but the repetitive dullness is this novel's downfall.

Handmaid's tail

To me, this book is niether good nor bad. It's not really anything. Just reading to go through the steps and then write an essay so I can get a decent grade and then erase this portion of my life from my mind. I guess more than anything this book annoys me. Atwood tries to be deep and metephorical with her writing, ending paragraphs with a "meaningful" statement almost every page, for instance when Atwood's talking about Dolores when she "wet the floor", "what did they do to her? we whipsered, from bed to bed. I don't know. not knowing makes it worse." This sounds like Atwood is trying to make this eerie and deep when it's about something like peeing on the floor... Another scene is where offred is going to watch the birth, Atwood makes it sound again, deep and serious. Then she comes along with stuff like the "birthmobile" and I can't take it seriously.

Something else that annoys me is how not straight forward this book is. We learn about how the war/take-over happens over half way through the book. I just don't like inferring stuff, I like straight forward, no bullshit, answers.

"a rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze" yea, makes sense.


I can't wait till we're done with this book and move on to fight club