Archive of ‘English’ category

The Historical Notes, 2195 AD

What, ostensibly, is the function of the Historical Notes?

The main aim of its inclusion may be to give the impression that Gilead ended one day, people were given back their former rights and freedoms and the regime’s existence has since become the topic of academic discussion. Yet it also serves to notify the reader that misogyny and sexualisation of women, the elements that gave rise to Gilead in the first place still exist in the modern day. An example of the misogyny how The Underground Femaleroad is dubbed ‘The Underground Frailroad’ by the historians, belittling the struggle of the women who passed through it.

What additional information is provided?

That Offred’s narrative has been compiled from tapes that are believed to be recorded by her from a ‘safe-house’, allowing us to assume that she was able to escape from the Republic of Gilead although the fact that many of the names given drew blanks and could possibly have been pseudonyms, meaning the tapes were made inside the borders of Gilead. There is some background given to The Commander or ‘Waterford’, suggesting that he played a part in the construction of the regime and that he was killed shortly after Offred was taken away. The names ‘Serena Joy’ and ‘Pam’ are revealed to have been inventions by Offred – The Commander’s wife’s real name is implied to be Thelma.

What might be problematic about this section of the novel?

The impartiality of the transcript could be questioned as it is noted to be ‘partial’, which could either imply that it is incomplete or biased. In addition, the name and location of the university is given as ‘Denay, Nunavit’ which could be concealing the sentence “Deny none of it”. The title of the talk, Problems of Authentication in Reference to The Handmaid’s Tale, also asks us to question the veracity of Offred’s narrative as a whole.

How is this section of the novel both an epilogue, a warning and a critique?

It can be classified as an epilogue as it gives insight into the workings of the regime, some of the characters’ pasts and futures. The fine detail, particularly the sexist undertones and the fact that two men have been put in charge of Offred’s narrative, warns readers to be wary of the elements that created Gilead. It also criticises the lack of information sounding the narrative, such as the absence of any physical description, name or her later life.

Serena Joy and The Evangelicals

Serena Joy has been dedicated to the world of evangelicalism well before the establishment of Gilead, first as a lead soprano on Growing Souls Gospel Hour and then making speeches about the sanctity of the home and the need for women to stay in it. How much she personally believes in what she preaches is debatable, as Offred notes that she “didn’t do this herself” (page 57), but her work to strengthening the ideals of the regime has rendered her a trusted figure to them, hence making her someone that Offred feels the need to look out for.

In the novel, she serves as the epitome of the highest level of power women can hold in the Republic of Gilead with her distinguished role of a Wife as well as her ability to procure sought after items such as cigarettes. Yet she also demonstrates how women in the level of power she has can be vulnerable, from her resentment of Offred for being an intrusion in her marriage to her bending the rules in a desperate bid to secure a pregnancy.

How is power distributed in Gilead? Give examples from your reading of the first 15 chapters of the novel.

Though self-titled as a ‘republic’, the power practises in Gilead indicate anything other than the doings of a democratically elected government. The exact holders of absolute power are theorised to be linked to the radical fundamentalist group ‘Sons of Jacob’, who were responsible for the revolution that did away with the Congress of the United States and sent the country into political turmoil, though even their role in the current regime is uncertain.

It can be inferred that power is held by those with patriarchal, fundamentalist ideals. Men are placed firmly on top of the societal ladder, particularly Commanders such as the one whom Offred is assigned to. There are also Angels that appear to be the Gilead’s version of a secret police, a service every authoritarian regime in history has had. Guardians do odd jobs for Commanders and may be Eyes that spy on them discretely, possibly holding more power than the Commanders themselves. In regards to women, Wives are among the upper echelons of this ladder as the spouse to their respective Commander. Handmaids are given to Commanders with the aim of conceiving a child, a concept taken from the Biblical story of Jacob and his wives : “God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband” (page 103). They are held in high regard due to their scarcity. Aunts are the teachers of the Handmaids. Marthas are maids, while Econowives are women to poorer men (page 36), whom Aunt Lydia characterises as undesirables: “When times improve, no one will have to be an Econowife” (page 56). Jezebels are condemned women who have their reproductive organs removed and are made to work as prostitutes. Unwomen are at the very bottom of the societal ladder if even present on it at all, deemed to be infertile and shipped off to the hazardous ‘Colonies’ (page 73), a fate Offred learns to dread for herself.

The Republic instills certain ideals through various means, one being the ominous presence of ‘the Wall’, used for displayed bodies of the executed and who’s terrifying appearance consisting of “barbed wire” up to “broken glass” is symbolic of the fear felt by those living in front of it. Another method is through the Aunts’ sessions with Handmaids in which Aunt Lydia’s words characterise the power the brains of the operation hold: “The Republic of Gilead knows no bounds. Gilead is within you” (page 35). This implies the scale of power held by those at the very top, how they are unregulated and able to enforce anything they deem necessary, as well as how they possess the ability to detect counterrevolutionary thoughts before they escape the lips of the offender, a feat transcending humanity. Offred’s ‘freedom’ that those in power have given her to keep her in her place is characterised after the fear she feels following a doctor’s visit, “Why am I frightened? I’ve crossed no boundaries , I’ve given no trust, taken no risk, all is safe.” (page 73). The repetition and juxtaposition of the word ‘no’ after every indicator of crime displays the constricted moral code that is imposed on people, particularly lower caste women.

In what ways is the control of women’s bodies reflective of the totalitarian control of the regime in Gilead? – Chapter 13

Offred often characterises her body by objectifying it – from “prized pig” (page 81) to “treacherous ground” (page 85). The descriptor ‘prized’ details the desirability of conception that the Regime has instilled in her and other Handmaids. Yet the word ‘treacherous’ implies the fight left in her, serving as a warning to readers to never take their bodies for granted. The characterisations of the body and its significance may also imply that it is something separated from her as an individual, such as in the line “I’m a cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am”. Her description of herself as a cloud implies that the regime as stripped her of her individuality – that she is colourless and lifeless. The central object being ‘hard and more real’ illustrates how her womb defines her in Gilead – how it determines her position, changed her name and exempts her from the worst of living conditions.

The Testifying sessions conducted by the Aunts that consist of meditations and narrating possibly fictionalised accounts of deeds carried out before the regime’s existence see a contrast between the care the Regime insists be given to maintaining the state of their”two legged wombs” (page 148) and the disrespect women are told to have for themselves. The Handmaids’ chanting of the answers to Aunt Helena’s questions displays how the regime inculcates their ideals into women.

The Handmaid’s Tale – Context

Puritans – Fundamentalist Christian group that interpreted God to be a fearful figure who expected Christians to live a plain life of toil and prayer.They were among the first immigrants to America from Britain. Although obsolete today, their imprint on America remains, from their establishment of Harvard University to their say on important issues such as abortion which continue to be debated in the United States today.

Wave of feminism in the 1950s – Led by Betty Friedan, a housewife and author of the bestseller The Feminine Mystique. There was some attempt in America to move traditional family values back into the picture after the Second World War had women taking on roles traditionally filled by men in their absence. Offred’s mother is suggested to have taken part in these marches. This resulted in a number of rights being granted to women in the 70s and 80s, such as the right to contraceptive use.

Roe v. Wade – Landmark case in 1973 that resulted in less medical restriction surrounding abortion. The topic is something that continues to be debated today, most recently due to the passing of the Texas Heartbeat Act in September 2021 to enforce restrictions on the procedure in the state.

Theocracy – A state in which religious law is state law and religious texts are justification for that. The end of the Iranian revolution in 1979, 6 years before the book was published, saw Iran being ruled by Islamic clerics that replaced the constitution with Sharia law and putting restrictions on certain freedoms of women. Citing outdated and disproven theories such as that women showing skin excited men, led to strict dress codes being imposed.

Totalitarianism – Atwood started writing the book while living in West Berlin in 1984, which was under the influence of communism and controlled by the Soviet Union. Actions and freedoms were restricted and people hardly dared to protest out of fear of the secret police. Atwood’s fascination with dictatorships may have stemmed from the fact that she was born in 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II.

Literature – The Handmaid’s Tale is heavily influenced by George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, which similarly to the aim of Atwood, haunts readers with its chillingly tangible narrative concerning totalitarianism in the early Cold War context. Another influence is The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, which indicts the Puritan practices of 17th century America and is set in Massachusetts, where The Handmaid’s Tale takes place. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is a non-fictional work which documents a young Jewish girl’s period of hiding from the Nazis in a concealed attic in occupied Amsterdam. The first person account of being trapped in an enclosed space, unclear about what goes on in the outside world lends itself as the basis for The Handmaid’s Tale.

Saint Hoax

The main issue Saint Hoax choses to highlight in his body of work “Make America Misogynistic Again” are the misogynistic views held by then president Donald Trump, and how such views could possibly be echoed and held by his supporters who consist of a significant proportion of America’s voter base and possibly the country’s population.

The works place quotes from Trump that have been said in regards to the subject of females into adverts from 20th century America. The adverts often consist of images of interactions between women and a male counterpart with the women being painted in a demeaning manner, such as serving the male’s needs, being difficult or exposing their bodies. A quote from Donald Trump is made the title of the image to work with the visual features of the image to signify the outdatedness of the values expressed in the quote. They are heteroglossic as they express the viewpoints of Saint Hoax and Donald Trump.

Although the controversial Gillette advert from 2019 doesn’t explicitly call out Trump, it echoes similar sentiments to Saint Hoax’s work in questioning the values held by men in modern America. They both criticise ‘toxic masculinity’ and call for change.

Chapter 7

What detail in this chapter signals the end of Gatsby’s spell as Trimalchio?

“It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night – and, as obscurely as it had begun, his career as Trimalchio was over.”

Gatsby changes some of his staff members to ensure secrecy regarding Daisy’s visits. It also appears that he has stopped hosting his lavish parties, either because he has already found Daisy and doesn’t need them, or because he noticed she didn’t like them. The lack of light also leads us into the darker chapters of the novel, concerning death and lost love.

During the heated confrontation, which takes place on one of the hottest days of the summer, Tom reveals Gatsby’s dealings as a bootlegger and calls him ‘Mr Nobody From Nowhere”, causing him to lose Daisy irretrievably.

What links are made between detail here and previous detail in the narrative?

There is reference to colour and light, such as that of the yellow car which comes to symbolise death in the novel. Michaelis, Wilson’s neighbour, initially tells the policeman it was light green.

“I must have felt pretty weird by that time, because I could think of nothing except the luminosity of his pink suit under the moon” is how Nick remembers his first encounter with Gatsby after Myrtle’s death. There is also Gatsby’s system of Daisy turning the light on and off if she is in trouble with Tom. One of Nick’s last encounters with Gatsby concerns him “standing there in the moonlight – watching over nothing”

Chapter 6

What are the details of Gatsby’s past and his ‘singularly appropriate education’?

Gatsby is originally from North Dakota and his birth name is James Gatz, but he changed it to Jay Gatsby around the time of a chance encounter with a wealthy man named Dan Cody, when he was seventeen years old. Cody’s yacht may have symbolised the beauty and glamour in wealth that Gatz desired, causing him to sail in Lake Superior to the yacht to warn him about a storm, and then becoming a sort of apprentice to Cody to learn the ways of wealth from him. After sailing around the American continent for five years with Cody, he passes away and Gatz inherits the ‘singularly appropriate education’ from Cody rather than the twenty five thousand dollars that he was meant to be given.

What does the end of Chapter 6 reveal about the way in which Gatsby thinks of the past, the future and Daisy?

Gatsby laments that Daisy didn’t seem to enjoy his party and that “she doesn’t understand” yet “She used to be able to understand”, expressing his desire for the past. Nick warns that the past cannot be repeated but Gatsby insists that it can, implying that his ideal future is the restoration of his past. This may relate back to early American settlers’ vision of their New World offering them the opportunity to return to the Garden of Eden. This moment in the novel encapsulates the fruitlessness of Gatsby’s quest and the novel’s problems with communication. The end of the Chapter may symbolise a turning point in the novel, with Nick being unable to change Gatsby’s mind about his dream.

Chapter 4

What are the details of Gatsby’s ‘constructed past’?

Nick describes his account as being “like skimming hastily through a dozen magazines”, which may relate to how magazines at the time could make people into stars, but were also known to be quick spreaders of gossip and scandal. He suggests that Gatsby’s story may make an image of his past visible but it is very distant from reality.

What role does Wolfshiem play in this chapter?

Gatsby introduces Nick to Wolfshiem in New York, who recalls the murder of a friend, Rosy Rosenthal, in the Metropole Hotel. His account follows Gatsby’s explanation of his constructed past, which may lead to sinister undertone’s in Gatsby’s story. The murder he describes was an actual event and one of the instances in the novel where Fitzgerald fuses historical occurrences with fiction and romance. He is the epitome of the grubby capitalist who’ll do anything when a trade makes money. Gatsby and everyone else is tainted by Wolfshiem.

What is the significance of the cars that pass Nick and Gatsby as they cross the bridge?

One car is consists of black Americans being driven by a white chauffeur in an expensive car, and the other contains people of south eastern European descent attending a funeral. They may be seen as foreshadowing Gatsby’s fate and America’s diversity. The wealthy black Americans may lend to the idea of equal opportunities for all and the American dream, but the social barriers may also implicitly suggest wealth by illegal means.

What contradictions and questions emerge from Jordan’s account of Daisy’s past?

It occured in 1917, when Jordan was sixteen years old and Daisy was eighteen. The account makes Gatsby “come alive to me” in Nick’s eyes, as he has perhaps seen that Gatsby has an emotional side to his character, with desires other than showing off. The end of it is the moment when Nick realises he is being used by Gatsby. The chapter ends with Nick embracing Jordan, which may contrast with Gatsby’s desire for the distant Daisy.

What are the parallels between Gatsby and Kurtz from The Heart of Darkness?

In The Heart of Darkness, Kurtz does not appear for a long time yet a lot of rumours are heard about him. He becomes a symbol of all that is European in Africa, similar to how Gatsby becomes a symbol of all that is new America, but inside the character, there is a heart of darkness. The Great Gatsby is a novel about light and parties, yet also about the arrogance of money. Kurtz also symbolises the arrogance of European depredation of Africa.

The Great Gatsby – Chapter 1

  1. The novel’s epigraph is about what a man will do to win the love of a woman. It encapsulates the idea in the novel that a significant goal for Gatsby’s is to win Daisy’s heart.
  2. One theme in the novel is the idea of vulnerability. Nick thinks of himself as having advantages, yet when he gets to West Egg, he finds himself disadvantaged. This also shows how the novel works by contradiction. There is also the theme of superiority, where the East is considered better than the bland midwest. There are sometimes implications of racism, such as when he states that  “a sense of fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth”. Some readers note that the novel seems intangible, such as the famous green light, and that things are not explicit. It is not a novel with any certainties. It is a novel where modern morality is questioned, not as to what is right or wrong, but what morals are.
  3. American identity stems from the first colonisers, the puritans, who were religious fundamentalists that came to find freedom, something that is emboldened in American identity. At the time, it was expected that the Gatsbys, Daisys and Buchanans of the world were people to admire, that desires were materialistic. A sense of moral superiority was felt by some of higher birth, such as those who lived in the East of the country compared to those in the West.
  4. Nick Carraway sets himself up from line 1 as a character with some moral values who is going to think the best of everyone and not criticise, yet he does not understand the behaviour of the people he is documenting in regards to his own moral standpoint, some of his words have a snobbish undertone to them, he is never full of praise for women and he has underlying insecurities. He narrates through contradiction, wanting to come out of it looking good and as a result, his motivations and everything he says has to be questioned. He himself is unsure of what he says, where he is or what he talks about, why he moves to the East or why he moves back at the end.

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