Monday, April 22, 2013

Handmaid's Tale- Qupte in Chapter 28





















This is the beginning of the chapter when Offred is having second thoughts about what Moira would think about the Commander.
"What would she tell me, about the Commander, if she were here? Probably she'd disapprove. She disapproved of Luke, back then. Not of Luke but of the fact that he was married. She said I was poaching, on another woman's ground."
Whose side should we be on here? Should we be on Moira's side or Offred's side? Because they are both being very rational here. Since the book is in first person we seek more to Offred's side but because they both disagree on this point they both end up in the Woman's Center and at Jezebel's. So their new differences don't seem to matter in this new world. We see that Moira doesn't like rejects female- male relationships and interactions. Moira is the only character in the novel that stands up authority. This symbolizes her rejection of Gilead's attempt to define her identity. I think Moira is a very high spirited lady that Offred looks up to so she can escape but later finds out that she doesn't want to leave anymore. Moira represents courage and hope for the narrator. At the Center, Moira had a voice and reason.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

The Narrator- Offred in the Handmaid's Tale


Offred is the narrator and the protagonist of the Handmaid's Tale. As of now we've seen Offred holds her own individuality. She's not a crybaby like Janine or no an out and out rebel like Moira. She is strictly manipulating her world in the little ways she can for example, when she was out shopping and she makes eye contact with the Guardian even though Guardians are stricly forbidden from looking at Handmaid's. Also when she's playing Scrabble with the Commander and she knows it is not the right thing. We see right away that every character in the Handmaid's Tale does not follow by the rules and so we ask ourselves why do they set rules in the first place if they aren't being used the right way.
Some facts to Offred for example her age, hair color, height are mentioned in the book but she doesn't mention her eye color. Weird huh? In the end, eye color can't mean the same thing to everyone. It is based on your personal experience and on your past. For example if Luke's eyes were to be brown Offred would look at someone else's brown eyes and be able to associate them with that time of sweet, innocent, carefree.