Offred talks about her daily life remembering things from the past or imagining where her family might be now. She participates in a ceremony where she lies down on the Wife while holding her hand and has sex with the Commander. Offred also stole butter from her meals and hid it in her shoe to use a lotion because handmaids aren't allowed to use beauty products. She also stole a flower from the living room which makes her feel like she has control of something and puts it in her mattress. Nick is there and tells her to meet up with the Commander in his office. She meets up with him and they play games and read magazines. They do this regularly and keep it a secret from the Wife. Serena asks Offred to have sex with Nick so she can have a baby and offers Offred's daughter's picture. Offrend ends up sleeping with Nick multiple times because she likes him. Janine goes into labor and Offred goes there with other handmaids. During that chapter, Offred explains how women have a one in four chance to give birth to a healthy baby. Offred also explains how Moira escaped from the Red Center. Offred also goes off to this hotel with the Commander and finds Moira there. They talk and she explains what happened to her. Offred goes back home and eventually the relationship between her and the Commander is found out by the Wife.
Some similarities I see in the book with the world I live in today are the power imbalances between people in different rankings and that power being used for their own greed or desires. In the book, the Wife uses her connections with the Black Market and other households to convince Offred to have sex with Nick even though it might get her killed if she is found out. This kind of power in real life can take many forms including fame, wealth and political influence. A theme this book has is wanting something you can't have. Offred keeps having these flashbacks of her life before when she was with her family, mom, and Moira. She also goes on about how she wishes could speak to Ofglen without getting caught and have more freedom. Also towards the end she talks about how she wants to be safe with Nick but its impossible. I think this is a theme that everyone can relate with even if it isn't as heavy or depressing as the examples used in the book. I thought the book was very interesting. I made me think about how our society is like now and how different and similar it is to the one in the book. I would recommend this to a friend because I think reading about dystopian novels is a great way to see things from a different perspective. I will be commenting on Sydney and Mariana's blog posts.
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Since my last blog post, a lot has changed. I learned that the main characters name is Offred. The woman who walks with her is named Ofglen. They don't seem to like each other very much. There are young men who serve as guardians who also recently shot a Martha because they thought she was a man carrying a bomb. The signs for stores that sell food have wooden food items because handmaids aren't supposed to read. During the walk, Offred has flashbacks of when she was in some sort of training facility for handmaids. A character from those memories is Aunt Lydia. Then, they run into one of the women they went to the facility with who was once named Janine but Ofwarren. She goes there to show off her pregnant belly and all of the other handmaids are jealous. Offred has more flashbacks about her best friend Moira, her husband Luke, and her daughter. There is also a place called the Wall and bodies of people who commit crimes are hung there.
A book this story reminds me off is Fahrenheit 451 because people were also not allowed to read in that book. Its was also a very violent place and the main character is someone who wants to change how their life is like. I think a similarity between the governmental structure of the book and governmental structure in real life is that it is run by men. In the story, commanders and guardians are in control of what happens. Women are only valued for whether or not they can give birth and aren't seen as real people.They have weapons and power which they use to control the handmaids. Our government in real life is made up mostly of men and every president we had so far have been men. Women are also seen as object and are frequently harassed on the streets, in work areas, and schools. I will be commenting on Sydney and Mariana's blog posts. The book I am reading is The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. The setting is a place called the Republic of Gilead. I think it's somewhere in America since it mentioned California and Florida. The main character is a handmaid who works for the Commander and his wife. There is also a low birth rate so they have Handmaids to give birth to kids. There are also people who work in kitchens called ¨Marthas¨ The two in the kitchen are called Rita and Cora. They gossip and talk about what’s happening outside. Women are treated like objects and are not allow to have relationships with other people. They also cannot speak freely. They are not allow to read or go walk by themselves. Handmaids wear long red dresses and hats with wings. The Commander’s Wife turned out to be a person named Serena Joy who used to be a happy signer but is now an old lady who wants nothing to do with the main character. So far the main character is just going through her daily life.
I have read dystopian novels before. A recent one I read is called Fahrenheit 451 which is about a society were firefighters start fires to burns books because they are illegal and having one can get you killed. So far I think The Handmaid's Tale is interesting. I’m looking forward to also learning about the main characters past. The book also mentioned life before their form of government was put in place so I also would like to know how everything changed. Some similarities I see with this book and previously read dystopian novels, are problems in their society regarding population of and birthrate. In one book I read, there was a problem with the growing population of people and the government had strict rules for distributing food and things like that. There is also that sad feeling that most dystopian novels have with everything being depressing and people living in a controlling system of government. I think the story takes place on earth. I’m not sure when this novel takes place but there are cars so I assume somewhere around our time. I will be commenting on Sydney and Mariana's blog posts. |