As she leaves the house to go shopping, Offred notices Nick, a Guardian of the Faith, washing the Commander’s car. Nick lives above the garage. He winks at Offred—an offense against -decorum— but she ignores him, fearing that he may be an Eye, a spy assigned to test her. She waits at the corner for Ofglen, another Handmaid with whom Offred will do her shopping. The Handmaids always travel in pairs when outside.
Ofglen arrives, and they exchange greetings, careful not to say anything that isn’t strictly orthodox. Ofglen says that she has heard the war is going well, and that the army recently defeated a group of Baptist rebels. “Praise be,” Offred responds. They reach a checkpoint manned by two young Guardians. The Guardians serve as a routine police force and do menial labor. They are men too young, too old, or just generally unfit for the army. Young Guardians, such as these, can be dangerous because they are frequently more fanatical or nervous than older guards. These young Guardians recently shot a Martha as she fumbled for her pass, because they thought she was a man in disguise carrying a bomb. Offred heard Rita and Cora talking about the shooting. Rita was angry, but Cora seemed to accept the shooting as the price one pays for safety.
At the checkpoint, Offred subtly flirts with one of the Guardians by making eye contact, cherishing this small infraction against the rules. She considers how sex-starved the young men must be, since they cannot marry without permission, masturbation is a sin, and pornographic magazines and films are now forbidden. The Guardians can only hope to become Angels, when they will be allowed to take a wife and perhaps eventually get a Handmaid. This marks the first time in the novel we hear the word “Handmaid” used.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Anaylsis of Chapters 1-3
The Handmaid’s Tale plunges immediately into an unfamiliar, unexplained world, using unfamiliar terms like “Handmaid,” “Angel,” and “Commander” that only come to make sense as the story progresses. Offred gradually delivers information about her past and the world in which she lives, often narrating through flashbacks. She narrates these flashbacks in the past tense, which distinguishes them from the main body of the story, which she tells in the present tense. The first scene, in the gymnasium, is a flashback, as are Offred’s memories of the Marthas’ gossip and her first meeting with the Commander’s Wife. Although at this point we do not know what the gymnasium signifies, or why the narrator and other women lived there, we do gather some information from the brief first chapter. The women in the gymnasium live under the constant surveillance of the Angels and the Aunts, and they cannot interact with one another. They seem to inhabit a kind of prison. Offred likens the gym to a palimpsest, a parchment either erased and written on again or layered with multiple writings. In the gym palimpsest, Offred sees multiple layers of history: high school girls going to basketball games and dances wearing miniskirts, then pants, then green hair. Likening the gym to a palimpsest also suggests that the society Offred now inhabits has been superimposed on a previous society, and traces of the old linger beneath the new.
In Chapter 2, Offred sits in a room that seems at first like a pleasant change from harsh atmosphere of the gymnasium. However, her description of her room demonstrates that the same rigid, controlling structures that ruled the gym continue to constrict her in this house. The room is like a prison in which all means of defense, or escape by suicide or flight, have been removed. She wonders if women everywhere get issued exactly the same sheets and curtains, which underlines the idea that the room is like a government-ordered prison.
We do not know yet what purpose Offred serves in the house, although it seems to be sexual—Cora comments that she could have done Offred’s work if she hadn’t gotten her tubes tied, which implies that Offred’s function is reproductive. Serena Joy’s coldness to Offred makes it plain that she considers Offred a threat, or at least an annoyance. We do know from Offred’s name that she, like all Handmaids, is considered state property. Handmaids’ names simply reflect which Commander owns them. “Of Fred,” “Of Warren,” and “Of Glen” get collapsed into “Offred,” “Ofwarren,” and “Ofglen.” The names make more sense when preceded by the word “Property”: “Property Offred,” for example. Thus, every time the women hear their names, they are reminded that they are no more than property.
These early chapters establish the novel’s style, which is characterized by considerable physical description. The narrator devotes attention to the features of the gym, the Commander’s house, and Serena Joy’s pinched face. Offred tells the story in nonlinear fashion, following the temporal leaps of her own mind. The narrative goes where her thoughts take it—one moment to the present, in the Commander’s house, and the next back in the gymnasium, or in the old world, the United States as it exists in Offred’s memory. We do not have the sense, as in some first-person narratives, that Offred is composing this story from a distanced vantage point, reflecting back on her past. Rather, all of her thoughts have a quality of immediacy. We are there with Offred as she goes about her daily life, and as she slips out of the present and thinks about her past.
In Chapter 2, Offred sits in a room that seems at first like a pleasant change from harsh atmosphere of the gymnasium. However, her description of her room demonstrates that the same rigid, controlling structures that ruled the gym continue to constrict her in this house. The room is like a prison in which all means of defense, or escape by suicide or flight, have been removed. She wonders if women everywhere get issued exactly the same sheets and curtains, which underlines the idea that the room is like a government-ordered prison.
We do not know yet what purpose Offred serves in the house, although it seems to be sexual—Cora comments that she could have done Offred’s work if she hadn’t gotten her tubes tied, which implies that Offred’s function is reproductive. Serena Joy’s coldness to Offred makes it plain that she considers Offred a threat, or at least an annoyance. We do know from Offred’s name that she, like all Handmaids, is considered state property. Handmaids’ names simply reflect which Commander owns them. “Of Fred,” “Of Warren,” and “Of Glen” get collapsed into “Offred,” “Ofwarren,” and “Ofglen.” The names make more sense when preceded by the word “Property”: “Property Offred,” for example. Thus, every time the women hear their names, they are reminded that they are no more than property.
These early chapters establish the novel’s style, which is characterized by considerable physical description. The narrator devotes attention to the features of the gym, the Commander’s house, and Serena Joy’s pinched face. Offred tells the story in nonlinear fashion, following the temporal leaps of her own mind. The narrative goes where her thoughts take it—one moment to the present, in the Commander’s house, and the next back in the gymnasium, or in the old world, the United States as it exists in Offred’s memory. We do not have the sense, as in some first-person narratives, that Offred is composing this story from a distanced vantage point, reflecting back on her past. Rather, all of her thoughts have a quality of immediacy. We are there with Offred as she goes about her daily life, and as she slips out of the present and thinks about her past.
Chapter 3 Review
On her way out, Offred looks around for the Commander’s Wife but does not see her. The Commander’s Wife has a garden, and she knits constantly. All the Wives knit scarves “for the Angels at the front lines,” but the Commander’s Wife is a particularly skilled knitter. Offred wonders if the scarves actually get used, or if they just give the Wives something to do. She remembers arriving at the Commander’s house for the first time, after the two couples to which she was previously assigned “didn’t work out.” One of the Wives in an earlier posting secluded herself in the bedroom, purportedly drinking, and Offred hoped the new Commander’s Wife would be different. On the first day, her new mistress told her to stay out of her sight as much as possible, and to avoid making trouble. As she talked, the Wife smoked a cigarette, a black-market item. Handmaids, Offred notes, are forbidden coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol. Then the Wife reminded Offred that the Commander is her husband, permanently and forever. “It’s one of the things we fought for,” she said, looking away. Suddenly, Offred recognized her mistress as Serena Joy, the lead soprano from Growing Souls Gospel Hour, a Sunday-morning religious program that aired when Offred was a child.
Chapter 2 Review
The scene changes, and the story shifts from the past to the present tense. Offred now lives in a room fitted out with curtains, a pillow, a framed picture, and a braided rug. There is no glass in the room, not even over the framed picture. The window does not open completely, and the windowpane is shatterproof. There is nothing in the room from which one could hang a rope, and the door does not lock or even shut completely. Looking around, Offred remembers how Aunt Lydia told her to consider her circumstances a privilege, not a prison.
Handmaids, to which group the narrator belongs, dress entirely in red, except for the white wings framing their faces. Household servants, called “Marthas,” wear green uniforms. “Wives” wear blue uniforms. Offred often secretly listens to Rita and Cora, the Marthas who work in the house where she lives. Once, she hears Rita state that she would never debase herself as someone in Offred’s position must. Cora replies that Offred works for all the women, and that if she (Cora) were younger and had not gotten her tubes tied, she could have been in Offred’s situation. Offred wishes she could talk to them, but Marthas are not supposed to develop relationships with Handmaids. She wishes that she could share gossip like they do—gossip about how one Handmaid gave birth to a stillborn, how a Wife stabbed a Handmaid with a knitting needle out of jealousy, how someone poisoned her Commander with toilet cleaner. Offred dresses for a shopping trip. She collects from Rita the tokens that serve as currency. Each token bears an image of what it will purchase: twelve eggs, cheese, and a steak.
Handmaids, to which group the narrator belongs, dress entirely in red, except for the white wings framing their faces. Household servants, called “Marthas,” wear green uniforms. “Wives” wear blue uniforms. Offred often secretly listens to Rita and Cora, the Marthas who work in the house where she lives. Once, she hears Rita state that she would never debase herself as someone in Offred’s position must. Cora replies that Offred works for all the women, and that if she (Cora) were younger and had not gotten her tubes tied, she could have been in Offred’s situation. Offred wishes she could talk to them, but Marthas are not supposed to develop relationships with Handmaids. She wishes that she could share gossip like they do—gossip about how one Handmaid gave birth to a stillborn, how a Wife stabbed a Handmaid with a knitting needle out of jealousy, how someone poisoned her Commander with toilet cleaner. Offred dresses for a shopping trip. She collects from Rita the tokens that serve as currency. Each token bears an image of what it will purchase: twelve eggs, cheese, and a steak.
The handmaids tale chapters 1 review
Chapter 1
The narrator, whose name we learn later is Offred, describes how she and other women slept on army cots in a gymnasium. Aunt Sara and Aunt Elizabeth patrol with electric cattle prods hanging from their leather belts, and the women, forbidden to speak aloud, whisper without attracting attention. Twice daily, the women walk in the former football field, which is surrounded by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. Armed guards called Angels patrol outside. While the women take their walks, the Angels stand outside the fence with their backs to the women. The women long for the Angels to turn and see them. They imagine that if the men looked at them or talked to them, they could use their bodies to make a deal. The narrator describes lying in bed at night, quietly exchanging names with the other women.
The narrator, whose name we learn later is Offred, describes how she and other women slept on army cots in a gymnasium. Aunt Sara and Aunt Elizabeth patrol with electric cattle prods hanging from their leather belts, and the women, forbidden to speak aloud, whisper without attracting attention. Twice daily, the women walk in the former football field, which is surrounded by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. Armed guards called Angels patrol outside. While the women take their walks, the Angels stand outside the fence with their backs to the women. The women long for the Angels to turn and see them. They imagine that if the men looked at them or talked to them, they could use their bodies to make a deal. The narrator describes lying in bed at night, quietly exchanging names with the other women.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Quote of the Month- September
"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them."
~ Ray Bradbury
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Hey guys Look at this
These are pictures of the NEW Banned Books club T-shirts. Or mine anyway.
ENJOY!!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
IIMMM BACCKKKK- A bbc blogspeed run
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I was on vacation in florida and didn't have much time in between theme park excellence. So now I will try to cover what I missed in a Blog speed run.
In the news of BBC - We need people to work in the BBC booth for the club fair in the beginning of the year. If you feel awesome enough to do it email me. Link in the sidebar.
Banned children's book of the month-
Winnie the pooh is banned in turkey for having a PIG as the main character. that's NOT cool turkey
Quote of the month- "The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame."
--Oscar Wilde
In the news of BBC - We need people to work in the BBC booth for the club fair in the beginning of the year. If you feel awesome enough to do it email me. Link in the sidebar.
Banned children's book of the month-
Winnie the pooh is banned in turkey for having a PIG as the main character. that's NOT cool turkey
Quote of the month- "The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame."
--Oscar Wilde
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Social vibe
As you guys may or may not have noticed I put up a Social vibe wiget on the home page. Social Vibe is a company that lets you donate to organization without literally giving them money. You do this by completing "activities" (no surveys I swear), and every time you complete an activity someone donates money to your organization.
Banned Books Club charity is Haystack. Haystack lets oppressed people access Censorship-Free Internet. Because in places like China and Iran,They cant access all the wonderful (and sometimes not-so-wonderful) things on the internet. Censoring information is wrong. Which is what Banned Books Club is about, So please do these activities and help people cheat on their homework by coping and pasting Wikipedia (lol jk but you know what I mean).
-Kat
Banned Books Club charity is Haystack. Haystack lets oppressed people access Censorship-Free Internet. Because in places like China and Iran,They cant access all the wonderful (and sometimes not-so-wonderful) things on the internet. Censoring information is wrong. Which is what Banned Books Club is about, So please do these activities and help people cheat on their homework by coping and pasting Wikipedia (lol jk but you know what I mean).
-Kat
Saturday, July 10, 2010
t-shirt update
In case I did not make this clear before, you should email your nickname, number, AND T-shirt size to bannedbooksclub@gmail.com
also you do not have to pay when you email me. you pay anytime you want before December 10th
I just need the order in soon to keep things organized
Thanks you guys
-Kat
also you do not have to pay when you email me. you pay anytime you want before December 10th
I just need the order in soon to keep things organized
Thanks you guys
-Kat
Banned children's book of the month- Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
This book is very interesting....................
I'll let the brothers Judd explain the plot
I'll let the brothers Judd explain the plot
"Sylvester is a donkey with the odd hobby, for a donkey anyway, of "collecting pebbles of unusual shape and color." This pastime gets him in trouble one day when he finds a magic red pebble that grants wishes :
'What a lucky day this is!' thought Sylvester. ÝFrom now on I can have anything I want.'
Sadly, a lion comes along and Sylvester unthinkingly says : "I wish I were a rock."
His wish is granted, but he is no longer able to grasp the pebble and so can not wish himself back to donkeyhood. His parents search desperately for him, until one day they actually picnic upon the boulder he has become. Happily, they pick up the pebble and order is restored. And, despite the awesome power of the pebble they lock it away in a safe :
Some day they might want to use it, but really, for now, what more could they wish for? They had all that they wanted."
Although this seemingly harmless book won a bunch of children's book awards (including the Caldecottt Medal and a Newberry Honors Medal) The book raised controversy among several school districts and organizations for its portrayal of the police as pigs (although anthropomorphic pigs were shown in other professions), and as a result was banned in parts of the United States.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
T-shirts!!
Banned Books Club T-shirts are now ready to be ordered!!
They look super awesome and our personalized for you with your own nickname (or real name if want ) and number!
Order quickly so you can get your first choice of number/ nickname
If you can't see what the front says, it reads Banned Books Club, Closing Books Shuts Out Ideas
Each one will cost $15 (its the lowest i could get the price)
To order please Do Not order through Custom Ink
Instead email BannedBooksClub@gmail.com
Deadline for Orders is September 10th.
(the day after I turn 17! AND we have no school on the 9th!!)
Forever Yours
-Kat
(or as she is known on her t-shirt Captian Kaagers, 42)
They look super awesome and our personalized for you with your own nickname (or real name if want ) and number!
Order quickly so you can get your first choice of number/ nickname
If you can't see what the front says, it reads Banned Books Club, Closing Books Shuts Out Ideas
Each one will cost $15 (its the lowest i could get the price)
To order please Do Not order through Custom Ink
Instead email BannedBooksClub@gmail.com
Deadline for Orders is September 10th.
(the day after I turn 17! AND we have no school on the 9th!!)
Forever Yours
-Kat
(or as she is known on her t-shirt Captian Kaagers, 42)
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
We're here and We're Queer-Banned Children's Book of the Month!!!- And Tango makes Three
Before I talk about this book (one of the few children's books I am proud to own) I have to talk about the Trevor project.
The Trevor Project is a project devoted to promoting acceptance of Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, and Questioning youth. Most LGBTQ youth at some point end up feeling alone and rejected. Here's an unbelievable statistic, If you are Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, or Questioning teenager you are 50% more likely to commit suicide by age 20 then the average teen. I think that needs to change. Youtube is partnering up with the Trevor Project to host a video project to help stop that number and the alienation of LGBTQ youth.
Learn more at their website
Back to And Tango Makes Three.
And Tango Makes Three is about two male penguins, Roy and Silo, who live in the Central Park Zoo in New York, New York. Together they become a couple and raise a little chick named Tango. Besides being the cutest book since Winnie-the -Pooh (which it's also a banned book)
It's become a key book in teaching kids about different types of families. And breeding a more a more accepting world is something I can definitely get behind
Forever Yours
-Kat
The Trevor Project is a project devoted to promoting acceptance of Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, and Questioning youth. Most LGBTQ youth at some point end up feeling alone and rejected. Here's an unbelievable statistic, If you are Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, or Questioning teenager you are 50% more likely to commit suicide by age 20 then the average teen. I think that needs to change. Youtube is partnering up with the Trevor Project to host a video project to help stop that number and the alienation of LGBTQ youth.
Learn more at their website
Back to And Tango Makes Three.
And Tango Makes Three is about two male penguins, Roy and Silo, who live in the Central Park Zoo in New York, New York. Together they become a couple and raise a little chick named Tango. Besides being the cutest book since Winnie-the -Pooh (which it's also a banned book)
It's become a key book in teaching kids about different types of families. And breeding a more a more accepting world is something I can definitely get behind
Forever Yours
-Kat
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
To all those who do not know.
You may have noticed I make A LOT of references to two fellows named Hank and John Green. They are two men who were the first nerdfighters.
-What are nerdfighters??
Nerdfighters are people who instead of being made of skin and bone are made of pure awesome.
-How does one become a nerdfighter?
If you want to be a nerdfighter, you are a nerdfighter. Its that simple. No entry fee. No frat-style initiation.
-Why are you telling me this Kat?
I am telling you this because I am a nerdfighter and I like to inform people of nerdfighting because one of the things nerdfighters like to do is decrease world suck. and you know no one likes a sucky world.
-What's so cool about Hank and John Green?
Hank and John Green post videos on their youtube channel. (http://www.youtube.com/vlogbrothers) Their videos are about nerdfighting, awesomeness, and just cool stuff.
Anyway you guys know Hank and John Green can describe it better so I'll leave it to them ( and by them I mean a Youtube video I embeded into this post
also DO NOT miss their 20 essential vlogbrothers videos.
http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFiApf_m4H0&feature=PlayList&p=747F0A378BC181C7&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1
Forever yours,
Kat
-What are nerdfighters??
Nerdfighters are people who instead of being made of skin and bone are made of pure awesome.
-How does one become a nerdfighter?
If you want to be a nerdfighter, you are a nerdfighter. Its that simple. No entry fee. No frat-style initiation.
-Why are you telling me this Kat?
I am telling you this because I am a nerdfighter and I like to inform people of nerdfighting because one of the things nerdfighters like to do is decrease world suck. and you know no one likes a sucky world.
-What's so cool about Hank and John Green?
Hank and John Green post videos on their youtube channel. (http://www.youtube.com/vlogbrothers) Their videos are about nerdfighting, awesomeness, and just cool stuff.
Anyway you guys know Hank and John Green can describe it better so I'll leave it to them ( and by them I mean a Youtube video I embeded into this post
also DO NOT miss their 20 essential vlogbrothers videos.
http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFiApf_m4H0&feature=PlayList&p=747F0A378BC181C7&playnext_from=PL&index=0&playnext=1
Forever yours,
Kat
Welcome to our new blog!!
Well isn't this exciting a whole blog devoted to Banned Books Club news and information. I also plan to put up nerdfighter-themed links and background knowledge to our latest books. Speaking of Latest book, our first book of the 2010-2011 school year will be Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green. It's the fantastic story of 2 juniors who meet in chicago who have almost nothing in common except their first name. God that was a lame description. Sorry about that. We'll discuss more about the book in our first meeting of the year which will have FREE OREOS for all who attend.
Forever Yours,
Kat
Forever Yours,
Kat
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)