Since the last blog post, I managed to finish the book and it ended on a really spooky cliffhanger. Some basic points of what happened was that the main character, Offred, started having this weird affair with her Commander(the husband of the family she was assigned to) who confusingly tries to woo her. For example, he played Scrabble with her, gave her hand lotion, books and magazines, and took her to a love hotel of sorts. It turns out that the Commander is infertile, which is a sin to mention because only women could be, and she is coerced into procreating with Nick, a worker under the same family. There's a lot that happens and she finds herself desperate for a companion and starts to meet with Nick secretly. The book ends with Offred being taken away by government officials but the reasons are unknown, Nick is revealed to be a spy but he insisted on her trusting him. which leaves the ending pretty open.
There's not much to compare to The Handmaid's Tale. but I feel like the overall oppressive government and rules is very similar to the Hunger games during the actual games. People are monitored to stay in line and keep to a certain role, as a tribute or as a Capital member. rebellion is huge but there are oppressive enforcers to eliminate the threat, and much more. In the day as Offred, who is considered a pretty high role for being fertile, lives a pretty restricted and secluded life. She isn't given rights and she is forced to learn that every fault is in women, not in men. She usually has a designated partner to walk around the town to shop, can never be left alone, and has to cover up modestly. She witnessed a lot of executions due to religious reasons and oppressive actions and has nothing to do at 'home'. Compared to that, living in America definitely has more rights for everyday life but there are still places where women are oppressed because of religion and men-ruled governments. Though, the difference in how women are treated is not too far, especially in the cases of rape where the victim gets blamed for something they had no control over as well as in pregnancy and abortions connecting to religion and families.
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Although it's heavily implied that the people are supervised 24/7 and every building is 'baby-proofed' making suicide impossible, most likely from previous incidents. So far from what I read is that the book switches from the main character's everyday life as a handmaid in the home of old, infertile Serena Joy to memories of her past when she was in an affair with Luke--a married man, having a baby, getting separated in her escape from the enforced government, having her memories of them get erased and being put into a 'handmaid academy'.
I have read dystopian books before, coincidentally I just finished one called Proxy by Alex London, but they weren't like this one. This book is really intense, the world is depressing and restricting, and the people are like animals in a zoo. I really don't know what to think, there is so much happening and I can't wrap my head around all the many characters we are introduced to. All I know is that I would never want for this to actually happen in real life. I mean, how does someone just come up with a story like this? It's really creative, that's for sure. I'm not exactly sure what similarities there are but I feel like the misogyny, the women's roles, and the extreme (mis)use of religious text relates to the older eras of history. I'll be commenting on Melia's and Fernando's blog posts. |
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June 2018
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