Skip to main content

Freedom from or freedom to

Offred describes her current state as being somewhat inferior to many other people in her life, including her Aunts, the Commander, Serene Joy, the government? etc. It was interesting to me that handmaids were controlled by other women and in pretty disturbing ways. I thought that it was weird that the people who gave birth to children were the ones who had no control over everything. Their bodies were used whenever and however others wanted, leaving no room for free will and freedom to provide maternal love to their children. On the other hand, Aunt Lydia tells Offred that she has freedom from other terrible things, such as sexual assault or harassment.


While looking through Offred’s perspective, I couldn’t help but realize how ironic her situation was. She had lost so much, however, she was basically “untouchable” by certain groups of people. The Japanese tourists had believed these handmaids were special or noteworthy on their journey to this town. If I were to be in Offred’s shoes, I believe that I would still value the “old” part of who I used to be. Despite having not much freedom from dangerous situations, I value my freedom to engage in life however I want.

Comments

  1. L. MoffittMay 20, 2021 at 10:45 AM

    YES. Right?? The women who give birth are the only ones perpetuating the species. They are providing life, and yet they are the ones treated as property. Atwood does address some complicated ideas here, as you note. Saying that someone is "special" may seem to elevate them, but it also isolates them and leaves them no choice.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The spectrum of promiscuity

In Brave New World, we see people pressured and conditioned into being very open about their sexuality and erotic behaviors. Monogamy is looked down upon and one is viewed unfavorably if they stick to a sexual partner (how people looked at Lenina). I thought it was really interesting how in 1984, the opposite idea spread throughout the party and its followers. Winston’s thoughts about desiring sex was seen as rebellious and something that no one in the party thought about (although there were people who had secret encounters with prole prostitutes). What do you guys think about the drastic differences in how each book portrays sexuality and promiscuity? Does the society in brave new world model our current societal views on sex? Or is our culture more similar to 1984? I think that in the US -- especially in the current younger generation --, the concept of dating and sex is not as “improper” as before. We often see this modelled in social media, tv shows...
5 comments
Read more

Conquering Winston's MIND

I find these chapters of 1984 so depressing, not only because of the physical torture itself but because O'Brien used Winston's fear  to take over Winston's mind. Throughout the weeks of O'Brien torturing Winston, I was surprised to see Winston fight back at some moments. Even after getting shocked dozens of times, starved, brutally beaten up, "supposedly" betrayed by Julia, his emotions and inner heart had stayed true to what he believed. I admired how he refused to let go of reality, love, and how he refused to betray Julia. Therefore, I find it somewhat ironic and depressing that Winston gave up this inner heart and will to survive because of his fear of rats. He survived through other horrible things, but in the end, he couldn't overcome his mind.  (Start video @ 1 min)   I completely understand Winston -- I hate rats as well, especially if they eat your face--, but I feel like Orwell purposely chose a personal attack on Winston. This ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Conditioned or manufactured?

While starting 1984, I noticed an interesting difference between Brave New World and this book. In Brave New World, it was known to readers that people were "manufactured" and designed in a specific way that forced an individual to follow a certain path. For example, some people were born as alphas while others were born as gammas or deltas. As people were born into this world they were instantly met with expectations, designated jobs, etc. It was interesting to me that Winston wasn’t born into a specific role in society and that no one was really “above” someone else or inferior to others (except for the proles). Despite how brave new world’s environment and 1984 differed, both stories have people pushing strong beliefs onto everybody else. If you were to be a character in this story, would you rather be in brave new world (where you are manufactured and designed to live a certain life) or be in 1984 (where you are heavily conditioned to live a certain ...
1 comment
Read more