The End Or a New Beginning

The end of A Handmaid's Tale struck me as very ambiguous as I'm sure it was meant to be. So many questions remained to be answered mainly surrounding Nick, the Eyes and the resistance movement. On one hand, there is the pessimistic ways which strikes me as 1984-esque. Nick could have been a spy all along and the Eyes could be a propaganda/spy agency as they seem to be who wish to either kill or reeducate Offred. This would then mean that either the resistance groups don’t even exist or their impact is negligible when compared to the absolute power of the government of Gilead. On the other hand, Nick could really be part of the resistance, the Eyes either could be infiltrated or actually be working against the government which seems farfetched but still possible and that the resistance is a thriving struggle against the oppressive government. Obviously, I hope for the latter since Gilead can’t possibly be any closer to a utopia than the world that was sacrificed for its creation and so any chink in it’s armor would be an improvement. For now, I’ll be crossing my fingers

Letting Their True Colors Shine

So, near the end of the story, a salvaging is described in detail when Offred and everyone else are forced to go to one. To be honest, most of it was not as surprising as I thought it would be. Naturally, people had to be executed somehow in order to get onto the wall and the salvaging initially seemed like a normal way to accomplish this. However, this all changed when the alleged rapist was executed. I found it shocking that all of the handmaids charged out to tear the prisoner apart with no mercy. Ofglen seemed to be the only sane person besides Offred during the ordeal since she knocked the poor guy out immediately although we find out later that she most likely committed suicide to prevent capture. Anyhow, just the idea of these normally civil and complacent women tearing a person limb from limb show that some things about human nature can’t be erased from the subconscious completely. On a side note, no wonder they wear red.

Beneath the Surface

The most recent chapters have contained "the club" that many of the commanders and other men often frequent. The commander explains its existence by saying that you can't get rid of nature and that men always want multiple women and instead of women dressing differently as they had before, since women always wear the same thing, the men look for other women for sex besides their wives.
This strikes me as something that is wrong with puritanical or conservative society, there is no way that you can truly suppress human nature no matter how structured your religion and laws are and you can never stop people from doing what they want to to an extent. this club is a shining example that even if it may be illegal to have prostitution or adultery for that matter, you simply can't prevent people from doing it altogether short of castration or something just as drastic.
This also extends to drugs and other excises and basically, you may be able to take a horse away from water, but you can't stop it from running all the way back and drink while you aren't looking

Discontent

It feels odd to me upon reading up to chapter 31 that no one in this entire society seems to like what's going on. I suppose it probably has to do with the fact that everyone lived during the time before the revolution. As for the revolution it reminds me of a Benjamin Franklin quote I once heard.

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."'

Anyhow that's pretty much how it happened, after the whole government being massacred, the society gave up the constitution, and it all turned sour from there. Anyhow back to the whole simmering discontent, in the chapters we learn that not only Offred but also Ofglen don't like the whole unable to talk on their walks thing. In addition, the commander has to secretly harbor Offred so that they can play Scrabble, and even Serena is irked since Offred hasn't gotten pregnant. It seems like this society can't possibly work as it is now and therefore can't last long. Perhaps a re-revolution is in order?

Scrabble Anyone?

So, in the book we've been reading there has been a lot of mentioning of language and words and this motif has also been brought up in the handouts we've been getting. Insofar, I'm pretty sure that since language and reading is forbidden for women to learn in the current society, Offred uses it in order to connect with the past when she could read and use language without any punishment as well as live equally with men. Originally, I thought it was just herself who thought this but now I have noticed that I wouldn't really know if she was the only one who longed for the past but it isn't as if any of the other characters are able to speak their mind freely anyhow. The Commander in the chapter 23 kind of proved this point, I'm pretty sure that he played Scrabble because by playing it, Offred proves that she knows how to read and use language and seeing that it is now forbidden, the Commander probably finds it rather nostalgic. Although this still does not make the asking her to kiss him any less creepy, just somewhat understandable.

Uh, so what happened exactly....

So upon reading the beginning of The Handmaid's Tale, I found the switches between the present and the past of the narrator's life to be at first confusing since they were not clear cues that separated them but once I got used to them, I found them confusing in a completely different way. I started to think about how the society possibly could’ve changed as drastically as it had in such a short time. The degree that it had changed in itself is astounding considering it evolved from a modern US society to well, that at least within a couple of decades since the narrator was at least in here late teens while in the old society and now couldn’t be much over 30 at the oldest given her current descriptions. I guess that is the deal with most sci fi books though, they seem to ask what would happen if (insert extremely odd happenstance here) happened. I guess I'll have to wait to find out what happened

Can't Live With'em, Can't Live Without'em

So yesterday, I read "When it Changed" by Joanna Russ and I found some of the views taken by the characters to be a little extreme. For the most part, I found that the characters who lived on Whileaway were very closed to the idea of men coming back. Upon first reading it, I thought that the male envoy person was condescending toward the women but after reflecting I found that he really wasn't as abrasive as I assumed he was. Although he suggests that Whileaway would do better with men, he does concede that men have their shortcomings in one paragraph. However, Katy and even the main character don't even give mankind (quite literally in this case) a chance. They really don't have any legitimate reasons to feel threatened by the men and yet they do. Katy nearly blows the envoy's head off merely because of an idea cooked up in her imagination that men would destroy their world when it simply is not so, or at least not to the degree that they would think it would. All in all, I end up sympathizing more with the male characters not necessarily because well, I am one but rather that the women in the story are just so closed off to the outside world.

Duality Reality of Nationality

The discussion today and the whole book in general has made a bunch of references to dualism which seems like a neat topic for a post. The main one I want to delve into and probably do the upcoming essay about is nationalism. Borders seem like one of the most meaningless things that have arisen since the dawn of history. On Gethen, there is no war, no idea of war nor is there much of a sense of nationalism and I feel as if these two things practically come hand in hand. I feel as if borders are somewhat a good thing when it comes to separating different cultures so that the groups are each particular enough to make sense but when it comes to giant nation-states like the US and Russia and the list goes on it doesn’t really make sense to me. The pair hear seems to be either part of one’s country or not part of one’s country and there is no gray area in between, because of this people are pitted against each other and grouped together for really no good reason except that they were born far away from or close to each other respectively. Basically, nations in general are an abstract idea that is not useful for the most part and also harmful in many respects.

Estraven

So basically, someone incidentally ruined the ending to an extent for me today by saying that Estraven ends up dying so I decided I’ll make some last speculations about Estraven and reflect about him in general. Generally, even from the beginning of the book, I always thought that Estraven was good or trying to be good even if he was shown in a sinister light. I felt as if he was judged unfairly by Genly initially because of the manner in which he carries out his business but once he was exiled, I was sure he had good intentions because people generally aren’t exiled for doing bad things but rather bad things as perceived by the government or at least in books it is generally like this. The chapter Estraven the Traitor just consolidated this whim as well as his rescue of Genly.
I’d say that the most controversial thing that may or may not occur is whether or not Genly and Estraven have sex or kemmer or whatnot since I believe that it must be possible and they seem to be quite close. However, I’m kind of hoping for the possibility not to happen just because it is too weird for me to comprehend. I guess I’ll have to see what happens in the coming chapters, before he dies.

Creeping Communism

More and more, both nations of Orgoreyn and Karhide have been striking me about Russia. The Karhidians to me resemble tsarist Russia since they have a king with absolute power as well as a relatively rural and undeveloped economy and system. In addition, the king does not have so much control over the media that Orgoreyn seems to have.
Orgoreyn on the other hand is run by the commensality of the thirty three and strikes me as the USSR. They're more advanced compared to the Karhidians and more importantly, the government has a secret police named the Sarf that controls everything. They control the media as well as the lives of the Orgota. They have camps that resemble the gulags of Russia and the general populace act more collectively than individualistically. This is most clear in chapter 13 as Genly describes his situation in the truck and his time at the work camp

Traitor

"Within the year he ended the old feud. giving up half of the disputed lands to Domain of Stok. For this and for the murder of his hearthbrothers, he was called Estraven the Traitor."

In chapter 9, after hearing the story and the conclusion of the story ending in Estraven gaining the epithet of "the Traitor," It really brings into question the meaning of traitor. In this case, Estraven did betray his kin and arguably surrendered his clan to another but one can hardly call him a traitor for it. If anything, I'd call him a hero for it since the continuance of the war would've brought much more pain and suffering to his clan. Similarly, the young Estraven faced a similar situation since he was exiled for supporting Genly but was probably actually exiled for his opinion on the Sinoth Valley. Estraven wished to avoid war with the Orgota but Tibe probably got the king to exile him because he was an obstacle in his plans which we shall probably see unfold later on.
Anyhow, I believe that the meaning of traitor will probably become even more important as the story continues. In my opinion, you can only be a traitor if you betray yourself. If you are forced to act or think one way and you later show your true opinion you can hardly be called a traitor. If anything, it is more traitorous to supress your true beliefs and perpetuate some phony facade because when it really comes down to it, you won't be able to keep the facade up forever and then you will truly become a traitor.

Religion and Rainbows

"The Unknown, the unforetold, the unproven, that is what life is based on. Ignorance is the ground of thought. Unproof is the ground of action. If it were proven that there is no God, there would be no religion ... But also if it were proven that there is a God, there would be no religion ... The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next."

Personally, I liked chapter 5 and its crazy, nutso cult and this quote at the end of the chapter really sums up what the author was trying to say about religion and life in general. by saying that "Ignorance is the ground of thought," it made little sense to me at first glance until I thought about the opposite, the knowledge of everything. What would be the point of thinking if we already knew how to make our world perfect and what we are supposed to do in life? By saying "Unproof is the ground of action," it builds upon the first idea since research is only undertaken to understand what was previously not understood.

The second part is the seemingly nonsensical section about religion but yet again upon thinking about it the statement also makes perfect sense. Most religions are generally built around a faith in the supernatural. If it were known that there is no supernatural, then faith in it would be impossible and nonsensical and so religion would cease to exist. Although hard to grasp at first, if it were proven that the supernatural existed, then the faith that religion is based on can barely be called faith. Rather it would now be fact and therefore religion would no longer exist because there would be no need for it. Basically, religion is not based upon knowledge in either direction but rather an acceptance that you don't know whether there is a force greater than yourself but believe that there may be one.

Lastly, the mention that uncertainty is what makes life possible correct in multiple senses. If we always knew exactly what to do, it almost takes away all of the choice from life and taht cand hardly be called living. In addition I'm also reminded of the impact of science and it's impact on life. The best examples I can think of this are rainbows. Originally, when I looked up at the sky and saw a rainbow, it was beautiful. Not only because they were bands of color seemingly floating in midair but also because I had absolutely no idea how they were there. However, after learning that they were merely made up of light that was refracted through droplets of water, well they weren't as pretty anymore. I almost feel as if accumulated knowledge completely demystifies the world around us. I suppose that is what it is meant to do but at the same time it takes much of the fun out of life and may ultimately make the future so bleak and boring that it may not even be worth living. However you'll still find me looking up at the clouds for animals, shapes and faces, even if they are merely just a mass of condensed water droplets.

Distrust

"But I do fear you Envoy. I fear those who sent you. I fear liars, and I fear tricksters and worst I fear the bitter truth...Fear is King!"

This may just be my opinion but I really don't like the King. He seems horribly distrusting towards others and if he thinks that everyone around him is a liar and trickster I can't imagine that he sees himself as any different. Basically, he sees lies and tricks as a part of the human condition and I can't help but dislike a character who staunchly believes in this. The fact is that we can never really know exactly what other people are thinking but this is no reason to completely distrust all others completely. I believe that one should only be distrusted if they give a good reason for it, otherwise I give people the benefit of the doubt.

Aura

"Power has become so subtle and complex a thing in the ways taken by the Ekumen that only a subtle mind can watch it work...one feels the man's power as an augmentation of his character"

I agree with the idea that the author has introduced with this statement. The way I see it, she is talking about a person's presence or aura which is a difficult thing to sense but is extremely powerful. Even if someone does not have much tangible power, this subtler aura someone gives off can easily manipulate people. In many ways this power over people is much more useful than tangible power itself.