The Handmaid's Tale Blog #7

After finishing this book, I thought that it was good, but it definitely wasn't the best science fiction book that I read. First of all, I didn't really like how ending left me hanging. I wanted to know exactly what happened after reading the whole book. I thought the book, however, had a really interesting idea with the handmaids, Marthas, etc.



I thought The Left Hand of Darkness was better than The Handmaid's Tale. Like The Handmaid's Tale, The Left Hand of Darkness was a bit slow in the beginning, but there were a lot more twists in The Left Hand of Darkness, and I liked the plot in The Left Hand more. Genly's adventures at Gethen were definitely much more exciting than Offred's boring life in the Gilead. I liked reading about Genly and Estraven's journey across the ice. Overall, I think The Left Hand is more interesting than The Handmaids' Tale.

The Handmaid's Tale Blog #6

I thought the ending was really disappointing. I was expecting that either a resistance group overthrows the authoritarian government, or that the Eyes capture Offred and tortures or kills her. But instead of these happy or sad endings, Margaret Atwood leaves us hanging. The people in the truck could be either part of the overpowering government, or members of a resistance group. I really wanted something decisive to happen at the end. It was really frustrating when I finished reading the book.



It seems like Serena Joy finds out about the Commander and Offred's trip to the club. Why is only Offred punished, but the Commander is not accused? I think the Commander should take the blame instead of Offred, because he is the one that makes her go to the club with him. Also, the Commander rapes Offred at the hotel, which is definitely illegal. This part was really confusing for me.

The Handmaid's Tale Blog #5

I did not understand why the people came to take Ofglen away. She is the first one to kick the accused Guardian, which shows that she is loyal to the Gilead. It might have been because people found out that she was part of the resistance, but how did they find out?

Also, I was wondering why Offred is more sexually attracted to Nick than the Commander. It could be that Nick and Offred are around the same age, but I think that there is a more important reason. Offred went back to Nick time after time by herself without any permission from Serena. She never went to the Commander on her own; she only went when she got the signal from Nick. When Offred and the Commander were going at it at the hotel, Offred had to fake it. When she did it with Nick, however, she really enjoyed it.

The Handmaid's Tale Blog #4

Even though the party is illegal (because of the provocative clothing, beer, and cigaretts), it is surprising how so many people are there at the hotel. First of all, since the hotel is such a big building, how do Eyes not notice all the people?

I was surprised when Offred saw Moira at the party. Also, how did Moira make it out alive? With all the checkpoints and Guards, I was almost sure that she would be captured and hung, or shot. Even after she did get past all the checkpoints, I was surprised that someone would take her in? There is just too much risk in doing that. This is kind of like the Holocaust in that Moira is looking for someone to take her in, like the Jews who looked for people to hide them from the Nazis. Both were in life or death situations.

The Handmaid's Tale Blog #3

Reading how women in the Gilead lost their rights so quickly is really depressing. Their lives were going normally when mysterious people with machine guns stripped them of their rights. They can't use their money anymore and lost their jobs. It gets worse are worse until they are slaves, as they are in their present situation. This is kind of like the Holocaust when the Jews in Europe lost all their belongings when Hitler took over. The Jews went from being normal human beings to disposable human experiments. They, like the people in The Handmaid's Tale, lost everything they had, even their families.

When Offred and Ofglen were outside of Soul Scrolls, they saw each other's faces for the first time. Offred explains, "This is the first time I've ever seen Ofglen's eyes, directly, steadily, not aslant. There's a shock in this seeing; it's like seeing somebody naked, for the first time." How have they never seen each other's faces? They walk with each other around the town, and are pretty good friends. I don't see how it's such a big deal.

The Handmaid's Tale Blog #2

It is interesting how the Commander breaks so many rules when he is supposed to enforce them. He has Offred go to his room, lets her play scrabble with him, and has an affair with her. All of these actions are illegal, but he keeps inviting her to come over. I do not know why he does this because he already has a wife. I wonder what will happen if they get caught.

I think if I were one of the Handmaids, I might have done something like what Moira did - escape the life of a handmaid. I would not be able to stand what they go through everyday. It seems so boring that doing anything would be better than the daily routine. Although with what is going on outside of their community (the war), this might not be the best course of action, but it definitely is a good possibility.

The Handmaid's Tale Blog #1

What are the jobs of Handmaids, Aunts, or Marthas? Do they have the right to decide what kind of person they want to be? These were all terms that Margaret Atwood used a lot but never actually explained clearly. I was thinking that Handmaids are there to reproduce, and Aunts are to look over them. I never figured out what the Marthas are supposed to do.

If reproduction rates are so low, why are the Handmaids only allowed to be with the Commander? The Commander is too old and may be infertile. Also, why is it the woman's fault if they cannot reproduce? It should not be the Handmaids' fault if they can not get a baby, because it might be her partner's fault. I think this system is too unfair.

I think The Handmaid's Tale is kind of like The Left Hand of Darkness in that there are so many unfamiliar terms. They both are also set in an unknown setting in the future, where there are different governments and different ways of living.

When It Changed

I wonder what the tragedy that happened thirty generations ago was. I was also thinking about the radiation and drug problems and how they affected the genes of the people. Also, I do not understand how the people of Whileaway reproduce, since all the men died six generations ago. The narrator explains "the word [men] had not had a meaning on Whileaway for six centuries." Are the women kind of like the people on Gethen?

What does the quote, "Humanity is unnatural. Seals are harem animals and so are men; apes are promiscuous and so are men; there are even celibate men and homosexual men. There are homosexual cows, I believe. But Whileaway is still missing something" mean? I was thinking that there is so many things that humans have, but there is still something that the population is missing. I wonder what the man is really trying to say.

Blog #4

If I was to decide between the "long sweep westward and so up gradually onto the plateau of ice"or "climbing the ice-cliffs a mile north" (page 227), I would have definately chosen the long way, like Estraven. I would not want to risk having someone fall, because if one of the two people breaks a bone, any hope of reaching the border is gone.

I was also wondering why the sign said "Death, Death" on page 220. Some people in class said that it forshadows someone's death later on in the book. But I don't think it foreshadows anything. I was thinking that it is just saying how nothing grows in the valley that Estraven and Genly are going to. "Nothing grows here. Rock, peddle-dump, boulder-fields, clay, mud."

Also, I thought it was interesting how Genly doesn't remember what women are like, but he remembers what men are like. He says, "In a sense, women are more alien to me than you are. With you I share one sex, anyhow..." He says that he doesn't remember what women are like because he hasn't been with any of them, but he hasn't been with any men either. I also don't know why Genly says, "I share one sex," because Estraven isn't male like Genly; he's both.

Blogger #3

I do not understand why Estraven does not tell Genly Ai that he was supporting him in his mission of bringing Gethen into the Ekumen. If Estraven had told Genly earlier, they might have avoided all this trouble. When the two were talking at Estraven's place in Ehrenrang, for instance, Genly was not sure what he was trying to tell him. Also at Mishnory in Orgoreyn, Genly even thought that he could not trust Estraven.

Before I read this chapter, I thought that Estraven is definately not one of the people that someone can trust. I did not know what he was up to and why he was doing it. After I read this, I realize that his actions are for altruistic reasons, and not selfish gains. If someone sacrifices their reputation and risks their life to save you, you have to trust them.

I was also wondering why Le Guin switches perspectives every chapter. It is really hard to figure out whose point of view it is from every chapter. Every time I start reading a chapter, I figure out who is telling the story around two pages into the chapter. If she does this so often, why doesn't she just write in the third person?

Blog #2

I don't understand why Le Guin explains what kemmering is this late into the book (chapter seven). If I knew what kemmering meant earlier, understanding some of the previous passages would have been much easier. I had a vague idea of what it was from the context clues, but I always had to skip over it which made me think that I didn't really know what was going on.

I was wondering why the Gethenians, especially the Karhidians, would want to be separate from the Ekumans. The Ekumans, being such a large league of worlds across the universe, wants to establish communication and cooperation in its union. Gethen, being such an undeveloped planet, should be apart of this union in order to catch up to the rest of the worlds' technology. For example, when Genly Ai came down to Gethen from space in his "rocket", the Gethenians didn't even know that things can be flown through the air, let alone through space.

I also don't understand why Estraven is known as a traitor. The three people wanted to kill him, and he was just protecting himself when he killed them. He also brought peace between the two sides fighting over the disputed lands. He should be known as a hero instead of a traitor.

Blog #1

It is interesting how the world of Gethen is so different from ours. We always want to finish the things that we do in as little time as possible. We drive faster than the speed limit on a regular basis, even if it tis against the law. Gethenians, however, travel at a rate of twenty five miles an hour, even if they can go faster. I know that I would never survive at Gethen because of the sluggish pace of life. They feel that "progress is less important than presence."

In chapter three, it mentions that Karhiders do not read much. They get most of their information from the radio. Televisions and books are very rare and newspapers do not even exist. I am not a big fan of reading, but a world without books or newspapers is absurd. Although it may sound awesome at first, it is actually very inconvenient. How do they learn in school? What do Karhiders do when they want to know something?

Also, since everyone in their world is bisexual, people with one gender are called "perverts." They are "tolerated with some disdain" and are nicknamed "halfdeads." In our world, people who are heterosexual are considered normal and those who are not are discriminated against in many places.