The Handmaid's Tale - Koski

Solution?

Instead of reading quickly, I took time 

Finishing swiftly was not in the cards 

Atwood’s words made no sense, just like this rhyme 

Understanding was unpleasant and hard 

By the end of the book, I was distraught 

The affair with Nick was a foreseen twist 

Offred had escaped or she had been caught 

Her complacent attitude had me pissed 

However the book was relatable 

Even today, feminists want freedoms 

Most of the freedoms are attainable 

The girls before fought for the same reasons 

The fictional solution in this book, 

Presents an exaggerated outlook  

In the first quatrain, I describe that The Handmaid’s Tale was a novel I could not simply fly through. I re-read several passages to maximize my understanding. At times this was frustrating to me, because even after re-reading, a lot of the things Atwood wrote about or described still made no sense. Understanding really was unpleasant and hard. Furthermore, in the second quatrain I describe how, by the end of the book, I was rather disappointed with the ending. Offred’s fate remained unknown and Atwood basically destroyed her dystopian universe (which I had spent my entire time reading trying to understand). Additionally, I was frustrated with Offred’s complacency. She was perfectly fine leading the life she was leading, as long as she had Nick. She was doing absolutely nothing to try and change her reality - making her an incredibly dull protagonist. In the third quatrain, I describe how some elements of the book were relatable. In a way, some feminists had been pleased. With the loss of freedom, came the protection from things like rape, violence, and domestic abuse. However, I think the book is meant to display an extreme situation in which women are at a severe disadvantage. I believe this because the book was published shortly after the 60’s and 70’s when religious conservatives were rising to power; thus, feminists feared they would lose the many rights they fought for - such as legalized abortions and contraceptives and their impact that came with voting. And lastly, the final couplet describes my personal views on the solution proposed in the novel. Many of the problems the book touches on are irrelevant today, and the novel was written during an extremely influential point in time. The dystopian society presented by Atwood is merely an exaggeration - consequently making the novel hard to understand. However, the theme of the taboo overlap between politics and sexuality is applicable to today’s society and I believe it will continue being applicable. In summary, I think students could continue reading this book into the future due to relevant themes, however, I believe the dystopian society and problems presented by Atwood are completely irrelevant and not applicable to today’s society. 

Offred 

Brunette or blond, I’d never know

Large or petite, I’d never know

Soft-spoken or loud, I’d never know 

I was never introduced 

She lacked a beginning, a middle, an end

I was never introduced 

I lacked a simple picture in my head

I was never introduced 

Lastly, who knows what happened

I was never introduced 

Did she live or die

I cared 

Even though I was never introduced 

This poem describes my frustration surrounding the fact that The Handmaid’s Tale lacked an exposition. Part of the reason I struggled to understand the novel was the fact that there were virtually no easily identifiable character traits in the beginning. I spent what felt like most of the entire novel trying desperately to form a picture in my mind. Atwood failed to provide an adequate description of her characters, consequently allowing readers to stumble through her cloudy novel. I did not care for her decision to reveal pieces of Offred in flashbacks, rather than describing her in the beginning of the novel. 

The Time Is? 

Gilead is described as follows…

“We slept in what had once been the gymnasium…”

“I knew from pictures, later in miniskirts, then pants, then in one earring, spiky green-streaked hair”

“they’re like the beautiful pictures they used to print in the magazines about homes and gardens and interior decoration”

“the street is almost like a museum, or a street in a model town constructed to show the way people used to live”

“women took medicines, pills, men sprayed trees, cows ate grass”

“the exploding atomic power plants, along the San Andreas fault, nobody’s fault, during the earthquakes”

“a graph showing the birthrate per thousand, for years and years: a slippery slope, down past the zero line of replacement, and down and down”

“The initials are sometimes in two sets, joined by the word loves… 1954… These seem to me like the inscriptions I used to read about, carved on the stone walls of caves… They seem to me incredibly ancient” 

“These habits of former times appear to me now lavish, decadent almost…”

“There are no dates after the mid-eighties”

“What she’d just showed us was a film, made in an olden-days hospital”

“held as part of the International Historical Association Convention, held at the University of Denay, Nunavit on June 25, 2195” 

Well, what year is it? 

This riddle reflects my constant frustration regarding my inability to pinpoint the year. Many of the things the author mentions when giving context are irrelevant to the time period of today. Furthermore, there is strong indication the author’s version of the future is impacted by the events of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I have previously mentioned how feminists were worried about losing their rights during the rise of conservative religious figures. Then Atwood also alludes to the environmental scares coming from the 80s. She mentions things like pollution, decreasing birth rates, affected oceans and seas, and nuclear power problems. Thus, many of these problems are already irrelevant currently. However, it seems as though Atwood tries hard to make it seem like the book is taking place many years into the future. She defines the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s as ancient. The language she uses to set the scene is confusing, it’s hard to tell if the narrator is describing her past as ancient because it feels like a different life or if the time before is really that long ago. The book honestly clouds the element of time, and I wish I had comprehended this concept earlier on. I feel as though if I had a clearer picture of the setting, I may have been able to understand the book better.