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| The Handmaid`s Tale |
| 作者Author / Margaret Atwood 瑪格莉特．愛特伍德 |
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The
Handmaid's Tale
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 Plot
Summary |
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Flashbacks are marked in blue. Biblical
allusions marked in orange.
I. Night
Chapter
1 -- training in a place which used to be a gym.
II.
Shopping
Chapter
2 -- Offred in her own
room, preparing to go shopping, seeing two Marthas
(Rita and Cora; Martha, devoted herself to housework while
her sister Mary sat and listened to Jesus.).
Chapter 3 -- Offred
goes out into the garden, meets the commander's Wife (Serena Joy)
Chapter 4 -- Offred goes out of the gate into the driveway,
meets the Guardian Nick, joins Offglen and then goes past the gate
guarded by two Guardian
of the Faith.
Chapter 5 -- Out of the Commanders compound and "doubled," Offred
goes on the sidewalk and goes past or to several stores: Lilies of the Field, Milk and Honey, and All
Flesh. They
also meet some Japanese tourists.
Chapter 6 -- the Wall. "Luke wasn't a doctor. Isn't"?
III. Night -- "The night is my time out.
Where should I go?" p. 49
Chapter
7 -- memories of the past: Moira,
her mother, being arrested.
IV.
Waiting Room -- "I wait. I compose
myself. My self is a thing I must now compose, as one
composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not
something born." p. 86
Chapter
8 -- Narrative resumes. Three new bodies on the
Wall. They go back to the commander's compound, parting with
Ofglen's words "Mayday" as possibly a secret code.
Aunt Lydia's lecture on how the handmaids should treat the Wives
(62-63). Offred gives Marthas what she
bought. The commander's
brief approach and departure.
Chapter 9 -- "My room." Offred
is in her room, waiting and remembering Luke and their past relationship. Sees the sign "Nolite te
bastardes carborundorum" and think of the woman who leaves this
message.
Chapter10 -- Memories. Moira and Aunt Lydia.
Chapter 11 -- (yesterday) at the doctor's office
Chapter 12 -- bathroom; Memories of Luke
and their daughter; supper.
V. Nap
Chapter
13 -- waiting; Memories: Moira and
Offred in the training in the gym; reams of escape scene (with Luke and
the daughter). The bells wakes her up: "Of all the dreams
this is the worst."
VI.
Household
Chapter
14 -- The household meet in the sitting room, waiting for the commander
and watching news. Memories: escape
scene.
Chapter 15 -- The commander comes, reads the bible and is watched by
the others. Moira.
"Nolite te bastardes
carborundorum"
Chapter 16 -- The
ceremony.
Chapter 17 -- Offred back in her room, "buttering" herself,
repeating her name and wating to steal something. Nick comesto fetch Offred.
VII. Night
Chapter
18 -- Memories: Luke and their
daughter. Hope.
VIII.
Birth Day
Chapter
19 -- Dream. Birthing ritual.
Chapter 20 -- Birthing
ritual. Memories: Red Center and Offred's young mother
Chapter 21 -- Birthing
ritual. Unwoman" v.s. a "women's culture"
Chapter 22 -- Back to her room. Moira.
Chapter 23 -- "All of this is reconstruction." Offred
goes to the study. Plays scrabble with the
Commander.
IX. Night
Chapter
24 -- Back to her room. "What I need is
perspective." Memories:
documentary about the death camp commander's mistress
X. Soul
Scrolls
Chapter
25 -- visiting the commander at night. provided
with magazines and lotion.
Chapter 26 -- The
Ceremony--changed.
Chapter 27 -- Walking with Ofglend on the summer
street. Memories:
the ice cream store; her daughter. The Soul
Scroll machines. Ofglen: "You can join
us." A black van with two Eyes.
Chapter 28 -- Memories:
Luke and Moira; her mother-- against porn and for abortion;
losing her job; Luke.
Chapter 29 -- In the Commander's office. The
meaning of "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum": "Don't
let the bastard grind you down." The previous Handmaid who
killed herself.
XI. Night
Chapter
30 -- satire of a traditional Jewish prayer for men which thanks God
for not having made them women
XII.
Jezebel's
(Biblical allusion: One king, Ahab of "Israel" (the
Northern Kingdom), had a wife, Jezebel , who worshipped the "gods" Baal
(1 Kings 16:29-33) or Baalzebub and Asherah. Jezebel tried to kill the
Lord's prophets and encouraged Ahab to do evil.
Elijah, a
prophet, . . .told King Ahab that the dogs would devour Queen Jezebel's
body. (1 Kings 21:23). source)
Chapter
31 -- Walking with Ofglen to the shops and then the
Wall. Serena Joy's offer of the picture to Offred. "Maybe he can't. .
. .Maybe you should try it another way."
Chapter 32 -- In the Commander's office. "You can't make an
omelette without breaking eggs"
Chapter 33 -- Prayerganza. Janine's
miscarriage. Memories:
Janine and Moira;
Chapter 34 -- Prayerganza. Ofglen: "find
out (about the Commander) and tell us."
Chapter 35 -- Offred's comments on love; the daughter's
photo.
Chapter 36 -- Jezebel
Chapter 37 -- Jezebel
Chapter 39 -- Moira working at Jezebel
XIII. Night
Chapter
40 -- Nick
XIV.
Salvaging
Chapter
41 --Offred goes back to Nick, time
after time.
Chapter 42 -- Salvaging.
Chapter 43 -- Salvaging.
Chapter 44 -- Ofglen disappears. Offred
faces the new treacherous Ofglen. "She hanged
herself."
Chapter 45 -- "She has died that I may live."
Serena finds out about Offred and
the Commander.
XV. Night
Chapter
46 --the black van comes...
Historical
Notes on The Handmaid's Tale
Professor
Pieixoto about the discovery of "The Handmaid's Tale."
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| Epigraphs |
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And
when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her
sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in
God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the
womb?
And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear
upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
(What comes
after:
And she gave him Bilhah
her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
And Bilhah conceived,
and bare Jacob a son.) |
But as to myself, having been wearied out for many years with offering
vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly despairing of
success, I fortunately fell upon this proposal . . .
--Jonathan Swift, A Modest
Proposal
(The actual text
from "A
Modest Proposal" ---
As to my own part,
having turned my thoughts for many years upon this important subject,
and maturely weighed the several schemes of other projectors, I have
always found them grossly mistaken in the computation. It is true, a
child just dropped from its dam may be supported by her milk for a
solar year, with little other nourishment; at most not above the value
of 2s., which the mother may certainly get, or the value in scraps, by
her lawful occupation of begging; and it is exactly at one year old
that I propose to provide for them in such a manner as instead of being
a charge upon their parents or the parish, or wanting food and raiment
for the rest of their lives, they
shall on the contrary contribute to the feeding, and partly to the
clothing, of many thousands.)
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In the
desert there is no sign that says, Thou shalt not eat
stones.
--Sufi proverb
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| The
Novel as a Whole |
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Main
Topics:
1. Target of
Atwoods's Satire: The Nation's (Men's)
Control and Her stories, Distopia and the present world
2.
Intertextuality & Language: Atwood's
use of fairy-tales, (or generic elements of history, science fiction,
etc.) & child's desire /language
3. Novel and Film
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Male control and female roles, past and
"future"
Targets of HT's Satire
--
Three epigraphs: Genesis, Swift's "Modest Proposal" and a Sufi proverb
("In the desert there is no sign that says, Thou shalt not eat stones"
--lack of resources).
-- American Fundamentalism and Puritanism
-- The New Right in the 80's and its backlash of feminism.
-- Feminist controversies: 1. Anti-pornography, 2. Abortion: Pro-choice
vs. pro-life.
-- U.S. domination over Canada
-- American Fundamentalism
-- Technologies: Compucount, Computalk, and infertility
* relativity of
power:
we
watch him 113;
power and forgiveness: 174
the German commander's mistress 188-89
(Cf. "The Gap Betwen
Official History and Women's Histories: Margaret Atwood's The
Handmaid's Tale" Magali Cornier Michael)
- 1980
America and 1990 Gilead -"context is all" 187; 248
- connections
'moments of change' chap 28: Moira, loss of job and
money. Constitution suspended 225; escape: pp.
108-110: one Sat. in Sept.; 248-50: to kill before escape, and kill
things inside one's mind; chap 35 at the border
- Contemporary
feminism: 1st generation: June's mother152-154; called Unwoman 152- ;
second: Moira chap 28 (222-23);
pre-Gilliead period 386
- parallels
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1980
America
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1990
Gilead
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| hierarchy
&
family structure
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--
classes of men and women; surrogate motherhood
- Luke
patronizes Offred 236; 332;
- argument
over garbage bags 37
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- male-centered;
gender stratification 4; 24 (Commander'Eye, Angel, Guardian of the
Faith 27'Ethnics in colonies);
- women's
childbearing potential valued
(Wives, blue
17'Aunts, brown 10'Handmaids, red,--Marthas, green'Econowives, striped
blue, red & green'Unwomen
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| women's
complicity & rebellion |
the
mother's separatism 154-57; Moira's chap 28;
"falling"
in love292
freedom to change: 294;
women's collusion'p.
233 (self-interest)
burning
"bad rubbish" (51) -implying separatist, or radical, feminism's
censorship of pornography 50-51
networking
261-62 lunch
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control
of women: e.g. Prayvaganza 277 -
Birth- chap 21; Women's culture 164; 209; a spirit of
comaderie of women 287 <-->
women's mutual hatred and jealousy 13, 17; 63; 64; 351;
Salvaging, Particicution,
fear and
suspicion 24; Eyes everywhere 38; the doctor episode chap 11;
Jezebel's
305
bloodlust
358
grapevine
261
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| (economic)
control through technologies; environmental issues |
non-liquid
money, computer network |
economic
structures: e.g. credit card'Compubank (231); laws against women's
holding property, jobs (224), |
| freedom
as either/or concepts |
freedom
to --rules 32;
the
Commander's criticism 273
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strict
regulation
freedom from
rape and abuse (32-33);
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| space |
old
dorm 41 |
her
room 4, the barriers, the Wife's room, the kitchen; Wives only in cars
32 |
| control
of thought and desire |
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Son
of Jacob Think Tank 388; control thought system 10; 25;
no bounds 31; 38; 45; 85; no university, no lawyer, no gym; |
| religious
control |
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--Eye
of God, Angel, Guardian of Faith
--Bible,
kept locked up 112
--Soul
Scrolls 215-17
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| subjectivity |
imaginary
identity 67 |
no
names, only roles and signs 33;
not on newspapers, live in the gaps between 74;
body as the central object 95; a blank, like a parenthesis, in
waiting295 |
(names of the store in
Gilead: Milk and Honey, All Flesh, Lilies; Red Center, the Wall, Birth
Center; rituals: Salvaging, Prayvaganza (285), Particicution,
subjects: Serena Joy 60-61)
Michael: p. 144 "a feminist version of freedom cannot be an either/or
choice between "freedom to" and "freedom from."
- Post-Gilead
World: 12th Symposeum of Gilead Studies in 2195.
University of "Denay¡§("deny¡§; native group in The Northwest
Territories); Canada criticized.
Explains the source of the tale (30 something tapes), their inability
to identify Offred, the Gilead¡¦s ways of arresting women and possible
reasons for infertility.
Similarities between Pre-Gilead period and Gilead period: birth
services; polygamy, totalitarianism (e.g. KGB) p. 386- 87
Gender structure unchanged:
Professor Pieixoto flirting with Crescent Moon ¡V"enjoy" her;
"Underground Femaleroad" --> "The Underground Frailroad" 381
His distrust of the narrator.
"Our job is not to censure, but to understand." 383
- Sociology
of sex roles: Pamela Hewitt (from Teaching
Approaches p. 110)
sexual
objectification (e.g. Jezebel's, an underground
nightclub, where women serve as sexual playthings), patriarchy
(e.g. the use of Bible), Gender stratification
(differential access to cultural resources such as prestige, respect,
self-esteem, money and goods)
the other
concepts: androgyny, gender stereotyping, homophobia, the Cult of true
Womanhood, pornography, rape, etc.
- surveillance
of Eye and the characters' look / Power'
and its reversal
the guardian's look 30;
Nick's 30; 302-03; the handmaids' mutual gaze 217; Serena and Offred
264
"We watch him,
every inch, every flicker" 113
power to
forgive, temptation to forgive 174
- the
narrator's and other people's resistance
a. the narrator--
- her keen
senses: smell 1, touch 4; heart beating with the womb 190
- empathy
and connections 29, the previous girl, protected 275;
talk 13-14; look 24; enjoys the power of a dog bone 30; her idea of
freedom 38;
- her use of
language: food (date rap 50 ); correcting Aunt's lessons in her head
60; "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum": "Don't let the bastard grind
you down." p. 117; 241
- her memory
16, nightmares 96-98; remembering as filling up a space-time 35; her
focuses -on Luke, his whereabout pp. 133-35
mother and daughter relationships--on her daughter
52; 139; her with ice-cream 213; 82; her mother 152-54;
- her
composition and writing: 86; 123; 166; 173: reconstruction: two-fold:
in the mind and writing ; 181the kiss scene; 185: her need of
perspective and depth ; made-up stories: with Nick 338-40
on flowers
10, 16; 59; Serena's garden 196; different flowers 347, drier
on words'"chair" 140; "job" 224; body marked with J 259;
- her
stories: about the daughter 82-84, about Luke 44,
- her
story-telling 52'having control; a story is like a letter to you 53
-- "you will have to
forgive me" 294
--hatred "no longer pure and simple" 207
- her
challenge of the Lord's Prayer251-53
- Nick
24;
- Moira 73;
her escape, 166-72; her story 317-
- Mayday 58;
words left in the room 69, 242, Ofglen and "Us" 218; grapevine 261; 376?
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fairy-tale motif & a child's
desire /language
Intertextuality: Bible, The Little Red Riding Hood,
p. 11; garden p. 16; red tulips 44;
Scarlet Letter, etc.
Biblical Allusions ¡V
Martha,
devoted herself to housework while her sister Mary sat and listened to
Jesus.
Jezebel -- tried to kill the Lord's prophets and encouraged
Ahab to do evil. the dogs would devour Queen Jezebel's body
(Kathleen E.B. Manley TA
135) the use of folkore'as product (e.g. a traditional house described;
often to provide verisimilitude) , situation (context; e.g.
storytelling or building of a traditional house included), medium (the
language or style used)
fairy-tale
elements'fragments reconstructed,
the
garden, the wolf, the grandmother, the Little Red Riding Hood. "In the
novel she explores the relationship of character traits to flowers to
the subtext of sensuality she sees in the original tale" (TA 137,
Cf Sharon Wilson for discussion of the connection between flowers and
sensuality.)
garden
images: 23; 31; Serena's garden 196; baskets carrying strawberries 240;
the last walk 368
other images
of sensuality and desire: 3 the gym and dance
Offred like
a child 29; 32;
children's
language-- dolls 43; the red of the smile = the red of tulips 44; child
178; candy 180; Commander "indulging a child's wish for bubble gum" 203
eggs'with
life inside, incubated by women140-141
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novel and film:
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