Social Comment on Atwood from my Dad

My Dad sent me a wonderful e-mail today. He reads as much, if not more than I do. And now that I am older, I find it invigorating learning his thoughts on books he has already read, that I am just being introduced to. So here it is. Oh, and Dad lives in New Zealand, of course.

I'm enjoying your book-blog. It seems that you have more time for reading now that you're in the convalescent phase. That must be a nice positive amidst the negatives and inconvenience etc. I'm glad you're recovering well and that the swelling you experienced recently is nothing to worry about. However it definitely pays to check out these things!

"The Mystery of the Nile" sounds interesting, although I'm constantly amazed at how people do all these wonderful adventures with an IMAX film team trailing round behind them. It reminds me of the (only) IMAX film I've ever seen about climbing Mt Everest. It was that season when a terrible blizzard hit the summit and many climbers died, including a NZer, Rob Hall, who was guiding a client and who elected to stay with his client and die with him rather than leave him to die on his own. Anyway, the producer, John (I think) Krakauer wrote an excellent book called "Into Thin Air", which is engrossing if you're interested in travel in the Himalayas. It takes the Everest story beyond the old classic climbers into the new era, when it is just another peak to be climbed by any reasonably fit person who has the money to hire a guide. I found it quite fascinating.

I see you've discovered your fellow citizen, Margaret Atwood. I very much enjoy her books - she writes well and is always provocative and challenges your thinking. She has a talent for taking an idea and pushing it to a logical, if extreme, conclusion. What she has done for the fundamentalist right in USA in "The handmaiden's tale", she has also done for the possibility of the biotechnology industry getting out of control in "Oryx and Crake". Another dystopia, but makes one think, could it happen? I guess the answer is "maybe", but not necessarily.

The interesting thing about dystopia books is that by giving the warning, a writer may exercise a sort of secular prophetic function (like Jonah in the Old Testament) so that society is encouraged to take actions that avoid the possibility becoming realised. After all, "1984" is a great book and in 1948, when it was written, it looked very possible. However, when 1984 rolled round, the world was, in fact, quite different. This is not to say that Orwell got it wrong. His writings made people aware of the dangers of tyranny, both from the left and the right, and thus reduced the danger. I must say,also, that some of his themes concerning the use and abuse of language will always warrant constant vigilance.

I'm always intrigued that writers looking to the future rarely see good things happening. On the whole, we seem to be a gloomy race, who expect things to get worse rather than better. One of the good things about growing older is that I can look back over 70 years and see that, in spite of our forbodings, the world is, in many ways, much better than it was in 1937. [yes, my dad is 70 years old] In 1937 both Germany and the Soviet Union were ruled by two of the worst regimes the world has seen. Both are now gone. The big colonial empires are dismantled and more people are living in freedom than ever before. There were huge famines in Bengal and China which went unnoticed by the world; nobody cared. I don't want to sound like a Pollyanna, but we have a lot more to be thankful for than we have to complain about. Sure there are some ways in which the world has got worse - we just need to keep it in perspective.

This is not to say the world is perfect. It never will be. People will always be, as Genesis says, made in the image of God, with a huge potential for goodness and creativity, but fallen and thus also with a potential for evil.

Don't I ramble on! Still, it's Saturday morning here and I have a bit of time. I hope you have time to read it.

My favourite Atwood is "Alias Grace", about a murder committed in mid-19th century in a town just north of Toronto. I understand it's based on an actual event. I recommend it. ***** (five stars)

Love Dad.

Thanks Dad.

The Handmaiden's Tale by Margaret Atwood - Book Review

This is the very first Atwood Book I have ever read. I chose this one for the New Notions Challenge. Apparently this novel was made into a movie back in the 1990s. I think I'd like to see it.

The one thing I didnt like was the lack of personal details. The main character in this novel is called Offred after the patriarch (Commander Fred) to whom she currently belongs. She is a Handmaiden - her job is to be fertile, and bear children. We never find out her real name. Although we do know she was married to Luke in the "before time". With Luke, she already has one daughter. The daughter was given to another childless family. Offred also never states her daughters name either.

The patriarch (Fred) has already had 2 handmaids before Offred arrived. All handmaids stay at each location for two years during which they must be legally raped once a month (called the Ceremony) in front of several witnesses, and she has two years to become pregnant. The previous two handmaids, one of whom hung herself, did not become pregnant. If you do not become pregnant, then you are considered an Unwoman and sent to the colonies or to the whore house (where the Jezebels live).

It is always assumed that any lack of pregnancy is the girls fault - never the mans. The man is NEVER allowed to be tested or proved as being sterile, whether or not he is.

Fred's wife Serena Joy, asks Offred to lie with Nick, the chauffeur, and perhaps become pregnant that way. Serena belives that Fred is sterile. She badly wants a baby. Offred does what she is told - to refuse can be dangerous - although we do not know if she becomes pregnant or not.

The book ends very abruptly when a black van comes to take Offred away. Nick tells her its ok, they are from the resistance, they will help her to escape. But we know nothing for sure, except that she went somewhere where she had time to tell her story onto 30 audio cassette tapes.



Movie - The Handmaiden's Tale starring Natasha Richardson as Offred.





This book is about legalized rape and about men being in control, more than anything else. Control the women and dont allow them to think for themselves or learn anything independently. Cut them off from everyone else, change their names and split up the families - especially where a second marriage is involved.

The whole idea was to take society back to Biblical, Old Testament Times, and literally follow the rules set out in the first 5 books of Moses. Where it says that the family patriarch can use a handmaid to have a child if the legal wife cant have any.

Anyone who opposes the system is hung up by the neck. Any female caught reading will be hung. Any female accused of being a traitor or a resistor is hung.

If I were to ever find myself being treated like I was an ignorant female, I would want to kill myself. I have a very active brain, I love reading, and I could no6t stand to live in any society with such strict rules. Especially one where women are treated as nothing more than brood mares.

In any case, I would end up being an "Unwoman" since my reproductive system is already in bad shape. I was very lucky to be able to have even 1 child. So I would have the choice, to become a whore, (called Jezebels) or be sent to the colonies (where the toxic waste levels do eventually kill you).

The horrifying thing is that some parts of this novel are already happening for real. Where the church and state are no longer separate, and abortion is now (sort of) illegal again, and anyone who opposes the current system (or follows the wrong religion) is held as a "possible suspect" without trial.

More Info on this book

Study Guide to The Handmaids Tale

Another study guide to The Handmaids Tale