Acrobat

U2's song "Acrobat" can be directly related to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale through certain parts of the lyrics of the song. One of the refrains that stood out to me was:

"What are we going to do now it's all been said
No new ideas in the house and every book has been read"

I thought this piece of the lyrics was relative to the novel because in the Republic of Gilead of The Handmaid's Tale, the social order is set in stone, and seemingly immovable. It is reverting back to older times, denying the introduction of new ideals and system arrangement, keeping anyone from changing the societal norms of the Republic. The significance of the books in this novel is also relevant to the song because the only book that is permitted to be read is the Bible, and only men are allowed to read from it. Because the same book is being read over and over, there are no new ideas in the "house", or the government, and the society is becoming restricted in its effectiveness. Although the society began with possibly good intentions, it is clear that the redundancy of the same parts of the same stories of the Bible is wearing on the members of Gilead.

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale, constructs a society that is governed by its warped views of religion. Rather than seeing the whole picture of biblical stories, the society instead chooses to focus only on the excerpts that justify its actions. Through this society's biblical social code, the government has taken rights away from its people, and eliminated the basic rights of women and all who violate the newly established social order. It is in this society that men are deemed superior, and the women are one of four main potential positions. There are the Wives, women who are at the top of the societal food chain. Then come the Marthas, the women responsible for housekeeping, child rearing, as well as any other menial task that can be found for them. Then there are the Unwomen, those women who cannot have children, who have reached their prime, the women who refuse to conform to the new society's instructions and rules, or who previously violated the codes of the society. The most important, yet seemingly least liked of the groups of women in the story, are the Handmaids, women seen only for their potential as viable surrogate mothers. The Handmaids are, in a sense, merely walking uteruses, and if they become pregnant a celebration is in order. This society is absolutely ridiculous in how it controls, limits, and denies women basic rights, with its only defense being the Bible. Although the Bible is a valid learning tool, and something that people can use as a guideline to live their life, this society takes their interpretation too far, and in many instances is totally violating the basic principles set out in the Bible.


In this book, one of my favorite passages is:

If I turn my head so that the white wings framing my face direct my vision towards it, I can see it as I go down the stairs, round, convex, a pier glass, like the eye of a fish, and myself in it like a distorted shadow, a parody of something, some fairy-tale figure in a red cloak, descending towards a moment of carelessness that is the same as danger. A Sister dipped in blood. (Atwood)

Some of the key words of this passage, that make the tone of the passage are distorted, parody, and fairy-tale. The use of "distorted" is vital to this passage because it is reflecting the distortion of the Bible for the basis of the ideals of this society. Parody is also an important word choice because it is showing how the Republic of Gilead is a joke in itself, twisting the Bible to fit its own values, and ignoring the rest of the stories that are against what has been implemented. The reference to a fairy-tale is also important because it is emphasizing the surreal nature of the society of the novel, showing how the Handmaids are just like Little Red Riding Hood, running from the Big Bad Wolf, or society in this case.

Overall, I really liked this book. although it addressed some very tense social issues, and showed a mocking view of modern day society's philosophies, this book was serious and thought-provoking. I like books that make me think, and relate them to our current social situations, and The Handmaid's Tale is definitely relative to modern times.

We

The novel We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin, is set in a society centered around the seemingly infinitesimal power of mathematics. A major theme of this novel was that of whether or not a Utopian society is a possibility with humans as we know them. Can our thoughts and actions be controlled and kept steady by a governing body? Or are our minds uncontrollable, completely independent of the constraints of society? Zamyatin seemed to show that the human mind is its own entity, emotional and uncontrolled by anyone other than its possessor. This idea of ownership over one's thoughts is found throughout the novel, and is definitely one of the mor important themes.

My favorite passage from this novel is:

I am looking at myself, at him, and I am absolutely certain that he, with his ruler-straight eyebrows, is a stranger, somebody else, I just met him for the first time in my life. And I'm the real one. I AM NOT HIM. (Zamyatin)

This passage signifies D-503's realization that he is not the person he has convinced himself to be. He comes to see that he is more than what people see of him on the outside, that the real him is within. This process of self-actualization is both traumatic and enlightening for D-503, who cannot decide whether to be pleased or disgusted by his sudden break from his "original" self. I like this passage mainly because it is showing a struggle that most people experience at one point or another in their lives, where they do not know who exactly they are.

I found this novel to be very interesting, and I particularly liked the contrast between the old times and the current times of the story throughout the novel. I also really liked the point of view that a person is not able to be controlled by anyone else as long as their emotions are intact. With our imaginations, we are still capable to function as independent human beings, and we are free.