Atwoods Attention to Words in The Handmaids Tale Essay

Atwoods Attention to Words in The Handmaids Tale The Handmaids Tale illustrates that dictatorship can be established by creating a state of fear once language controls are instituted. As a tradition to dystopian novels, Atwood has drawn much attention to the meaning of words and the significance of names, as well as the prohibition for women to read or write, in order to portray Gilead as a successful totalitarian state. Atwood is trying to make the point that in a dystopian world, language can be the power. The meaning of names is a central focus of the novel, because names define people. Their worth and functions are summarized by the names. To some extent, the names also discourage originality. This occurs especially to†¦show more content†¦A system of titles is created to justify the social hierarchy where women are not granted the same rights as men. Men are defined by military ranks whereas women are restricted to the domestic sphere, and are valued primarily upon their functionality rather than their humanity. This suggests that men in the Gilead society are substantially more powerful than women in general. In this respect, Atwood is trying to make the point that language can be a powerful tool to create an extremely misogynistic regime. Moreover, the classification of society is used as a device to dehumanize people. For instance, feminists and deformed babies are looked upon as subhuman, as suggested by the titles â€Å"unwomen† and â€Å"unbabies†, denoting that these people have no worth in the society. The only reason that they are nevertheless given the titles is to serve as bad examples to create a state of fear amongst the other citizens. The point the Atwood is trying to make here is that language is taken from the outcast Gileadians and the outcast Gileadians are taken away from language. The Novel significantly emphasizes on the manipulation of language in general because it is an important approach to control the thoughts of people. Many words have been heavily distorted from their original meanings by the Gileadian government, in order to support their political ideology. A classic example from the novel would be â€Å"TheShow MoreRelatedCultural Criticism In The Handmaids Tale By Margaret Atwood1011 Words   |  5 Pagesbranches of knowledge to discover the compilatio n of beliefs and customs that characterize a group of people. For a cultural reading of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, a cultural critic would consider the historical background paired with theories such as Marxism and feminism to make assumptions about what culture engendered the creation of this novel. (104 words) Cultural criticism is oftentimes affiliated with historical criticism, more specifically New Historicism. 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Similarly, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale criticizes the society that women have to live in. Atwood uses allusions to the Old Testament and historical events to satirize the oppression of women in political, religious and social aspects. Atwood parallels the Cultural RevolutionRead MoreHow Does Margaret Atwood Establish and Develop a Dystopian Narrative in Her Novel ‚Äà ²the Handmaid‚Äà ´s Tale‚Äà ´?2152 Words   |  9 PagesThroughout Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded state is created through the use of multiple themes and narrative techniques. In a dystopia, we can usually find a society that has become all kinds of wrong, in direct contrast to a utopia, or a perfect society. Like many totalitarian states, the Republic of Gilead starts out as an envisioned utopia by a select few: a remade world

Legalization of Marijuana - 758 Words

Legalization of Marijuana What is marijuana? According to Harvard Medical Professor Lester Grinspoon, it is a miracle drug, one that prevents blindness, acts as an appetite stimulant for AIDS patients, and prevents muscle spasms in epileptics. When speaking of the same plant, head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics for over thirty years, Harry J. Anslinger said that this evil weed led to killings, sex crimes and insanity. How can two such highly respected experts have such night and day outlooks on the same thing? While Anslinger presided as Americas leading anti-drug official his McCarthyish hunt down of Marijuana users led to the downfall of many well respected Americans. During the 1900s the United Stated has committed†¦show more content†¦Through the 1900s, specifically the 1970s, a number of studies were done on Pot which claimed that it kills brain cells, damages chromosomes, caused impotence in men and prompts men to grow breasts. 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Nature as Reflected in American Literature Essay Example For Students

Nature as Reflected in American Literature Essay In his Poetics, Plato contemplates the nature of aesthetics and existence.He postulates that for every existing object and idea there is an absolute ideal which transcends human experience. He further concludes that art, including literature, is an aesthetic representation of real objects and ideas that is used to better understand their ideals. In theory, as an object becomes closer ideal it also becomes a better subject for the artist. American artists in particular have been given an invaluable opportunity to explore this realm of the Platonic ideal. Because the American continent and its wilderness was primarily unsullied by the ravages of civilization, the natural world found there by early settlers was much closer to being ideal than anywhere else on Earth. For this reason, nature has become one of the most important subjects of American art, especially Literature. Specific examples from American literature including the works Moby Dick, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Wald en, and To a Waterfowl can show how American authors explore the ideals of human existence through aesthetic representations of nature. William Cullen Bryant, who has been called the father of American poetry, is one of the earliest artists to capture the essence of nature in America and apply it to the human experience. In his poem To A Waterfowl he uses the example of a waterfowl to reach a better understanding of human existence. In the poem, the waterfowl is portrayed as a near-perfect creation, and it is treated with a sense of reverence. The first stanza demonstrates this:Whither, midst falling dew,While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,Far, though their rosy depths, dost thou pursueThy solitary way?Though it is not curious that a bird would be flying in the morning, Cullen presents the fowl in flight as being nearly supernatural. The bird emerges from the heavens almost like an angel and the persona addresses it in an extremely respectful tone. It can be presumed that the persona would agree that nature, embodied in the fowl, is close to what Plato would call an ideal. Bryant, through his aesthetic presentation of the bird, then deepens his understanding of human experience. The persona and, as an extension, Bryant eventually conclude, through rumination over the flight of the waterfowl, that the higher Power that guides the fowl also guides them. This use of nature to better understand certain ideals is not limited to positive examples or the representation of good forces like the Power in Waterfowl. Herman Melville illustrates the ambiguity of nature in his novel Moby Dick by representing certain evil elements of human existence with comparable elements in nature. His use of the shark is exemplary of this. He portrays the shark as the epitome of what a cannibal is. Through the creation of a well-conceived syllogism, he uses this portrayal of the shark to develop the character of Ahab. The first thing Melville does to accomplish this is placing the shark on a higher plane of being than man by saying that they are like angels well governed. This is very effective because, ultimately, sharks are closer to being ideal cannibals than any man could be. They kill with no remorse, eat their own kind dead or alive, and even attack their own bodies when wounded. This representation of a cannibal deepens the readers understanding of what an ideal cannibal is and later used by Melville when Ahab is compared to a shark. This syllogism states that if a shark is the epitome of a cannibal and Ahab is like a shark, then Ahab must also be like the epitome of a cannibal. Such use of specific parts of nature like the shark and the waterfowl are important elements in American literature, but the use of nature as an entity in itself is also widely employed. .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182 , .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182 .postImageUrl , .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182 , .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182:hover , .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182:visited , .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182:active { border:0!important; } .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182:active , .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182 .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .udafd31a8edc94584707935cbcb65b182:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Abortion Act EssayMark Twain and Henry David Thoreau both use nature as an entity to explain certain truths of human existence. Both stress the essential role that nature plays in society and the importance of mans relationship to nature. The fashion in which each deal with this importance, however, differ greatly. Twain focuses on natures role as a refuge and a source of peace when compared to civilization. Thoreau, a transcendentalist, focuses on nature as a reflection of an inner spiritual reality.In Huckleberry Finn, Twain presents nature as a refuge for Huck and Jim. When they are alone with nature, they have time to culture their relationship, relax, and enjoy life. Hucks feelings about nature can be best summed up when he and Jim are enjoying a rainstorm in the island cave and he says, Jim, this is nice. I wouldnt want to be nowhere else but here. This idyllic state, however, is disrupted as soon as the two encounter civilization.They then encounter many hardships and must work harder to survive than when they are with nature. This is a good example of contrast used to represent an ideal. Twain shows the serenity of nature and its goodness in direct comparison with the hectic and far from ideal nature of civilization. Thoreau takes a more serious approach than Twain. He believes nature to be the highest physical reality on Earth, transcending human experience and only by understanding nature can a person understand himself. He would most likely agree that aesthetic representations of nature are the key to deepening human understanding of existence. His novel Walden is based on such aesthetic representations. He says that I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. This shows the almost stoic devotion that he has to finding truth in nature. He intends to learn from it and make himself vulnerable to it. Clearly Thoreau believes that nature is close to a Platonic ideal, the truth. He says that nature holds the essential facts of life and through his writing, he becomes closer to nature itself, and therefore closer to the truth. The same is true in some way also for Twain, Melville, and Bryant. This is the key to American Literature.If art is truly a representation of some impalpable ideal made in the hopes of better understanding existence, then nature has been the greatest vehicle for art in America. Since the settling of this continent, the authors of America have been greatly affected by a wild, beautiful, and almost ideal nature. American Literature, therefore, has taken nature in as its most important and loved subject. Category: English