
Essays
Literature (Year 12)
Discuss the importance of repeated patterns, symbols OR motifs in one or more texts you have studied.
Many of Margaret Atwoodâs speculative fiction explore societies riddled with misogyny, oppression and patriarchal dominance, extrapolating the positions of women in such societies and likening them to our own. Thereby, performing a series of complex examinations of the continued oppression and liberation of women, and the persistence of the patriarchal structure which seeks to âcoloniseâ women in the same way as Atwoodâs narratives simultaneously liberate and dominate her female protagonists. This act of simultaneous liberation and colonisation of women is demonstrated in her dystopian novel The Handmaidâs Tale (1985), where the female protagonist, Offred, is one amongst many reproductive slaves in the theocratic regime of Gilead. Offredâs act of speaking out may initially seem empowering, but it is later revealed in the Historical Notes as yet another example of male domination. The novel draws on events that had occurred somewhere at some point in time, hence, âproviding a blueprint of the kind of things that human beings do when they're put under a certain sort of pressureâ (Atwood). Throughout the text, Atwood incorporates motifs of nature, the binary opposition between life & death, eyes, mirrors, and doppelgangers. These repeated motifs are important elements used to convey Gileadâs ideological contradictions, the internalisation of the panoptic gaze, the denial of identity, and the parallels to the feminist backlash during the 1980s in terms of the division amongst women.
In Gilead, the motif of the tamed nature implies the removal and replacement of the untamed nature, representing the denial of female sexuality and their oppression within the regime, as there remains only a âprint of flowersâ that is boxed & framed on the wall, quite literally how women are confined within the regime. But what is troubling is the fact that Gilead isnât the only culprit, it is also Serena Joy, who âorders and maintainsâ the garden â the motif of tamed nature then acts as a microcosm for the oppression amongst women, which was especially prominent during the backlash against feminism. The intrasexual oppression & division is perhaps most apparent with Aunt Lydia, who not only beats the Handmaids with âcattle prodsâ, but also pits them against other women: âItâs not the husbands you have to watch out for, said Aunt Lydia, itâs the Wives.â Essentially, Gilead has established a matriarchal network responsible for regulating women, as "the best and most cost-effective way to control women⌠was through women themselves" (Atwood), just as the handmaids are paired up to become oppressors of each other. The motif of nature also occurs in the form of red tulips and âblue irisesâ, which represent the handmaids and the wives, respectively, suggesting an intergeneration conflict that was also responsible for the division between sex-positive feminism and radical feminism during the 1980s, and one that Offred had experienced with her mum, who ironically tells Offred âyouâre just a backlashâ. The patriarchy attempts to strengthen this divide by positioning women to be in competition with each other for either fertility (as symbolised by the tulips) or sexual attention, exploiting the Wivesâ jealousy of the handmaids, especially during the Ceremony, to create conflict and, hence, become a tool for regulation amongst women: âif I get trouble, Iâll give trouble back.â The motif of nature in The Handmaidâs Tale is important in supporting the idea of gynocentric misogyny, revealing its role, not just in Gileadâs social order, but also in our society. This portrays the complexity of the patriarchy, a system that continues to be perpetuated by the âwar amongst womenâ (Atwood) and the lack of sisterhood that makes change almost impossible.
Advertised as the heart of Gileadâs existence is its pro-life ideologies â they are the ones who hold the âtorch of the futureâ, âthe cradle of the raceâ and the power to save humanity. But all this is revealed to be propaganda as it is consistently undermined by the regimeâs prevalence of death, creating a motif of the binary opposition between life & death and, thereby, highlighting the ideological contradictions present in such regimes. Gileadâs revolution around birth represents its pro-life ideals, agonising over each birth and placing significant value on every baby, that is, those who pass the normality test. Those that fail are labelled as an Unbaby, an âitâ, that would be âput somewhere, quickly, awayâ. The motif is also present when Ofwarren is giving birth: âNow that sheâs the carrier of life, she is closer to death.â Whilst she is surrounded by the âsound of deathâ and faces the threat of dying herself, and the possibility of the baby along with her, the doctors, who are capable of helping to prevent casualties, are forced to wait by their vans. Even the Handmaids, whom the regime relies on for their âsuccessâ, are at risk of being labelled as Unwoman and sent to the colonies to clean up toxic waste, where death is imminent. This comes as a result of Gileadâs belief that âthere is no such thing as a sterile man⌠only women who are fruitful and women who are barrenâ, singling women as the ones at fault and continually diminishing the number of fertile women. The motif of the duality of life & death is equally epitomised by the Particicutions, events of violent executions where the symbols of life within Gilead (the handmaids) are, ironically, the ones responsible for dealing death. This motif is then embodied on the walls of Gilead in the form of hanged men, which Offred recognises but refuses to acknowledge. She comments that âthe red of the smile is the same as the red of the tulipsâ, but rejects the clear contradictions being conveyed between the smile of death and the flower of fertility. However, it is apparent to the readers that the motif of the binary opposition between life & death serves throughout the text as an important indicator of Gileadâs ideological contradictions, hence, raising the question: is Gilead really about life, or is it about domination and control?
The motif of the all-seeing eye dominates the regime of Gilead, utilising the supervising gaze to âmonitor and thereby disempower the citizensâ (Davidsen). This method of control resembles Benthamâs model of the Panopticon, which has become a metaphor for how societies conform to and enforce norms of behaviour through surveillance. The paranoia of being watched is internalised and translated into self-regulation, resulting in the self-policing of our own behaviour. The underlying principle involves the power being both visible & unverifiable in order to create the omnipotent threat of being watched at all times, even when the threat of the gaze is not physically present but simply conveyed through an âeye painted in goldâ. In Gilead, the Guardians and The Eyes are âan extension of the government and are visible symbols of an unverifiable powerâ (Davidsen). The eyes, although, sightless & flawed, serves as a threat of surveillance and a constant reminder to censor oneâs behaviour. It is not the physical threat of being watched by the âwinged eyeâ on the side of a van or the âplaster eye in the ceilingâ of Offredâs room, but it is the internalisation of the eyes that transforms it into a locus of control, a tool Gilead can exploit to establish discipline. As Foucault puts it, âthe exercised power is not added on from the outside, but internalised by the person in such a way that this power controls him.â The effect is evident in Offredâs hesitance and paranoia: âPerhaps⌠Perhaps⌠Perhaps⌠Perhaps he is an Eyeâ, the anaphora conveys uncertainty and worry, unsure whether she really is being watched. The motif of the eye is important in revealing the power of the panoptic gaze and how it is utilised in regimes such as Gilead to limit and modify the citizensâ behaviour. This becomes the most effective form of societal control â a society that controls itself based on fear.
According to Jacques Lacanâs Mirror Theory, we require ourselves to be reflected clearly back to us in order to understand who we are and where we fit in this world. Without it, we risk losing our identity and our sense of uniqueness. In The Handmaidâs Tale, the motif of mirrors is connected to the denial of identity, which is reinforced by the new names they are given that define them as properties of their Commander. Gilead attempts to disconnect the Handmaids from their past by denying them of any connections to their old identity through restrictions on mirrors: âthere are few mirrorsâ and âthe mirror over the sink has been taken out and replaced by an oblong of tinâ. The lack of mirrors distorts & prohibits the Handmaidsâ ability to sustain their identity, resulting in feelings of interchangeability & insubstantiality, symbolised by how Offred sees herself as an ephemeral âwraith of red smokeâ. Whilst she is able to catch glimpses of her âsilhouette in the plate glass windowâ and some âoutlines, gleams: from the mirrorâ, it is never a clear image that shows her she is a complete person and not just a set of body parts. Gilead also restricts the Handmaids from using the gaze and its constructive power to grant identities, implementing the white wings to âkeep [them] from seeingâ and âenclose [them]â within the âwhite tunnel of clothâ, thereby limiting their vision like a blinkered horse. Furthermore, Gilead not only attempts to erase their identity, but they also seek to replace it. Just as the mirror âon the hall wallâ reflects a âdistorted shadowâ of Offred, Gilead forms a new, distorted identity as Handmaids of the regime, âvirginal sacred vesselsâ (Gulick) purposed only to breed. Throughout the text, the motif of mirrors plays a vital role in conveying how the Handmaidsâ identities are directly attacked by the regimeâs restriction of mirrors, removing the ability to see oneâs reflection &, hence, losing oneâs sense of self.
Lacanâs utilization of the idea of the mirror is not exclusively literal nor limited to being a visible physical phenomenon alone. The speech, gestures and facial expressions of others can âmirrorâ back an âimageâ of oneself, conveying a sense of how one âappearsâ from other perspectives. Hence, the motif of doppelgangers represents Offredâs development of an identity, utilising it to define herself âthrough a play of similarity and differenceâ (Faurholt), the âidenticalâ and the âotherâ. Whilst the physical resemblance between Ofglen and Offred implies their interchangeability as a result of Gileadâs negation of any semblance of identity and, hence, posing a threat to Offredâs existence, their âindistinguishable samenessâ (Faurholt), conveyed by the short syntax of âDoubled, I walk the streetâ, could be used to reflect each other like mirrors: âsheâs like my own reflection, in a mirror from which Iâm moving awayâ. Ofglen acts as an identical alter ego, which belongs to the mirror stage where Offred can â[identify] with an external image in order to develop an ego; I must identify as âIâ that which is not meâ (Faurholt). On the other hand, Serena Joy is also one of Offredâs doppelgangers. Despite some similarities between them, for example, they are both oppressed women in the regime seeking for a baby, Offred sees Serena as her âobverseâ, the âotherâ, the opposite of who she wants to be. However, who she does want to be is Moira, her feminist doppelganger, who represents the idealised self she wishes she could be. Even though she knows she is incapable of such brave acts of resistance, her admiration suggests that her identity hasnât been conquered by Gilead, at least not completely. In The Handmaidâs Tale, the motif of doppelgangers is important in illustrating Offredâs formation of her own identity within Gilead, one which is continually developing through the identification of similarities & differences in her doubles.
Margaret Atwoodâs The Handmaidâs Tale (1985) offers a terrifyingly authentic perception of a possible future, depicting a regime where women are dehumanised and used as reproductive slaves for âthe greater goodâ. Offredâs entire narrative is potentially subverted by the âmale filterâ of Piexioto, revealing her apparent freedom as constrained by patriarchal structures and institutions which prevent women from telling their real stories. The novel contains motifs of nature, the binary opposition between life & death, eyes, mirrors, and doppelgangers, all of which are important to communicate ideas, such as Gileadâs ideological contradictions and the panoptic gaze, and support themes, such as identity and oppression.
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