Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale Essay examples -- Margaret Atwoo

Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids TaleChapter nine opening section two of the unexampled is mainly recalling thelast chapters and about the narrator rediscovering herself, surfacingthe truth. In section one we see the narrator talking in the presenttense in a very descriptive form, outlining the novel. However insection two we see her talking in the past tense demonstrating thestories she is telling. The separation between the gentle and thenatural world and the narrators struggle with language most directlyportrays the novels dualities.In chapter nine there are many areass in which specific linguisticsare used to tell the story. This is evident in the very openingparagraph of chapter nine, when the narrator says The trouble is allin the pommel at the top of our bodies. The noun euphemism knob forthe head has connotations of a mechanical device which links in to theillusion that they are separate. This creates a binary confrontationbetween emotion versus reason (heart versus brain), creating the ideathat the narrator is dislocated form herself. The narrator issceptical about language as she blames oral communication and makes it the culprit dear like when the husband kept saying he loved her on page 28. Another area where we see the narrators distrust in words is when sheclearly states Ill never trust these words again. The use of thisfuture tense declarative reveals the narrators fear and uncertainty ofwords (especially about the word love). The narrator seems to thinkthe entire body should be called the same as she says the language iswrong, it shouldnt have different words for them. Later we seeAtwood displaying the narrators pessimistic language when she usesthe declarative Bu... ...rsmemories more. This is evident in chapter ten whist the narrator isview the scrapbooks, she says I couldnt remember ever having drawnthese pictures and I was disappointed in myself, I must of been ahedonistic child. The verbs clustered together counsel the narratorreally struggles to recall her memories. Another key suggestion tothe narrators fault memory is the way she intertwines the past andpresent, making the reader at times unaware of which is which, alsothe way in which the narrator continually contradicts herself. Thisis evident on page twenty when she is placed in a ill-advised positionwhen she thinks if you live in a place you should speak thelanguage. But this isnt where I lived. We see the clearcontradiction as earlier she tell I cant believe Im on this roadagain notifying the reader that she does belong there.