Wednesday, July 28, 2010
A page Into My Diary
Dear Diary,
scenes from The Handmaid's Tale keep running through my head. What am I to do?
Miss Li showed us a part of The Handmaid's Tale during Language Arts Lesson. This movie is adapted from the book of the same name by Margaret Atwood. This story is set in the Republic of Gilead, which was once the United States Of America. The Republic of Gilead is a place where sexuality has gone wrong and all women are sterilised except a group of special women called the Handmaids. When a family from the ruling class wants a baby, a handmaid will be employed.
The story is presented from the point of view of Kate, who after failing to escape, is forced to become a handmaid. Soon, she is employed by a family and is renamed Offred, which actually means "Of Fred", the man she is serving.
This story is a classic example of a dystopian society, which can be quite frightening. During the first minute of the show, I already felt that something was very wrong and that feeling of wariness crept up on me. Wait, this feels familiar. Oh, I felt this way too when reading the Giver!
Hmm...the party which formed the Republic of Gilead must have aimed to create a utopia, but how did could it have gone so terribly wrong! Women are so oppressed. For example, women get the blame when they are raped. This society clearly puts men at a greater advantage. There is also the concept of Sameness in this society. For example, the wives of the elite society dress in blue, while the handmaids are dressed in red.
The part of the movie which struck me the most was the scene where the people were labelled as livestock. I checked up the dictionary and found that the definition of livestock was the horses, cattle, sheep, and other useful animals kept or raised on a farm or ranch. An uncontrollable rage burst out of me. People are not animals! We are meant to be treated with respect and love!
The Republic also thwarts the teachings of the Bible for its own use. For example, The Handmaids are made to sing Hymns every night before they go to bed, and before the Handmaid serves her employer, they go through a brief reading of the Bible. This feels a like propaganda to me, where the government influence the minds of the people through false beliefs. The government uses these twisted teachings to justify their actions.
Do you know that all Handmaids wear a red gown which looks like a nun's uniform. This may be an effort of the government to constantly remind in the Handmaids about their relations to the twisted doctrines.
Lastly, I would like to add that the last part of the clip was... highly disturbing. You could see the word "disturbed" written all over everybody's faces after that particular scene. Fortunately, Miss Li learnt her lesson and did not show the disturbing part to the other classes! (:
I have to sleep soon! Goodbye Diary!
Signing off,
me
Dear Diary,
scenes from The Handmaid's Tale keep running through my head. What am I to do?
Miss Li showed us a part of The Handmaid's Tale during Language Arts Lesson. This movie is adapted from the book of the same name by Margaret Atwood. This story is set in the Republic of Gilead, which was once the United States Of America. The Republic of Gilead is a place where sexuality has gone wrong and all women are sterilised except a group of special women called the Handmaids. When a family from the ruling class wants a baby, a handmaid will be employed.
The story is presented from the point of view of Kate, who after failing to escape, is forced to become a handmaid. Soon, she is employed by a family and is renamed Offred, which actually means "Of Fred", the man she is serving.
This story is a classic example of a dystopian society, which can be quite frightening. During the first minute of the show, I already felt that something was very wrong and that feeling of wariness crept up on me. Wait, this feels familiar. Oh, I felt this way too when reading the Giver!
Hmm...the party which formed the Republic of Gilead must have aimed to create a utopia, but how did could it have gone so terribly wrong! Women are so oppressed. For example, women get the blame when they are raped. This society clearly puts men at a greater advantage. There is also the concept of Sameness in this society. For example, the wives of the elite society dress in blue, while the handmaids are dressed in red.
The part of the movie which struck me the most was the scene where the people were labelled as livestock. I checked up the dictionary and found that the definition of livestock was the horses, cattle, sheep, and other useful animals kept or raised on a farm or ranch. An uncontrollable rage burst out of me. People are not animals! We are meant to be treated with respect and love!
The Republic also thwarts the teachings of the Bible for its own use. For example, The Handmaids are made to sing Hymns every night before they go to bed, and before the Handmaid serves her employer, they go through a brief reading of the Bible. This feels a like propaganda to me, where the government influence the minds of the people through false beliefs. The government uses these twisted teachings to justify their actions.
Do you know that all Handmaids wear a red gown which looks like a nun's uniform. This may be an effort of the government to constantly remind in the Handmaids about their relations to the twisted doctrines.
Lastly, I would like to add that the last part of the clip was... highly disturbing. You could see the word "disturbed" written all over everybody's faces after that particular scene. Fortunately, Miss Li learnt her lesson and did not show the disturbing part to the other classes! (:
I have to sleep soon! Goodbye Diary!
Signing off,
me
Murmur 5:32 AM.
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