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Atwoods's style of writing
Feminism
Atwood uses the theme of feminism to highlight a key problem within our society, often emphasizing an imbalance in power dynamics between men and women. For example, Offred struggles with the constant oppression from the wife of the commander and the other men in Gilead. She also uses identity to highlight the struggle between preserving one’s self identity or becoming one of the oppressed.
Characters
Atwood’s characters often are characterized in the same way. In her novel The Blind Assassin, Iris fights for justice throughout the book. With her constant trips to the coffee shop, she always is consistent with fighting for justice, even if it means it may take a long time to avenge her sister’s death. This quality is similar to the way that Offred fights to seek justice for her husband and child.
Justice
Atwood’s characters are often seeking out justice in her novels. In the Handmaid’s Tale, Offred searches for ways to help their resistance in order to support the rebellion against the republic of Gilead. These actions highlight the actions that Offred makes to be selfless and passionate because of the risk of getting caught supporting the rebellion meaning immediate execution. While she could be killed for supporting the group, she still proceeds to further her efforts in order to fight for Justice throughout the book, even getting closer to the Commander, Fred, to do so. These efforts explore the efforts that the characters of Atwood’s novels make to fight for justice. This value is similar to the book The Blind Assassin, where Iris slowly reveals the truth about the hardships that she experienced, even when it means that she could be punished for opposing conservative views in the patriarchal society that she lives in.
Emulation of Atwood
Although I was running late, I could not help but stop to watch the passing birds. Their exuberant energy as they flew from the maple tree to the oak filled me with passion to keep fighting, to see my son. Rick yelled, piercing my heart with the look of hate in his eyes, “Keep moving Alyssa.” I followed. I found an open spot on the train. We were almost to the camp when I saw someone out of line next to a guard. He had found contraband on her and confiscated the means of our escape, the wire cutters. I let out a sigh as the slow realization hit me that we were not getting out of here ate me alive. Our plans and our hope were ripped away. She would be put to death soon, so we now needed to find a different way out of this prison. As we got to the camp, the train halted with a screech. We failed. The change in scenery was worse too. At least at the prison we were able to see the life that we could have if we escaped, but now we are stuck at the camp. Just as fast as I found a reason to feel motivated again, it left. I got off the train and got directed into line where the rest of us already were. I looked up to see who was leading us into the camp, and my heart dropped; it was Rick. He must have been assigned to our camp as head guard. I knew it was over the moment I saw him. He had been the reason why our first attempt failed, and he hated me for our efforts. The moment we locked eyes he approached me. “You won’t be getting out of this camp Alyssa,” He exclaimed and let out a laugh. “We have guards watching the perimeter all day and all night from every angle,” he continued.
Explanation of Eumulation
The first choice I used was short startling statements. Atwood uses this element a lot in order to give emphasis to a certain idea. The text “I followed” is a good example of these short startling statements. The significance of this text is that the main character, Alyssa, is submitting to the dominion that the head guard, Rick, has over her. This example reflects the common theme throughout Atwood’s novel of feminism. She, along with many other women, are trapped in this patriarchal society that they live in and are forced into camps. Continually, the symbol of the wirecutters was used to reflect the theme of justice that she has. To connect to another book, the rebellion that was in The Handmaid’s Tale is the theme of justice in the same way that the attempt made to escape through the means of the wirecutters. Furthermore, the use of women in most of her novels is clearly reflected in my emulation of her writing as well. Alyssa, like the main characters of Atwood’s novels, are often very observant and express their feelings a lot throughout the novels, often utilizing imagery to show emotion and thought.
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