Journal # 3

Last one! Topic C
Atwood's vision is very believable. She uses a lot of flashbacks to show the old life, so you can compare. By making her character a normal person in the flashbacks, it is easier to believe the switch, as opposed to meeting a character who was born in that society or rarely thinks of the past. Offred had one memory that was particularly convincing. She is remembering the assassination of the government officials and the change to a man dominated world. That was so believable, I can see that happening. Especially how the government blamed it on the radical Muslims, as our government is doing today. And in history we are learning about world war one, and the kinds of things governments can get away with during times of war and fear and uncertainty. The alternative to this reality would be to cut back assimilation, and accept and embrace the differences in people. Also, people need to fight for their rights no matter the circumstances. I think a viable alternative is a more limited government. Not just more protesting and sort of anarchy and millions of opinions fighting. A government that mostly stays out of personal affairs, but stands up for the minorities. And peaceful acceptance of ideas instead of violently proving your way is the best way.

Journal # 2

I choose the mama. She is a feminist, pro-choice activist. She tries to persuade people, and maybe the government, to let abortion be legal, even though birth rates are dramatically low. She is hated by the "modern" society that Offred is in now. She was probably hated back then too for being so radical and not supporting her country in its time of need. She was a little bit treasonous, because she did accept the possible end of mankind by being pro-choice. She went to rallies and protested. She was not successful at all. She was trying to get more freedom for women. But she was looking for freedom to and equality, and instead she got freedom from, which is the opposite. Everything she stood for is seen as sacrilegious. Her activism had a profound effect on her. In her old age, she is a miserable, lonely, old curmudgeon. She still vehemently believes she is right, but she has run out of steam to fight for it, so she drinks and complains. If she had not been so opposed to society she could have had friends or a husband or something to be happy about, but she alienated all men and mainstream people with her radical views, and doesn't feel a connection to her fellow protesters because they probably all ended up just like her.

Journal # 1

"There's no longer any hand lotion or face cream, not for us. Such things are considered vanities. We are containers, it's only the insides of our bodies that are important. The outside can become hard and wrinkled, for all they care, like the shell of a nut. This was a decree of the Wives, this absence of hand lotion. They don't want us to look attractive. For them, things are bad enough as it is." (Atwood 96)

This reveals that the society is very class based.  All women are oppressed. The wives are the highest class women and the most power they have is to deny lotion. The primary goal of the entire society is reproduction, much more so than creating equality or keeping personal rights. It is not acceptable to say things that disagree with the government, or to do something outside a person's prescribed routine. 

This relates to this portion of the book because Offred is oppressed, and Serena Joy hates her and does anything to make her life miserable. Serena Joy is only lashing out at Offred because she is mad at the government for putting a handmaid in her life. Offred is only there to have a baby, so no one really cares about her, and that is creating the conflict. This also relates to this part because Offred is remembering all the little freedoms she used to have in normal life, and her daughter and husband, envying her old life, compared with her new strict degrading life.