THE METHOD By Juli Zeh

Okie dokie! Here we are with the fourth book I have read for the POPSUGAR 2015 Reading Challenge. This time I've read a book to fill the category 'A book originally written in another language'. The Method was originally written in German and the translated into English by Sally-Ann Spencer.

Mia is a scientist in the world run by The Method. Everything about this world is completely health based. Everyone is required to submit various blood tests and urine samples to The Method in an attempt to create an completely illness free human race. Things begin to get a little heated when Mia stops submitting her data. She is now technically a criminal and could be facing a fate worse than death.

Ermm.... I'm not really sure where I should start with reviewing this book. It had the weirdest effect on me, no word of a lie. I found that while reading this, I wasn't particularly hooked, I wasn't gripped to the story line, I didn't even find the book overly special or interesting, but something kept the pages turning. I'm not entirely sure what it was. It could have been the fact that I wanted to make sure it ended right, or I had a slight hint of hope that it might get a little more gripping.

I really, really liked the idea and the structure of the world that Zeh created and I think there is a lot of potential for this to have been a really good book. I felt that the relationships between characters were very confused. As a reader, on many occasions, I wasn't sure whether the writer wanted me to like a character or not.

Over all I think it was an interesting book and a good idea that maybe could have been written down better. Whether or not the German manuscript read better or not, I don't know and unfortunately as I don't speak German, I will never know. I didn't not enjoy this book but I didn't particularly enjoy it either and unfortunately I don't think I'll be reading an of this author's other books in a hurry.

As usual I don't like telling people what they can an can't read. We all have different preferences and this blog is purely my personal opinion. If the synopsis sounds like something you would like to read, go for it. It's only a short book. What have you got to lose?

THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood (chapters 22 - 25)

Chapter twenty two starts off with a short paragraph, where Offred is explaining how she is feeling after the Birth, however the way she speaks, in short, breathless sentences makes it sound more like it is Offred who has given birth to the child rather than Ofwarren. As I mentioned last time, this reflects the ideology that the Handmaids are all one body, carrying out one purpose. The shortness of the paragraph also suggests that it is something important that she neither has the energy, or wants to talk about and therefore sums it up quickly.

The format of the rest of this chapter is rather clever, because it is Offred talking about another handmaid and she is retelling a story that has been passed onto her. She narrates the story in third person which makes this element stand out against the rest of the narrative because you have first and third person narrative juxtaposed together. This emphasizes the importance of this story to the readers. It is only once, Offred reveals this to the reader, this she becomes to act more bravely and starts to break the rules more frequently. This could be representing the empowerment of knowledge. By physically telling the story of Moira's defiance, she has come to believe it more definitely, to the point that she feels that she can do it also, that she also has the ability and the power to do such things. This also shows us clearly the reason that the handmaids conversations with each other are so restricted; because of the powerful effect that this information can have.

The other thing that really stands out to me in this chapter; short though it is, is the way that Moira swaps her clothes with the aunt, this is not what surprised me though, what surprised me is the reaction that everybody has. No one begs to differ that Moira is an Aunt merely because she is wearing the Aunts uniform. Here we see all to clearly that in Gilead, what you wear defines who you are. You are judged by the colour of you're dress. This is something that we as a reader can relate to because we live in a world where, although we are encouraged not to judge people by what brands and labels they wear, we still subconsciously do it. We make assumptions based on what we see people wearing, just as the Guardian assumed that Moira was an Aunt based on the dress she was wearing.

"This is a reconstruction" is the opening statement of chapter twenty three. I find this most fascinating because although Offred is talking about her story; and this suggests that she is writing this after Gilead and she is no longer a handmaid, I believe that is is also Atwood referring to the entire world this the story is set in. Gilead is a reconstruction of society, constructing it how they believe it should be run. Also they have reconstructed many religious values, which also have been rebuilt to suit the needs of Gilead and the people that are in charge. So I feel quite unnerved at the thought that somebody has taken a strong, thriving society (as we know it) and they have rebuilt/reconstructed it to fit with their ideas and their regime.

I love chapter twenty three, I really do love it. I think it is brilliant how Atwood creates this terrible suspense as Offred is summoned to the commanders office for reasons we know not. I know personally, I began to feel scared for Offred because I thought his intentions were to rape her or force her to carry out some equally degrading activity. I felt that the poor girl had been through enough and I really felt like she didn't need this, however when she enters his office and asks her to play SCRABBLE! I physically started laughing out loud because it just didn't seem real at the time; that the commander should summon his Handmaid in the cover of night to attend to him in his office... to play scrabble of all things. It almost adds an element of comic relief to the story. It seems so trivial to us, scrabble isn't something that we would normally get excited over, but for Offred it is sweet,sweet honey, after all words and literature are forbidden to her, so this opportunity to play word games is absolutely unbelievable. It has added something to her life now that she can actually look forward to however it also raises the question: Is this to good to be true?

The whole scenario in the commanders office is very much separated from the rest of Gileadean life. Even the Commander himself is completely different once he is in this room with Offred, even the way that he speaks to her. I found myself quite taken aback when he said hello to her because this is not to required greeting, it is something of the time before. However Offred explains to the reader that she had difficulty remembering the correct response to Hello. This shows us that despite her defiance, the ways of Gilead have finally managed to make some impression on her, pushing out old memories that used to seem so trivial and causing her to automatically think that there is a correct response to everything. As well as breaking the laws of reading and literature, I also believe that the Commander is breaking the laws of education in Gilead, re-tutoring her in the ways of the time before Gilead; almost as if he feels sorry for her and he is trying to help her hold onto herself in this society so set on separating itself from the rest of the world.

I think the words that Atwood has chosen for the Commander and Offred to play during the game are very clever and if you look closely at them, you can see the hidden meaning:

Larynx: The part of the throat that causes you to create voice, Offred's voice is silenced in Gilead

Valance: A piece of material draped over another, could in this instance the dress that Offred is forced to wear.

Quince: A fruit - Fruit of the womb, children, fertility

Zygote: The beginning stages of an embryo, Offred has still yet to concieve

Limp: Could be a pun aimed at the commander and his manhood, considering he has still to get her pregnant

Gorge: Offred is gorging on words which she wouldn't normally have access to while she has the opportunity too. Gorge is also a chasm which could represent the distance between her and the commander and/or how Gilead has left Offred feeling inside.

Finally for this chapter, in his office the Commander even has the audacity and the self felt empowerment to ask Offred to kiss him, which she has already explain in chapter sixteen: "Kissing is forbidden between us".
It shows us a little bit about who the commander thinks he is, Untouchable and that he cannot be punished because his is too high up in the chain of command. However, even though he feels like this, he doesn't flaunt it, he keeps it to himself and pleasures himself with his own illegal secret.

Chapter twenty four is such a contrast to the previous chapter, she has just had one of the best nights of her new life and yet, the night time section; chapter fourteen, is so feminist centralized. we hear her recalling things that Aunt Lydia said about 'Men are sex machines' and she also thinks of her mother who, by know, we know always was an active feminist. Almost as if now she is trying to convince herself that it is too good to be true and that she shouldn't get too comfortable with him.

But something has change, now, tonight. Circumstances have changed.

I really like how Atwood has used this sentence, because it marks turning point in the entire book, which Offred does not yet know about. This works well because we know that there are somethings which she isn't telling us, either because she doesn't know or doesn't want to experience that pain anymore than she has to, and now it is almost the opposite, she is revealing something that she doesn't know she knows yet.

Atwood has juxtaposed different emotions and atmospheres really well, after you hear Offred contemplating humanity and how easy it is to reinvent it, thinking about makeup and clothing and the apparently dire effects it had, and then all of a sudden, it switched into this crazed hysteria, that is so great it causes Offred to collapse. I think this direct juxtaposition works incredibly well to express the certain effects of just how drastic hysteria can really be. I also think that Atwood's choice of the word Hysteria is really interesting, coming from the same origins as the word Hysterectomy which applies only to women and the removal of the uterus and the womb, which of course, Offred would be useless without, so this word could represent that some important part of her has been taken from her; personality, name etc...

'Red all over the cupboard' is a sentence in this chapter which has really grabbed my attention and really made me think. This could literally mean the red of her dress but then it also makes you wonder if she is bleeding in someway, a sign that maybe she has failed to get pregnant again. But also I feel that maybe Atwood has used it as a metaphor, linking it to the phrase 'seeing red' which means that someone is really angry, furious even. The idea that you are so angry that you begin to see everything in a red tint, because of the hate and the frustration and the anger that you are feeling. I feel that this is a metaphor for how Offred is feeling at this point, that the whole event with the Commander has gone beyond puzzling her and has actually made her feel angry about it.

Chapter twenty five has a great mix of different themes and thoughts and snippets of memories, as if Offred is struggling to focus on one particular thing for too long with out being distracted or forcing herself to think about something less painful. Initially she talks about when Cora discovered her in the cupboard, however after only a couple of pages, she skips ahead missing out entire months which we hear nothing about. This backs up the idea of the unreliable narrator; the idea that Offred is hiding things from the reader, whether it is because she wishes not to share or because she is unable to share for fear of punishment  we do not know, however it does make us wonder about whether we are hearing the whole truth. Also during the section that Offred skips ahead to, she describes how out of everything that Serena Joy has, the only things that she really genuinely coverts is the shears that she uses in the garden, this links back to previously in the novel when Offred expresses an interest in stealing something from the house but it also suggests that maybe she is beginning to think about ending her own life; equally it could be that she just wants ownership of something that would give her power. It reminds me of a part in The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, where Gus always holds a cigarette between his teeth yet never lighting it, the idea being that you have control over the killing thing and whether or not it has the power to kill you. If you don't light the cigarette, it can't cause lung cancer. It could be a similar situation, Offred wants the shears not to end her own life with them but just to know that she has the power to do that if the need ever arose or she ever wished to do so.

Chapter twenty five also plays host to the third meeting of Offred and the commander. All in all, these meeting with the commander, reveal to us the journey that Offred is going on and how she is becoming more and more adventurous and brave. On this third meeting she asks the Commander for some hand cream (a forbidden substance). I suppose to us it would be like asking you're legal guardian or boss for drugs or something equally and illegal.

She also takes the step as to explain to the reader, the arrangement that she has with the Commander. This suggests that she is beginning to trust the reader and to feel more comfortable with the people she is speaking to. This backs up the idea addressed in earlier posts, that Offred is an unreliable narrator. It confirms that she has been hiding parts of the truth from us as she is only now beginning to reveal these to us.
'The Commander and I have and arrangement. Its not the first such arrangement in history, though the shape it's taken is not the usual one." I find this quote fascinating as it hints to the realization that Offred comes to at the end of the chapter. It is as if she is looking back in hindsight at what happened and is trying to warn her previous self that she is growing too comfortable with the commander and that "for him, I must remember, that I am only a whim". I feel that the first quote leads up nicely to this latter one, letting the reader see something that our narrator didn't see themselves at the time. "It's not the first such arrangement in history".

Finally, the way Atwood repeats the use of listing devices when describing the scrabble game helps to emphisise how the ritualistic and orderly way in which these meetings flow. Everyone appears to be the same however the difference in the way that Offred describes them changes, showing us that her attitudes towards the Commander and his arrangement have changed and are changing.

THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood (chapters 17 - 21)

Chapter seventeen is so different to chapter sixteen, that it almost takes you aback when Offred returns to her room as if nothing has happened.

The way that Offred uses the butter is yet again something that is completely alien to us; something else that was once strange, but has now become the norm for our narrator, however even though it is completely alien to us, it still shows us how Offred and the other Handmaids are still, to some extent able to think for themselves. They use butter as a substitute moisturiser; 'A trick I learned at the Rachel and Leah school'. Rachel and Leah being the two women from the Bible who have supposedly inspired this society of surrogacy. This clearly displays the fact that Offred isn't the only one who is doing things that she shouldn't be doing.

At the top of page one hundred and eight, she mentions that she's alone in her single bed. This isn't the first time that she has nodded to the fact that she has a single bed, she does this also at the start of chapter twenty three. This could be Offred revealing to us one of the things that she is struggling most to adjust to. If for years she has been sharing a double bed with Luke as we are lead to believe, then it would be very difficult to get used to sleeping alone in a single bed. This could reflect the loneliness that Offred feels, and it also alludes to the notion that romance is never an option in Gilead.

'The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow' is a line from The Night Before Christmas, which is a happy poem about Christmas and the excitement that it is to bring, not only does this contradict the atmosphere of Offred's entire life, but it could also act as a metaphor for what is to come, when she is summoned to meet the commander and it seems as if all her Christmases have come at once; reading, books, magazines, unrestricted speech...

I find it quite strange that all of a sudden, Offred declares her undying craving to steal something, which catches you off guard a little bit. It seems like a bit of an anachronism, you get this long heart felt cry about how she longs to have Luke and to be held and feel something other than oppression, then all of a sudden 'I want to steal something'

However this impulse that she gets unknowingly leads her to Nick who allows her to feel for a short moment how she longed to feel with Luke. It allows us to see that Offred still does have the ability to feel what she thought she had lost forever. Romance is never an option in Gilead however in that slight moment, it appears that although it may not be an option, it does still exist. This is also backed up on page one hundred and twenty three, (chapter nineteen) when she tells us about the initials and dates carved into the desk, in an attempt to create something permanent to show that those concerned would be in love forever. However there were none of these from after nineteen eighty, which gives an indication as to when Gilead first came to be about.

I think the simile of the crystal glass sound that Offred uses to describe herself is really effective, because it allows her to show just for delicate and fragile she is feeling. Something beautiful, yet fragile.

The rest of this chapter; I think, is really interesting because, Offred talks about what she believes about what happen to her beloved Luke after they were separated. This in itself is not unusually, people often talk through what they believe as if they are trying to reinforce it in their own minds, to help the to believe it more, however what IS unusual about this is that Offred talks through three or four different possibilities as to what has happen to Luke and each one is very different to the one before. I find it interesting how she tries to tell us that she believes all three of these. You can believe someone is dead, a prisoner and free all at the same time. It just isn't possible for someone to be all of these things at once.

Towards the end of chapter eighteen, we also start to see something else rather interesting begin to happen. 'In Hope. why did they put that above a dead person? Was it the corpse hoping, or someone still alive? Does Luke hope?'
Firstly, this quote tells us that out of the three possibilities she talked us through in the chapter, the one where Luke is dead is the one she believes the least because she can still talk about Luke as if he is still alive and they are just separated.
Secondly, the reasons that In Hope is put across gravestones is because the people who buried them are hoping that they will go to heaven. So the fact that Offred is wondering what there is to hope about suggests that she has lost any faith that she had before Gilead. The one thing that is supposed to be built around religion is the very thing that has caused her lose her religion.

Atwood has named part eight Birth Day as apposed to Birthday. This is an effective play on words. In Gilead, a birth day is not a celebration of someones birthday but the day that a child is born, and all the handmaids gather to share in the birth and the Commanders wives gather together to celebrate the birth of the commanders wife's child.

I really like the metaphor that Atwood has used for describing Gilead. The cushion that used to be part of a set of three FAITH, HOPE and CHARITY. 'HOPE and CHARITY, where have they been stowed?' out of these three hope and charity have been taken away. Just as there is no hope in Gilead and certainly no charity. This leaves only faith. After all Gilead is built on faith and religion, so if you choose not to accept faith, what else is there left?

The scene with Offred thinking about the chair is also very effective because it raises so many things that have a relevance to Gilead and/or Offred:

• leader of a meeting - chairman - COMMANDER
• mode of execution - electric chair - PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EXECUTED IN GILEAD
• first syllable in charity - ONE THING MISSING FROM GILEAD
• french word for flesh - HANDMAIDS ARE NEED FOR THEIR BODIES - THEIR FLESH

To Offred they are unconnected but to us the reader they are most definitely connected. It also indicates that Offred could well have once been a fairly well educated woman before she became and handmaid.

 While Offred is in the Birthmobile, she tells us a small amount about what the inside looks like, however I get the impression; from the benches and the fact she has to get in the back door, that the Birthmobile is nothing more than a pimped up prison van, used to transport the Handmaids in large numbers. this reflects the idea that Offred is a prisoner in this society and this world.

Chapter twenty is interesting as it really does lay out in front of you, the views of this new world. I think of all the neologisms that Atwood has used throughout the novel so far, the term Unwoman, that we find here is by far the most interesting. Initially I thought it just meant women who were infertile and unable to carry out their purpose in life, however as Aunt Lydia continues on, it becomes clear that it actually encompasses all women who are 'wasting their time'. This points most directly women who have sex with other women, i.e lesbians.

However Aunt Lydia says 'We would have to condone some of their ideas, even today. Only some, mind you'. This shows us that this community of Gilead would agree with some of the things the Unwomen fought for and said, which tells us that these were Lesbian Feminists.

I'm going to move onto chapter twenty one fairly swiftly because I feel that this is a very important chapter in this section of the book.

The colour symbolism in this chapter is really incredible, for the first time we see a handmaid not dressed in red, Janine/Ofwarren who has gone into labour, has been permitted to give birth wearing white. This could symbolize that she is no longer just a handmaid, but she has completed that task that has been set, she has not only gotten pregnant, but she has carried it to full term and is giving birth to it. She has completed her purpose.

The fact that all the handmaids are there and also all the commanders' wives are there, works well to symbolize the idea that they are all one body; one flesh. This is further backed up when Offred describes the labour pains that she and the other Handmaids begin to feel in sympathy with Janine.

I have really enjoyed reading this section of the book and I do believe that the book continues to get better.

THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood (chapters 7 - 10)

So at the end of chapter six we left Offred and Ofglen looking at the hanged men on the city wall on their way back to the houses they have been assigned to live in, and our Handmaid narrator recalls something that Aunt Lydia said, which proves to be rather unnerving.

"Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what we are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary".

Personally, I find this thought quite scary, the idea that everything that I once knew and did as part of my daily life, would soon become so far separated from who I am that it would no longer seem ordinary. By using this quote, Atwood had gotten deep inside the head of her reader, making them feel like the narrator, helping us deepen our connections with Offred.

However throughout the story, Atwood uses fragmented narrative. All the chapters are broken up with flashbacks, varying in the time of the memory, sometimes they are memories merely months old; recalling when she first started her new life as a Handmaid as we see on page 23, and some times they are much older, going back many years before the 'war'; such as when she remembers holding her daughter on page 73 later on in chapter twelve. Another way that Atwood achieves this fragmented narrative is to add chapters to the book when Offred isn't restricted to the ways of Gilead.

This is what we have in chapter seven. 'The night is mine, my own time, to do with as I will'.
Initially, as the reader I felt a sigh of relief when I read this first sentence because from the beginning I have wanted her to be able to have even a small time to herself, but that relief I felt for her was short lived as she goes on to explain that 'as long as I am quiet. As long as I don't move. As long as I lie still'. Even the time she is given to herself is controlled by the people who own her. But I feel that this is where Atwood most reveals the resolve of the Narrator; Offred. She uses this time to do what she is advised not to; she uses it to think, to dream, to be her own soul. This is also when we first meet Moira.

She also refers a lot to the reader in chapter seven more so than in the rest of the book, explaining the versatility of the word 'you' and how it can mean a number of different things, almost as if she is trying to catch the readers attention, like a plea for help, we are outside this society and therefore the only ones who can help her.

Chapter eight returns back to the main story-line where chapter six left off, looking at the bodies on the city wall (which have now been changed which indicates they have been waiting and watching a while).

When Offglen says to Offred 'it's a beautiful Mayday' it triggers another flash back to one of her discussions with Luke (her husband before Gilead) to the origins of the distress call 'mayday', this is just another example of Offred trying to retain her sanity in the midst of a culture where she cannot, think for herself or read or do anything remotely similar to her old life. She is clinging on to what is left of her old life and refusing to let go.This mention of 'mayday' and also 'SOS' could also once again be Offred's subtle attempting at calling out to the reader for help and salvation. However on page 59 when she sees the Commander out side her room, she actually refers to it as her room; her personal room, and she acknowledges that she calls it her room, which shows although she could be slipping into believing that this is a normal life, she still has the opportunity to stop herself from falling out of reality.

Chapter eight is quite long and covers a number of different settings, including the town, the kitchen with the Marthas and the hall outside of the room Offred has been assigned. We spend every little time in the town and the return journey to the house is very short and to the point, almost rushed which could reflect how They feel about the Handmaids being in the town with other people. Earlier we learn that the university has been shut down; this can implore the idea that 'knowledge is power' and university is a source of knowledge. This shows us that They don't want anyone to pose as a threat to their position of power. However people can also gain knowledge by talking to other people, so by controlling the language used and the topics of conversation which are acceptable between Handmaids, keeps the passing of information to a minimum. The short amount to time spent talking about the time spent in town and the journey home, also suggests that the people in charge, don't like the Handmaids to be away from their houses for too long.

This though is continued on into chapter nine, when Offred finally gives into the idea that it is her room and that if she is to keep hold of her sanity, she really must have somewhere to call her own, something more than just a hotel room, as she refers to it when she recalls exploring the room for the first time.  The fact that initially thought of it as a hotel room, showed that Offred had a glimmer of hope when she had first entered her current situation however the way that Atwood has juxtaposed the past and present, it is really clear that by accepting this 'hotel room' she has accepted that this new world is not a temporary measure and it is more than likely that she may never see the end of it.

Throughout the rest of the chapter, Offred talks us through the search of her room that she did, which I think is a very personal thing to do. This is the only place that she has to herself and she chooses to share that with us. Even down to the one thing that she is strictly forbidden to do; reading, when she finds those few words (Nolite te bastardes carborundorum), Even though Offred doesn't know what they mean, she still holds them very close to her, something that no one else knows about and that she can keep to herself, but even these she chooses to share with us.

Atwood uses another religious reference when she says, 'I saved the cupboard until the third day'. In the Christian belief Jesus rose again from the death on the third day after his crucifixion to bring salvation to man kind, I think this could be a metaphor that whatever Offred found in that cupboard and what ever those words mean, could be the key to her salvation from Gilead.

About half of chapter ten is about Offred remembering memories of her songs she used to sing with her other and also memories of chatting with Moira. Flitting between the two - past and present - ever couple of paragraphs. These past parts of the chapter are very familiar to us, not only because Atwood has written one similar to it earlier in the novel but also because it include things that we ourselves can relate to.

The other half of this chapter is Offred narrating her current situation. The way that Atwood describes and writes about the new summer dresses make them sound almost pleasant, and less like the habits that they are forced to wear as their uniform. Atwood's use of the word Things makes it very clear about how sexual behavior and harassment is felt about in Gilead. 'Such things do not happen to nice women', Linking this back to the comment that Aunt Lydia made about 'Freedom to and freedom from', we can see that this society is trying to convince Offred and the other Handmaids that they're much better off where they are now, than where they were before. They are selling Gilead to the women as a place where they are free from the harassment from men and they no longer have to be embarrassed by showing to much skin or being groped by old men because non of that will happen to them in Gilead.

I feel much happier now that I have a name for the Handmaid, although we will never find out what her real name is, I still this it is important that we can refer to her with a name, to treat her with the humanity that no one else does, however this just goes to show that to Them, she is nothing but an instrument in their wider plan.

Finally, in chapter ten, we really hear Offred's thoughts about the commander clearly for the first time. we get a description of his grey hair, 'silver you might call it if you were being kind'.  And the Handmaid also tells us about how she feels about him; where as you would expect her to feel anger, hatred and respect for this man she explains how she has a feeling for him she doesn't know how to describe, however makes a point of telling us that 'I don't know what to call it, It isn't love'.  this could be an indication that the narrator is hiding things from her audience and that she may possibly be unreliable.

THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood (chapters 1 - 6)

Initial thoughts:

Even before I had been given a copy of the book, I had begun to form some initial thoughts and feelings about the book. Just on hearing the title of the book, my first reaction was to think I would be reading a period novel set in a medieval time period. I assumed it would be told from the point of view of a servant girl/maid who served the Queen/Duchess etc.... and we would be following the story of her life in the palace and we would endure her hardships together. However this could not have been further from the truth. Initially it stood out to me as a book that I would not normally pick up although I was not reluctant to read it and up to now I have been pleasantly surprised.

The book:

I have found the first chapters of the book rather overwhelming but equally I have found them incredibly interesting and intriguing. I feel that Atwood has been very clever in the way she has started this book. She provokes so many questions in the reader's mind that it leaves them no option but to carry on reading in order to discover the answers.

In my opinion, The Handmaids tale strikes me as a novel set in the future (although, there is no mention of a time period so far), and something has happened to society, causing it to take a step back in order for it to be able to move forwards.

In chapters two through six, we learn a lot about the environment and it seems that Atwood is gradually introducing us to this strange, new, dystopian world. In chapter two, the reader is still fairly familiar with the surrounding environment. 'A chair, a table, a lamp' are all things that we are familiar with and use in everyday life. However the fact that everything in the room has been modified to make it suicide proof is the first real clue that we get into the attitudes of the society that our main character is dwelling in. It suggests that the main character (who is still unnamed at this point), is living in a world where her own actions are being controlled by other people, it also point to the suggestion that these people don't trust her and that she is not here because she wants to be.

When 'The bell that measure time is ringing' and the Handmaid ventures out of her room in chapter two, Atwood begins to reveal the hierarchy of the society that the story is set in. When we first meet the Martha, it is immediately clear to us that she is of lower status than the handmaid however it is not immediately obvious why. It is only when the handmaid recalls the Martha Cora recall the fact that it could have been her if she hadn't had her 'tubes tied' we get the first inkling into why the handmaid might be here even if it is not to clear, this is supported later in the book when her and Ofglen are sent into town and they see the men in white coats still hanging from their nooses and they describe 'the placard hung around his neck to show why he had been executed: a drawing of a human foetus'. This indicates to the reader that these men were executed for carrying out abortions for women. This suggests that abortion is forbidden in this society and leads us to believe that this has something to do with the purpose of the handmaids. I say purpose because as the name of her partner suggests (Ofglen = Of Glen. Ofwayne and Ofwarren are other examples) these women no longer have a life of their own but they are owned by their commanders and are treated as so. Therefore, it can be concluded that the handmaid narrating the story will have a similar name to that of her partner.

The colours of each woman's dress also tells us a lot about who they are, what their job is and their position in in the sociological hierarchy.

The red dresses that the Handmaids are made to wear could represent women in scarlet, and seduction which inferences towards the job she has been given, yet not revealed to the reader. The red could also signify the fact that she is a possession of the Commander, she has a contract with him that cannot be broken; almost like a blood contract (blood red). Also this can be liked to page 18 when Atwood uses the phrase "Sister's dipped in blood". Nun's have an agreement with God to serve him, so likening the handmaids to Nuns, not only reflects the religious nature of the society, but it also suggests that they have a contract or an agreement with someone, to serve in some way.

The blue dresses that the Commander's Wives wear, represent their purity and the respect they expect to receive from the handmaids and the marthas. These blue dresses can be likened to the blue dress that the Virgin Mary is often depicted wearing.

Catholic and High church views are a recurring theme throughout the story so far and I believe that this will be no different as the story continues. Not only in the dress that the women are forced to wear, but also in the way that they are made to speak. 'Blessed be the fruit' is the preferred greeting between the handmaids and 'may the Lord open' is the preferred response, however other phrases such as 'praise be' are commonly used in conversation when such conversation is permitted to take place. The term 'blessed be the fruit' could be another nod towards the handmaids purpose and place in this society, Which I think we can now conclude has much to do with bearing children and children are often referred to as the 'fruit of the womb' in religious circles.

The thing I have noticed the most about these first chapters of the book, is that Atwood has used an incredible amount of inference to point towards major points in the book without actually giving to much away too early in the book.