The Handmaid's Tale - Discussion
Jun 22, 2015 18:05:48 GMT -5
Post by wanderingheart on Jun 22, 2015 18:05:48 GMT -5
Ok guise. I admit it - I didn't read this month. It has been so busy, plus I wasn't in the right mind space to read a book about women's identity being in their utes. So, I skimmed a little online and here's some discussion questions to get you going.
Okay - discuss among yourselves your thoughts on the book. Apparently when I don't read and google questions, they're way off base, haha. #wasnotprepared #mybad
1. The novel begins with three epigraphs. What are their functions?
2. In Gilead, women are categorized as wives, handmaids, Marthas, or Aunts, but Moira refuses to fit into a niche. Offred says she was like an elevator with open sides who made them dizzy; she was their fantasy. Trace Moira's role throughout the tale to determine what she symbolizes.
3. Aunt Lydia, Janine, and Offred's mother also represent more than themselves. What do each of their characters suggest? What do the style and color of their clothes symbolize?
4. A palimpsest is a medieval parchment that scribes attempted to scrape clean and use again, though they were unable to obliterate all traces of the original. How does the new republic of Gilead's social order often resemble a palimpsest?
5. The Commander in the novel says you can't cheat nature. How do characters find ways to follow their natural instincts?
6. Why is the Bible under lock and key in Gilead?
7. Babies are referred to as "a keeper, "unbabies, " "shredders." What other real or fictional worlds do these terms suggest?
8. Atwood's title brings to mind titles from Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Why might Atwood have wanted you to make that connection?
9. What do you feel the "Historical Notes" at the book's end add to the reading of this novel? What does the book's last line mean to you?
Okay - discuss among yourselves your thoughts on the book. Apparently when I don't read and google questions, they're way off base, haha. #wasnotprepared #mybad
2. In Gilead, women are categorized as wives, handmaids, Marthas, or Aunts, but Moira refuses to fit into a niche. Offred says she was like an elevator with open sides who made them dizzy; she was their fantasy. Trace Moira's role throughout the tale to determine what she symbolizes.
3. Aunt Lydia, Janine, and Offred's mother also represent more than themselves. What do each of their characters suggest? What do the style and color of their clothes symbolize?
4. A palimpsest is a medieval parchment that scribes attempted to scrape clean and use again, though they were unable to obliterate all traces of the original. How does the new republic of Gilead's social order often resemble a palimpsest?
5. The Commander in the novel says you can't cheat nature. How do characters find ways to follow their natural instincts?
6. Why is the Bible under lock and key in Gilead?
7. Babies are referred to as "a keeper, "unbabies, " "shredders." What other real or fictional worlds do these terms suggest?
9. What do you feel the "Historical Notes" at the book's end add to the reading of this novel? What does the book's last line mean to you?
