Memory – nonlinear structure, discombobulation, ambiguity of society
C7: ‘you’re getting ashes on my bed’
‘parts of women’s bodies, turning to black ash in the air’
Repetition – shows the different meanings of ashes in the past and
present.
C9 She pretends she lives in a hotel room – having everything pristine,
bed prepared as if having a short stay in a hotel. Ater all, this isn’t her
home, just a short stay somewhere.
She misses the fact that the beds didn’t mean ‘sex’ but meant ‘talking it
over’ – consent was allowed back then
‘food’ ‘would appear on a tray’ ‘food I had chosen’ – she had choice. She
could be ‘careless’ as it was her choice, not the choice of death-threating
eyes.
‘postcards too, with pictures of the hotel on them’ ‘send them to anyone
you wanted’– this was unheard of in Gilead, an almost invisible place to
normality/ reality. She must be in an invisible place so she can be
protected or let me rephrase, her body/fertility can be protected.
‘sometimes I repeat the words to myself. They give me a small joy’ – as
she knows she is not alone – or there must be a shared attitude against
the institution.
C18: Uses words so we can experience it with her = ‘shatter’ ‘thud’ ‘in
hope’ = italics
Compares memories to the present but also believes in the future =
memories of her ‘rounded belly’
‘a flash of lightning… Luke’s eyes go white for an instant = like the
floodlights or flash of a camera
‘pollen of the weeds’ = immoral beliefs spreading across the world
‘God isn’t the only one who knows’ = God’s not idealised and praised for
his omniscience = he doesn’t tell her where Luke is.
Through her eyes the red ‘Colour of tulips’ represents ‘a wound’ or bloody
lips, not fertility like in Gilead. – she does hold memories from the past to
influence the memories she wants to live for the future.
‘I believe in thought transference now’ Maybe she is mad or brainwashed
or she is the opposite and aware of what they’re doing.
‘the smell of a cooped up animal’ = dehumanisation
,‘someone must be out there taking care of things’ – she can be optimistic,
or casual about it. The optimism may act as a manifestation ‘for later’
‘I will be ready for it’ = it being what’s beyond the wall.
P145, C24: ‘weren’t any pictures of the ovens’ ‘I thought these people had
been eaten’
‘she still took pride in her appearance’
‘like a rubber glove pulled tight. She was wearing pearls’ ‘The times were
abnormal. She took pride in her appearance’ ‘How easy it is to invent a
humanity’ ‘ A big child’– her Mother – material worth
‘The instinct to soothe, to make it better’ – that Offred – can’t act upon –
she cant do so for her own children
‘from a nightmare. Things are so hard for you’ – not real, talking about
reality.
31 ‘when I was younger, imagining age, I would think, Maybe you
appreciate things more when you don’t have much time left’
‘brain going pastel’ childhood
‘The danger is greyout’ – colour symbolism
‘lukewarm like the room and will have a green film on the yolk and will
taste faintly of sulphur’ – toxicity of men
‘clipped whispers’ ‘amputated speech’ – fashioned into the same people,
so strict, difficult to live in.
‘picked up for loitering’ – punished for being normal.
‘yesteryear’ – probability of time for her – difficult to that of her mum’s
‘like one formerly scalded’ – blue = water vs fire
36: ‘Manhattan Cleanup’ ‘women throwing their arms thankfully into the
air’ ‘salesmen down on their knees’ ‘repenting in public’ – religion
foundation/ core
, ‘repenting in public, conical paper hats like dunce hats on their heads’ –
KKK, Witches
37 ‘It’s like walking into the past… ‘I’m not sure, now’
‘Am movie about the past is not the same as the past’ ‘yet here they are’
‘laughter… It’s a long time since I heard that’
‘their eyes look too big to me, too dark and shimmering, their mouths too red,
too wet, blood-dipped and glistening or… too clownish’
‘He smiles down at me’ ‘He does volunteer directions’
43: ‘we hear it shrill and silver, an echo from a volley ball game long ago’
C7: ‘you’re getting ashes on my bed’
‘parts of women’s bodies, turning to black ash in the air’
Repetition – shows the different meanings of ashes in the past and
present.
C9 She pretends she lives in a hotel room – having everything pristine,
bed prepared as if having a short stay in a hotel. Ater all, this isn’t her
home, just a short stay somewhere.
She misses the fact that the beds didn’t mean ‘sex’ but meant ‘talking it
over’ – consent was allowed back then
‘food’ ‘would appear on a tray’ ‘food I had chosen’ – she had choice. She
could be ‘careless’ as it was her choice, not the choice of death-threating
eyes.
‘postcards too, with pictures of the hotel on them’ ‘send them to anyone
you wanted’– this was unheard of in Gilead, an almost invisible place to
normality/ reality. She must be in an invisible place so she can be
protected or let me rephrase, her body/fertility can be protected.
‘sometimes I repeat the words to myself. They give me a small joy’ – as
she knows she is not alone – or there must be a shared attitude against
the institution.
C18: Uses words so we can experience it with her = ‘shatter’ ‘thud’ ‘in
hope’ = italics
Compares memories to the present but also believes in the future =
memories of her ‘rounded belly’
‘a flash of lightning… Luke’s eyes go white for an instant = like the
floodlights or flash of a camera
‘pollen of the weeds’ = immoral beliefs spreading across the world
‘God isn’t the only one who knows’ = God’s not idealised and praised for
his omniscience = he doesn’t tell her where Luke is.
Through her eyes the red ‘Colour of tulips’ represents ‘a wound’ or bloody
lips, not fertility like in Gilead. – she does hold memories from the past to
influence the memories she wants to live for the future.
‘I believe in thought transference now’ Maybe she is mad or brainwashed
or she is the opposite and aware of what they’re doing.
‘the smell of a cooped up animal’ = dehumanisation
,‘someone must be out there taking care of things’ – she can be optimistic,
or casual about it. The optimism may act as a manifestation ‘for later’
‘I will be ready for it’ = it being what’s beyond the wall.
P145, C24: ‘weren’t any pictures of the ovens’ ‘I thought these people had
been eaten’
‘she still took pride in her appearance’
‘like a rubber glove pulled tight. She was wearing pearls’ ‘The times were
abnormal. She took pride in her appearance’ ‘How easy it is to invent a
humanity’ ‘ A big child’– her Mother – material worth
‘The instinct to soothe, to make it better’ – that Offred – can’t act upon –
she cant do so for her own children
‘from a nightmare. Things are so hard for you’ – not real, talking about
reality.
31 ‘when I was younger, imagining age, I would think, Maybe you
appreciate things more when you don’t have much time left’
‘brain going pastel’ childhood
‘The danger is greyout’ – colour symbolism
‘lukewarm like the room and will have a green film on the yolk and will
taste faintly of sulphur’ – toxicity of men
‘clipped whispers’ ‘amputated speech’ – fashioned into the same people,
so strict, difficult to live in.
‘picked up for loitering’ – punished for being normal.
‘yesteryear’ – probability of time for her – difficult to that of her mum’s
‘like one formerly scalded’ – blue = water vs fire
36: ‘Manhattan Cleanup’ ‘women throwing their arms thankfully into the
air’ ‘salesmen down on their knees’ ‘repenting in public’ – religion
foundation/ core
, ‘repenting in public, conical paper hats like dunce hats on their heads’ –
KKK, Witches
37 ‘It’s like walking into the past… ‘I’m not sure, now’
‘Am movie about the past is not the same as the past’ ‘yet here they are’
‘laughter… It’s a long time since I heard that’
‘their eyes look too big to me, too dark and shimmering, their mouths too red,
too wet, blood-dipped and glistening or… too clownish’
‘He smiles down at me’ ‘He does volunteer directions’
43: ‘we hear it shrill and silver, an echo from a volley ball game long ago’
