blog 7 the last post

okay, so today we had a in class essay and it was something that i had been thinking about while reading the book. I see that the highest authoritative person is the commander, then comes the eye, guardian, aunts, wives, handmaids and the ecowives. In that order, i think it is the order of who in the society can read and who can not. i feel as though, women are put far at the bottom. Later on in the book, i know that these women obtain really scary qualities like ofglen kicking a man in the head, or offred wanting sex all the time from nick without getting pregnant. The women in this society gossip a lot and everyone apparently knows everything. rumors spread quickly and people seem to think the worse of others. i see that too in our society where people always talk about others behind their backs and how they spread lies and secrets among others.

blog 6

Okay, so this time i know we started learning more about different types of propaganda. There are testimonials, bandwagon, plain folk, glittering generalities and name calling. Fear happens to be the most used propaganda throughout The Handmaid's Tale. There are many uses, for instance, there is the time when the men are hung from the wall with Js on their clothes like the scarlet letter. The men have been charged with some crime. There are other times like when the women are at the red center and the aunts tell them that they all need to come together for one cause, which is to maintain the society and keep it precious. The aunts want them to also praise God and speak in biblical terms all the time. It was inevitable. They always had to speak and be polite in front of anyone and in case of eyes watching them, they had to be super diligent and careful. Testimonials were used a lot too, because women had to praise god all the time and therefore they had to abide by the bible, making any passage that the aunts or any higher authoritative person says that they "quote" from the bible makes it something to abide by and feared. Plain folk was seen when Offred was talking to the commander about how they can preserve the society. The commander was trying to convince offred that he was just like any other individual, he, besides having access to the black market could act like any regular man that wasn't in control all the time. I think that is a fat lie, because later in the book the commander uses his powers to bring out offred to jezzebel's so she could unwind and feel more at ease. At the same time, he wants to have sex with her because thats what he was after the whole time. My prediction of him being a gentleman was wrong. Later when they are at the club, the commander lets her be with the other women and offred runs into moira. When that happens, the both of them converse for a while, but after offred was led up to the room to have sex, she was later returned back to home where serena joy catches the make up that was left behind in the commander's room and gets very angry and calls offred a traitor. Then, at some point before serena finds out, serena forces offred to have sex with nick so that serena could be a mother. I feel that the wives always force the handmaids to have babies because they ultimately have a mothering feel to their nature.

blog 5

This is a very late post, but i didnt have access to a computer for a while, iphones can't use blogger. ANYWAYS...

The handmaid's tale is a very interesting story, i like the later chapters when Offred gets to be with the commander and speak to him as she would to a regular person before the society was created. I like how she and the commander can be together and talk, without anything sexual in mind. Playing scrabble, reading and conversing about past times and everything else that comes to mind. I do wonder though, why does the commander choose offred over all the other people that he could choose. i know that commanders like to be in control, but they have wives. This just proves to me that men are "sleezes" which in teenage code means perverts. They are always after something, if not a women's body. I like that Margaret Atwood uses her ideas and lets them run wild in her book.
I feel that a majority of these women are subdued into conformity and they are only pressured into conformity by fear, which i will talk about in my next blog entry.
Back to the book, i feel that as though Atwood at first seemed to make her female characters really fragile, but over time i can see that she starts to give them more masculine qualities like how Oflgen kicked the man in the head really hard. She kicked him to put him out of his misery because he was trying to save these women from the society. I thought that was a redemption quality that Atwood uses to justify that not all men are pigs. I hope that the book only gets more intense and better from here.

Blog 4

So far I have read about Offred's journey and what she has faced as her time as a handmaid. She helped with Janine's birth and she has witnessed the selfishness of the wives and what they think is theirs with no consideration to the birth mother. I also can tell now that the commander likes Offred, and I can see that he wants something more with her. Not out of lust, but more out of love. The commander possibly wants love and a relationship with Offred because he always makes her come back to play scrabble night after night. He also asks for her to kiss him-passionately. A handmaid can not be nothing more but a birth giver to the family she is sent to, therefore being more than a handmaid to Serena Joy's home would be disastrous. Handmaids, as we all know are just birth givers and of the lowest on the chain of education. Handmaids can not read, they can not be literate, which we discussed in class is the opportunity to analyze, read and write. Handmaids apparently while watching porno movies can read, since there were biblical inscriptions on the mattresses and other materials that were in the movies, as if they were meant to be seen. In the book it says that these women would see it and then gasp as if it was meant to be seen or to be interpreted. My critical reading partner, Kimberly and I have also discussed that while reading, we read questionable moments that the author brings up. We have absolutely no idea what the author is trying to portray, but we try to interpret it the best way we can, by substituting a word and adding it back into context. I like reading this book, because it is filled with ideas and thoughts of the character and not just third person omniscient, it adds to mystery and is very interesting.

The Handmaid's Tale

So far in class, i have learned that women are once again put down. My group and I have discussed about role of domesticity. The role of Domesticity means that women should remain doing household chores rather than in a business store or being a manager at a company and that the role of men is to go out and earn money to bring home to the family. I have read that the roles of women in The Handmaid's Tale is a Martha or a Handmaid. For men, they have limitless jobs to do and are even referred to as Angels for their job as a guardian, policemen, or protector. In the book, I have learned that womenand men both have their own spheres of where each person fits in. I have also learned that there are things called neologisms and what they are, are words like brb, lol, roftl, and lmao. They help make up colloquial writing. Many people use colloquial writing everday. It can be to express an emotion, an action, or to say something speedily. A majority of neologisms that i know of are acronyms, like lolwhich refers to laugh out loud. Lol can act as though you're really talking to someone in a letter and actually laughng while you're reading.
In the handmaid's tale, they talk about buildings that dont have store names with words, but images. The stores do this so that women do not read or learn how to read. Offred however, already learned how to read since she had attended college before and was able to read and write. When the commander wanted to play scrabble with offred, it was a chance to seduce her, and scrabble is an illicit game because it involes a lot of contact. You have to look at the person and you also have to touch pieces, hand them over, etc. This also shows that women are vulnerable and have to do whatever a man, or a higher superior says to do.

Handmaid's Tale Blog #1

The Handmaid's Tale was a bit confusing to me at first because I didn't understand what was happening in the first few chapters, but now I understand that there are Commander's Wives, Handmaids and Marthas. The Commannder's wives are the highest of the rank and are supposidly the eldest. They, I suppose can not have children and are very aged. The woman that Offred is a handmaid for is an example because Offred tells us that she once saw her new mistress on a television show when she was a young girl. Handmaids are women that bare children for the commander's wives, they have the option to continue to make babies or to become a martha, which is a woman that does the cooking, cleaning and dirty work of the house. When Offred was talking about what it was like before she was a handmaid and how she went to college, had kids and how she used to live a life more different than how she lives now-it shocked me! I wondered how a society was created like this one, where guardians that were called angels were the protectors and almost as if they were to be respected and regarded as the higher, greater sex.
The sex ritual that they have seems really religious, before Offred was to have sex with the commander to create babies, there was a special ritual that had to happen before any sex took place. I think that the commander's wife is jealous of the handmaids because they can no longer have babies, and thats why when Offred first stepped into the commander's wife's house, she warned her right off the bat that her husband was only hers and no one elses and it shall remain that way. That shows that the commander's wife wats to have children, but the fear of losing her husband to another woman is most definitely frightening so the commander's wife is mean and strict. The marthas are people that do the housework around the house and do as they are told. They wear green, I think, I'm not sure. Handmaids wear red, and as Holleigh was talking about today, red symbolizes fertility and sin. So handmaids having sex is a sin for having it with a man not their counterpart, and they need fertility to conceive babies. The wives all wear blue.
The handmaid's tale is quite interesting, because I would not have thought that there could be a society such as this where women are set into different standards and once again, men are given more freedom. The women are more restricted to what they can and can not do. Women can not talk or make eye contact with men, they can not be lustful. The men, like the limo driver, Sam, can hit on a woman, but a woman like Offred is not allowed to respond in any way. The women have to talk a certain way, and are not allowed to communicate or gossip with other women.

When It Changed

I perceived "When It Changed" to have been an excerpt about a community that rose from an epidemic to a prosperous and bolstering city. I didn't realize that it was talking about a whole woman planet called "Whileaway." To me, Whileaway sounds depressing and in need of something. The men of that planet had long been extinct for 6 centuries, but the name Whileaway seems like it still hopes and wishes for men to inhabit the planet. Their organization of government, they have no central government, in fact they rely on town caucuses when a consensus can not be achieved with the city caucuses.
Katharina, Katy and their daughters are an interesting bunch. Yuki, a very curious child wonders and questions everything that she can. They are like any other average family, except that they have two mothers that are able to conceive without any insemination. Instead, they perform parthenogenensis, which is the tying of the "ovs." I suppose parthenogenensis is like knotting two ovaries together to make a baby, which I think is physically impossible.
Whileaway people are all women, I suppose that there are only women on that planet, because 6 centuries ago there was an epidemic that only affected the men. When the earth men came and tried to assert themselves to bringing men up to the planet, I thought that they had no right and it was definately degrading to the people of the Whileaway. Katy and Katharina should have shot the volitile men when they had the chance. I feel that if someone had come to my home and tried to change everything to best benefit what they think is better for the home, I would have smacked that person silly. I feel that just because women are considered more fragile and dainty people that women are subjected to taking orders from men. This story definitely proves my claim that women are considered inferior to men. However, Katy and Katharina are nothing near inferior. The scar that stretched from temple to chin on Katharina's face shows that she can withstand a blow and fight back, Katy's adventurous hiking in the woods without a weapon or driving in the night with absolute confidence shows that she is not afraid to take risks. Their daughter, Yuriko, a curious young individual questions everything and wants to know about everything. Yuriko isn't afraid to approach an object she deems interesting, which shows that she is courageous.
The Madam President, is apparently the one that makes decisions for the people of Whileaway. That is a very big and very burdensome role. These women, strong and able to find confidence and order in themselves have been capable of maintaining Whileaway for 6 centuries without men, if men from earth suddenly decide that they want to inhabit the planet, I feel that the women of Whileaway should rebel and fight back. They have a population of 30 million - with numbers like that, nothing is impossible for them. They are technologically advanced like Earth people and are capable of building empires and cities. These women don't need men from Earth to complete their way of living.

social constricts

I, personally think that today's lesson on personal constricts was interesting because I know that people at school do separate and divide themselves from other people for many different reasons, but I never mentally processed the things we separate ourselves from. I find that age is a big social constrict for me because I see that my friends separate themselves from some of the older upperclassmen. I see that adults and parents underestimate adolescents because they are simply "too young to understand" as Ashley had stated in class. I know that my family treats me as though I am still a child. I also see that people separate themselves by the way they dress, what kind of music they listen to and their personality. In today's society there are many people that judge you right off the bat on what you wear, what music you could be listening to and how you act, like what DiMarco said today in class. I believe that not only age plays a factor, but how someone else perceives you when they first meet you. I remember that some of my friends did not really like me or appreciate me until they really got to know who i am as a person and they got to know and understand where i come from for acting the way I do. LeGuin also uses some social constricts in her book, but I think she may have tried to avoid doing so. In her book I feel as though that gender is a huge role in where you will get in life, she uses he as the main pronoun for many of the characters and I feel as though it is a sign that the male race will always dominate over females. I feel as though the female role in the book is a shortcoming, that females are not appreciated and in society there are still some people that are sexist and stereotypical that women can't do things that most men can do. I understand that girls are born with more fat than muscles but it doesn't mean that women can't be successful body builders and i know that girls are supposed to be "dainty" and "fragile" but there are tough, strong, intelligent and outstanding women that are no where near dainty and fragile. Overall, I have learned through the left hand of darkness that darkness and light complement each other. Without one, you can not have the other, without good there is no bad. I also have learned that gender plays a role in what you are expected of and what a person can really accimplish. LeGuin is a really good writer and at times it was difficult to understand, but in the end, I can understand the message that she was trying to send. I understand that she not only teaches us that the male role is unjustifiably dominant, but there are other factors that make people in our society divide and isolate themselves.

Best Friends and Buddies

It seems now since Estraven and Ai have been together for days now that estraven and genly have made some kind of bond with each other. They consider each other as closer friends and they have a stronger friendship bond to each other. It is also clear to see that chapter 17 is definately from estraven's point of view and how he perceives whats going on. Estraven is a kind person, he does not speak back to genly and does not put him down even when he knows he can and genly does not hesitate to speak his mind. I think that both genly and estraven are becoming amazing best friends because they are both cautious of one another. They may trust each other and consider them friends, but it is also for the fact that they put each other under scrutiny at all times. I know that if genly and estraven were to do something that was out of the ordinary, the other would judge one another without saying anything verbally. I do wonder how sometimes estraven can stand genly when genly makes fun of estraven. I know that estraven is trying to reach out and let genly believe in him more, but how can he believe in genly if genly constantly puts him down.

Obedience is Confomity

"...Orgota, people trained from birth in a disciple of cooperation, obedience, submission to a group purpose ordered from above. The qualities of independence and decision were weakened in them. They had not much capacity for anger."Pg.173

I think that if the Orgotas are so subservient to others and themselves, then their society is just going to collapse. What if another opposing nation decides to attack them? What will the people do? How will the people of Orgota defend themselves? When in the truck taken for jail time, you notice that they are all obedient in staying inside the truck and do not request to leave. In fact, they want to remain in the truck. They are filled with morals so being good and well behaved comes naturally to them. The only thing that i can think of that was rebellious was to get the dead man out of the truck and to get the sick man another truck so that the others will not become infected. Orgotas must have a lot of patience and the ability to be very understanding in order to be well behaved. I dont think our society is filled with people that can be that obedient and understanding, I am sure that there are plenty of people in our society now that are super obedient like the Orgotas, but humans are not all perfect. They crack, and can be easily swayed. I wonder of Orgotas, if they were pushed to a ccertain limit will be able to be forced to crack and tell others of their probelms. This reminds me of the story Driftglass, because the people in Driftglass as i read, were all nice people and i dont remember reading anything about the characters having hatred in them. I know that the characters were all kind like the Orgotas probably. Sometimes, i wonder how people can be kind to people that do not deserve to be treated fairly. I think it is unjust that those that help the ones that need it do not get the help they should get in return. The Orgotas are amazing for being so obedient and are amazing for being so well behaved. I admire them and hope that someday in our society, everyone can try to be a bit more like the Orgotas.

the left hand of darkness- chapter 9 and 10

" 'This is absolutely fascinating Mr. Ai,' said the host Commensal Yegey, a delicate, dapper, drawling fellow with keen eyes. ' But I can't see what'd they'd want with us. I mean to say, what particular good is an eighty-fourth world to them? And not, I take it, a very clever world, for we dont have Star Ships and so on, as they all do.' " pg. 137-138

In Yegey's words, i believe that his tone seems to be a little resentful. I'm not sure if he wants to obtain star ships or make a point that their eighty-fourth world can be just as superior and civilized as the one that Genly Ai had observed. I think that commensal felt resentful and jealous. He probably wants a star ship for his people and for his planet, but they probably do not have the resources to either build one or obtain one. I feel that Genly Ai's interepretation of obtaining a star ship to trade not only goods but to trade knowledge and new information for his people and thousands of others to share is important to him. I wonder if for Yegey, he wants to gain the star ship for purposes that are for personal gains. I wonder if Genly is able to accomplish his goals, that Yegey will turn around and disestablish everything that Genly had worked to gain. I feel that if Yegey was to gain control of a star ship that he would use it for the power of fascism and not to help to gain knowledge of his people. If Genly were leader, I know that he would spread his knowledge to the people and share all that he knows so that his people and his land would be most intelligent.
image from: www-cs.stanford.edu/.../Immagini/rocketship.gif

and

: cs.stanford.edu/.../manips/iarp/howtotravel.html

The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

Chapter 5 The Domestication of Hunch

In this chapter, i thought that right off the bat, when the narrator explains that his landlady was a man, i quickly got confused, but i remembered in the end that there is no specific gender. "I thought of him as my landlady, for he had fat buttocks that wagged as he walked, and a soft fat face, and a prying, spying, ignoble, kindly nature." pg. 48. I think this quite shows that the narrator has a slight attraction to his landlady Mr.Ai. I think this is what Jessey meant during the discussion today. I can tell that Genrie has an attraction to his landlady because he also claims to have a spark when he talks to him.
I also find it interesting that in the land that they live in, Gethen, there are no wars. Even though they may fight and quarrel all the time, there are no wars. It seems even though they are peace, they have many arguments with one another. I think it shows that fights sometimes maintain the peace. I dont understand the transition of why Genry is commuting to a Karhiders if he liked Getheren so much. Estraven mus really want to connect the two cities together and like we discussed today i believe that estraven wanted to connect the two cities to make it one place of intelligent higher beings than all others. I believe that he was genuine in wanting to make a community in which there were no different men and women, and everyone was distinguished for their personalities and their behaviors. Estraven may also have an alterior motive to try and make all people stay one sex. He may have wanted to experience what it would be like to have all people be of one kind and to experience what it would be like to live in a society of different sexes and not one person is either male or female.

I found that Faxe's transformation from a woman to a man could be scarring because being a woman for so long, you get accustomed to having a certain mindset. So if you are used to thinking a certain way, then how are you going to become a full man if you still think like a woman. Can the people of Getheren really change their people completely?