Jezebel's - Reaction of the Revelation.

The first thing that interested me in this section of book is when Ofglen says "it was a shredder after all" referring to Janine's 'Unbaby'. Yet another misfortune had occured; it gave me a sudden and rapid feeling of shock. But then what were the chances of having it not have happened to Janine once again after the previous eight month miscarriage and abortion after her unfortunate attack. Offred describes Janine's appearance at the Women's Prayvaganzas as "very thin...her face is white and peaked as if the juice is being sucked out of her", this enforces a feeling of sympathy for me towards 'Ofwarren' and if I were there present at the Prayvaganzas, I would have felt a feeling of compassion and  empathy towards her if I were in Offred's persona. In previous chapters in the novel, Janine was portrayed as a show-off, someone that the Handmaid's envied because of her pregnant glow that she carried around with her when she was the carrier of life.

There is a clear antithesis between the Jezebel's club - that is forbidden - to the reality of the Gileaden society that is present in the novel which in my opinion I think is contradicting. The Gileaden society as a whole is seen as a society that excutes sexuality, destroys pornography revealing clothing such as the one that Offred has been asked to wear by her Commander: "feathers, mauve and pink...there are the cups for the breasts in purple sequins" although clothing such as that was meant to have been destroyed. As it progresses and Offred and her Commander finally arrive at the hotel, it is said that some women are in "bathing suits, one piece or bikini...body-tight...little pleaded skirts" as they are comfortably communicating and "lounging, strolling, leaning against one another" and men in dark uniform and suits in the middle of them. Likewise to Offred, "What I feel is not one simple thing. Certainly I am not dismayed by these women, not shocked by them". 

As Moira makes a re-appearance in the novel after her 'loose' escape I feel relieved that Moira is still out there having managed to escape such a rigid stage of the totalitarian society and become a loose woman that she is by nature. Moira does not only bring humour with her, but she also carries a presence with her that helps Offred see things optimistically as it is shown that Offred often makes comments about the things Moira would say or do when she was still around as a Handmaiden. I too feel as if Moira brings faith to the Handmaids as she is used as an example to show women that it is possible to break the doctrine of the dystopian society. This makes me feel hope for the Handmaids too and it brings a sense of modern and contemporary reality to the novel.

My interest in English Literature.

Just to begin my blog, I'm going to tell you lovely people about where I'm from, who I am and why I am amused by English Literature. However, as this is my first time ever having a blog, I am going to keep it simple for now, although I'm not quite sure if what I'm writing is too much or not enough.

I'm also not quite sure how to start this but I guess I will start by saying that my name is Lara as most of you probably do or don't know. I'm exactly five foot two, I'm 16 years old, I speak english as a second language and I'm from Portugal. But why does English Literature amuse me?

English Literature was the only lesson I felt 'at home with' and comfortable doing in high school, I don't think there was ever a day of my years in high school that I have not wanted to go to my English lessons. If anything, those were the only lessons I anticipated on the days I knew I had it. As I started to gain more of an understanding of what English Literature was really  about, my interest for the study of the history and art of literature turned into something that I knew I wanted to do in College at A level and maybe in university. For me, being able to fluently talk about literature inside out is a powerful element - I'm not quite there yet but that is one of the things I want to be able to adapt to. I also think literature is a good way to broaden someone's perspectives as it helps to see the past, present and future in the grand scheme of things. Gaining a better understanding as to why the book was written, how it was written and when are just some of the little but significant things that make literature interesting.

In my opinion, literature is all about ideas and layers of meaning and the terrific thing about it is that there is no limit as to how deep you can look into a book or how much you can say or write about a certain word or phrase that catches your eye. It's just clever how books can make you feel as if you've been put you in a certain time period that you've never been in before - I don't know how the authors do it but it works.