Analysis Notes and Observations: Atwood uses a lot of short sentences and some long ones: the use of the short sentences conveys a direct statement or fact and the use of the long sentences is when she is painting a picture for the reader. She also uses an excessive amout of description in some very long sentences to make the reader feel uncomfortable. Also, when Offred talks about the past, quotations are not used in the dialogue, which is most of the time. This creates a distance between the reader and the story and its characters.
An example of a short sentence that conveys a direct statement or fact is this situation, where Offred is describing the whispering between her and Ofglen. "It's more like a telegram, a verbal semaphore. Amputated speech" (Atwood 201). It seems as if most of the time, Offred states the facts and the story as it is. I do not remember many times throughout the book that she has stated her opinions about all of the events that occur, only her feelings, such as being scared or sad. This could be showing how her mind is restricted by this new society which thinks so little of women.
Significant Literary Questions:
- Why is the author trying to create a distance by not using quotation marks in the dialogue?
- Why does the author write in a way to make the reader feel uncomfortable?
- What do the short sentences of direct facts reveal in the story?
- Why does the author include an excessive amount of imagery in the story?
Thesis Statements: In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, the use of the short sentences of direct facts conveys how much the society has constricted the women's thoughts; however, the long sentences of their thoughts reveal how even though they are not thought to be very capable of anything but reproducing, they are much smarter than they are thought to be.
Although many might argue that The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is not a very good book because it discusses uncomfortable topics such as the main one of human sexuality, it is in fact made this way to portray how women are treated in society, and how this needs to change and they need to be treated better and given more rights.
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