An Interview with Margaret Atwood

An Interview with Margaret Atwood on The Handmaid's Tale.

Q: Was there any special research involved in writing The Handmaid's Tale?
A: I clipped articles out of newspapers. I now have a large clippings file of stories supporting the contentions in the book. In other words, there isn't anything in the book not based on something that has already happened in history or in another country, or for which actual supporting documentation is not already available.

Q: It's hard to pin down a genre for this novel. Is it science fiction?
A: No, it certainly isn't science fiction. Science fiction is filled with Martians and space travel to other planets, and things like that. That isn't this book at all. The Handmaid's Tale is speculative fiction in the genre of Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Nineteen Eighty-Four was written not as science fiction but as an extrapolation of life in 1948. So, too, The Handmaid's Tale is a slight twist on the society we have now.

Q: You seem to see a role for the novel beyond entertainment.
A: I was once a graduate student in Victorian literature and I believe as the Victorian novelists did, that a novel isn't simply a vehicle for private expression, but that it also exists for social examination. I firmly believe this.

Q: What are we to learn from The Handmaid's Tale?
A: This is a book about what happens when certain casually held attitudes about women are taken to their logical conclusions. For example, I explore a number of conservative opinions still held by many--such as a woman's place is in the home. And also certain feminist pronouncements--women prefer the company of other women, for example. Take these beliefs to their logical ends and see what happens. As a writer, you can chose to create a mainstream novel in which these issues appear only as the characters discuss them sitting around the kitchen table. But I decided to take these positions and dramatize them, carry them to their furthest logical conclusions.

Q: How would the creation of your imagined republic of Gilead be possible?
A: First of all, ask yourself the following question: If you were going to take over the United States, how would you do it? Would you say, "I'm a socialist and we're all going to be equal"? No, you would not, because it wouldn't work. Would you say, "I'm a liberal and we are going to have a society of multiple toleration"? You probably wouldn't say that if you wanted mass support. You would be much more likely to say, "I have the word from God and this is the way we should run things." That probably would have more of a chance of working, and in fact there are a number of movements in the States saying just that, and getting lots of dollars and influence. The society in The Handmaid's Tale is a throwback to the early Puritans whom I studied extensively at Harvard under Perry Miller, to whom the book is dedicated. The early Puritans came to America not for religious freedom, as we were taught in grade school, but to set up a society that would be a theocracy (like Iran) ruled by religious leaders, and monolithic, that is, a society that would not tolerate dissent within itself. They were being persecuted in England for being Puritans, but then they went to the United States and promptly began persecuting anyone who wasn't a Puritan. My book reflects the form and style of the early Puritan society and addresses the dynamics that bring about such a situation.

Q: Why the intense focus on fertility in Gilead?
A: In a society in which the birthrate plummets below replacement, that body of people will be forced to determine whether or not it will simply slide gently into oblivion and vanish from the face of the earth. (One theory is there that will be no Germans by the year 2020 because their birthrate is so low; Germany is going to be Turkish.) Scandinavian countries are now below replacement, as is Romania. What does a society do at this point? Either it accepts the situation or it puts into existence conditions that will increase the number of births.

Q: So in Gilead this process is taken to what you see as a logical conclusion?
A: Yes. It is a society in which you have a sort of "farming" of women. Parallel to that, you have to realize that male sterility is on the increase and so are spontaneous miscarriages and birth defects. How could this be? It's because we are pouring about 300,000 different chemicals into our water and drinking it. Plus, of course, there's a great deal of radiation. They've found PCBs in polar bears and they are worried about the future of the polar bear species because PCBs build up in their systems and produce male sterility. So fertility in Gilead is at a premium. Fertile women, women who can reproduce, are prize objects for those in power. And as is the case in which prize objects are Cadillacs and you want to have as many Cadillacs as you possibly can, so too when the prize objects are fertile women, then you want to have as many fertile women as possible. Thus in Gilead we return to biblical polygamy.

Q: Are there some good things about Gilead?
A: Yes. women aren't whistled at on the street, men don't come climbing in the window in the middle of the night. Women are "protected." Sardonically speaking, in totalitarian countries the streets are much safer, for the most part.

Q: It seems that within this frightening world, certain parts of the feminist revolution have survived. Is that true?
A: No power structure can institute total serfdom (unless they kill off most of the people) without giving a few "perks." If you were to go back and study what the Germans did during World War II, you would see that what they did was move into another country and find a group of people willing to help them out. They would develop a little army of Ukrainians in Ukraine, Poles in Poland, etc. Any imperial power does the same thing; the British in India developed terrific regiments made up of Indians. And so, in Gilead, we have troops of women.

Q: But wouldn't there be violent resistance against a system such as Gilead?
A: Yes, of course we would have resistance. After all, this is United States and it is North America and it is a pluralistic society and we have many people with differing points of view. A number of people would not take this lying down.

Q: The way the reader comes into The Handmaid's Tale is through a diary or a journal, memories rescued and viewed from a time in the future. The curtain is drawn back slowly. Why did you choose to write it that way?
A: What I've written is only the view of one woman who lives in that society. I reveal Gilead through the eyes of that one woman. It would be cheating to show the reader more than the character has access to. Her information is limited. In fact, her lack of information is part of the nightmare.

Q: We can figure out that the main character lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a Canadian, can you explain why Canada didn't take more people in who were trying to escape from Gilead in their "underground railroad"?
A: Canada's role in this novel is the role Canada has always taken in bad times in the States. Before the Civil War, Canada was at the top of the underground railroad. If you made it into Canada, you were safe unless someone came and hauled you back. That was also true during the Vietnam War for draft resisters. For the most part, if a resister did make it to Canada, he was safe--but there were some Canadians who did collaborate in hauling people back across the border. So Canada's position would be to do what she always does: try to remain neutral without antagonizing the superpower to the south.

Global Snapshot of Women (The Handmaid's Tale)

Step 1: Read and annotate Ch. 1 "Night" (Yes, it is a mere 1+ page long.)

You all will quickly realize that The Handmaid's Tale is a satire. It wasn't published in a vacuum; rather, it was published with a purpose and in a context. But is it still relevant today, 25 years post-publication?

Step 2: Listen to this interview with Margaret Atwood.

Step 3: In an effort to get an answer to the above question and explore more of what Atwood references in this interview, I would like for each of you to research and compose a brief report on the state of women somewhere in the world. Choose a place; tell us about the rights and lives of women there.

Two requests:

1. You can't post about a place that someone else has already posted on. Make sure you read the previous posts before you begin your response.

2. Include your source(s) in MLA format at the end of your response. Don't worry about parenthetical citations, though.

Be thoughtful. Be accurate. Be specific. Be thorough. Be current.

General length: 1-2 well-developed paragraphs

Value: 20 points.

I look forward to your findings. See you Wednesday.

The Taming of the Shrew

What is your response to Kate's final speech of the play?

Aim for 2 good paragraphs--and the more close reading, the better.
Don't forget to read your classmates' posts before you post your own.

The Taming of the Shrew: Act 2

A lot happens in Act 2. We hear a lot more from Kate, two marriages are arranged, disguises are played out in supposed success, and words are used as weapons over and over and over again. Something should have piqued your interest.

In this space, post a response to your reading. You may choose what you address, but I want you to push yourself to analyze the text closely. Therefore, your response needs to include at least one direct reference to the text, complete with citations. Excellent responses will probably include more than one direct reference.

Try to teach us something about this section of the play. Draw some conclusions, make us think, challenge us to argue with you. Whatever you do, don't summarize the plot.

Responses should be a thoughtful, well-developed paragraph. Shoot for at least 8 sentences.

I look forward to hearing what you have to say about your reading. See you whenever the roads are clear!

First Semester Exam

We have done a lot of soul-searching this semester. We have written two senior essays, delivered one to our peers, learned what it means to "write well," discussed topics ranging from happiness to forgiveness, read and written poems, met an author, and blogged blogged blogged. You all rock. I have really enjoyed this class so far; I hope you have too.

In thinking about what I felt was appropriate for our semester exam, I focused on three highlights from the course:

1. On Writing Well

2. Poetry

3. No Impact Man

I want this exam to be both a reflecting back and a looking forward, a culminating piece that also produces something new. Here are the details:

Pre-Exam

1. The first part of the exam should be completed before the exam period. You have already started on this challenge by practicing what Beavan preached on his blog (free write about what you care most about, what has made you happy and fulfilled in the past, and what circumstances you need to be your best self). Like he advocates, distill those free writes down into three respective bullet point lists. These lists should be presented on one sheet of paper but with appropriate titles so we understand which list is which.

2. I then want you to write a 500 word essay (this is a strict limit) that articulates your findings. You can go in any direction you want with this (you can analyze yourself, project your hope for the future, state what you want to pursue professionally or personally, write a "This I Believe" statement, etc.) but your essay MUST incorporate elements from your free writes/lists. And it must powerfully and effectively illustrate at least 10 On Writing Well principles. How will I know which 10? You will annotate them in your paper :-).

This part of the exam will be worth 70% of your exam grade.

During Exam

1. I will give you a list of poetic and writing terminology that we have covered this semester. You need to define and give an example of each.

2. I will give you two poems. You choose one and answer the "five essential questions" regarding the speaker, the tone, the message, etc. No longer essay required, but each of these responses needs to be developed and supported with evidence from the poem.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Passionate Shepherd Responses

The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd

Sir Walter Ralegh

IF all the world and love were young,           
     And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
     These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.

Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When rivers rage and rocks grow cold;
And Philomel becometh dumb;
The rest complains of cares to come.

The flowers do fade, and wanton fields
To wayward winter reckoning yields:
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.

The gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten,—
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

Thy belt of straw and ivy buds,
Thy coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.

But could youth last and love still breed,
Had joys no date nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy love.
 

THE BAIT.
by John Donne

COME live with me, and be my love,
And we will some new pleasures prove
Of golden sands, and crystal brooks,
With silken lines and silver hooks.

There will the river whisp'ring run
Warm'd by thy eyes, more than the sun ;
And there th' enamour'd fish will stay,
Begging themselves they may betray.

When thou wilt swim in that live bath,
Each fish, which every channel hath,
Will amorously to thee swim,
Gladder to catch thee, than thou him.

If thou, to be so seen, be'st loth,
By sun or moon, thou dark'nest both,
And if myself have leave to see,
I need not their light, having thee.

Let others freeze with angling reeds,
And cut their legs with shells and weeds,
Or treacherously poor fish beset,
With strangling snare, or windowy net.

Let coarse bold hands from slimy nest
The bedded fish in banks out-wrest ;
Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies,
Bewitch poor fishes' wand'ring eyes.

For thee, thou need'st no such deceit,
For thou thyself art thine own bait :
That fish, that is not catch'd thereby,
Alas ! is wiser far than I.
   

Beavan's Blog

http://noimpactman.typepad.com/