Intro:
I Don’t Want to Be Smarter Than a Fifth Grader
As humans, we are constantly striving to know more about our world and our surroundings. However, is there such a thing as knowing too much? In the novel, The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses the symbolism of scrabble, literature, and Offred’s ability to escape to illustrate her fear of gaining knowledge, showing that when oppressed, people will naturally associate security with ignorance, where they feel too much knowledge can put their lives at risk.
Britt's Paragraph:
To play Scrabble, a game that has been banned for obvious reasons, takes a considerable amount of knowledge. When the Commander asks Offred to play a game of Scrabble, she feels reluctant. "Now of course it's something dangerous. Now it's forbidden, for us. Now it's dangerous. [...] Now it's desirable" (Atwood 138). Scrabble symbolizes knowledge in the novel. Atwood uses it to express the reluctance in Offred, where she wants to gain knowledge but knows its dangerous power. Knowledge has become desirable because it is forbidden to them, a temptation that is refrained because of the amount of fear the society has created. The oppression of the society comes from this avoidance. The government just has to create fear, and the rest falls into place. Offred’s decision to play helps her overcome this fear, though she finds it hard to piece together the words. "It was like trying to walk without crutches" (Atwood 156). Offred fears her new society so much that she has completely blocked away any prior knowledge that she had before, making it harder for her to play the game. She knows her capability of spelling the words correctly, but because she has not used the words in so long, she cannot remember. Atwood compares this to a broken leg, where a person knows how to walk, but needs aid in relearning the skill. This simile shows how much the fear of the society has oppressed any prior knowledge, where knowledge is broken apart so much that it needs to be mended and relearned.
*The bold sentences are ones with "is" in them, or at least the ones that I was having a hard time rewording. Please post any suggestions!
*Another reminder is to stay away from past tense. I know I need to too!
Talk to you guys later and I will e-mail you guys the finished product ASAP. If you guys could just try to post before 10pm or so, that would be great! If not, I will be up until about 12am tonight babysitting, so by then at the very latest would work too! Thanks for everything guys!
PS I will post my paragraph hopefully by 9 or 10 so please keep an eye out for it and make any revisions you can! Thanks
Offred finds herself tempted to sneak out of the society as she learns how the process of leaving her world works. Knowing how to sneak into places she is not allowed or sneak out of Gilead, her society, leaves her liable of being severely punished. While shopping for groceries, Offred learns that the Eyes, a form of secret police in this society, have passwords for getting from place to place. Ofglen warns her, however, that knowing these passwords is dangerous. "'Don't use it unless you have to,' says Ofglen. 'It isn't good for us to know about too many of the others, in the network. In case you get caught'" (Atwood 261) Ofglen tells Offred that while it is a special thing to know of these passwords, there is always the chance of getting caught. Getting caught in this society is cause for being hung on the Wall--a form of punishment where the persecuted are hung by their necks on a large wall for all to see. This extreme form of punishment is enough to encourage people to remain ignorant of the society's inner workings; therefore, the secrets of Gilead remain discreet because of the threat of punishment. Offred is later asked to leave the town in disguise by the Commander, and they travel to their destination in a car. The Commander takes her to a club where she realizes that if she were to get caught, she would be immediately punished. "All you have to do, I tell myself, is keep your mouth shut and look stupid. It shouldn't be that hard" (Atwood 306). Offred knows that the Eyes could be disguised as anyone in the room, and she should keep quiet to avoid being caught. The fact that she is at the club and is aware of how to get there makes her able to be severely punished by the authorities. Her knowledge of this forbidden area of Gilead could get her thrown in the Colonies, where the convicts are sent when they are found to possess excess knowledge of something that they shouldn't. This argues that people would be better off not knowing this information and being ignorant of their surroundings. Knowing forbidden things about Gilead only increases the chance that Offred will be punished; therefore, she would be better off in ignorance.
ReplyDeleteHey guys, so I got home early. So Dev, if you could post the conclusion before midnight, that would be great! Thanks guys
ReplyDeleteConclusion:
ReplyDeleteWhen an intellectually and emotionally oppressed person gains possession of any forbidden knowledge, they will strive even against temptation to avoid learning anything of importance in order to provide themselves with a false sense of security. In The Handmaid's Tale, it is clearly shown through several symbols that the threat of punishment can cause someone to believe that they really do understand too much. These examples should serve as a warning that when one takes comfort in ignorance and finds safety in the act of not knowing things, the world surrounding that person is not the same world that humans normally have a tendency of searching for.
Knowledge has become desirable because it is forbidden to them, a temptation that is refrained because of the amount of fear the society has created.
ReplyDeleteKnowledge has become desirable because of its forbidden status relative to Offred, but yet is a temptation that she refrains from indulging because of the amount of fear the society has created.
A suggestion with not too much context, but it seems to still follow your train of thought. what I reworded is in bold.
LOL...
ReplyDeleteSorry about all of the deleted comments. I am pretty sure that I finally like the conclusion now.(I just decided to keep on editing it once I saw your post about being home early and figuring that you were planning on going to sleep and waking up earlier to finish, which I don't blame you for considering I took forever...) And what I meant to say on the first post was sorry for not posting it earlier.
She knows her capability of spelling the words correctly, but because she has not used the words in so long, she cannot remember.
ReplyDeleteShe knows her capability of spelling the words correctly, but because she has not used the words for so long, she cannot remember.
This simile shows how much the fear of the society has oppressed any prior knowledge, where knowledge is broken apart so much that it needs to be mended and relearned.
ReplyDeleteThis simile shows how much the fear created by the society has oppressed any prior knowledge to the point where it has been broken apart so entirely that it needs to be fully mended or even relearned.
Hey, you are fine bud. Thanks for getting it done! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks so much for your edits!
ReplyDelete