Assignment #4

In the novel “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini, Mariam and Laila develop a strong relationship, very similar to that of a mother and daughter. Several times Mariam passes herself off as Laila's mother. This bond is emphasized later in the novel when Mariam kills Rasheed to save Laila. What circumstances or situations in both of these ladies lives, do you think could have fostered the growth of this relationship?

Literary Criticism on "The handmaid's Tale"

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1. Dan Geddes points out that Margaret Artwood paints the picture of the utopian society in a negative light. That's something that is not usually done. Perhaps Artwood uses this technique to bring out the irony of a flawed utopian society.

2. I never thought of the novel as a negative utopian story. I have always heard that there is no such thing as being too perfect, but this article helps me to realize that Artwood's novel was an example of what could happen if society decides to take perfection to the extreme.

TEAR Paragraph (Topic One)

In Margaret Artwood's novel The Handamid's Tale, the author uses very intimate soliloquies to convey to the reader that it is possible to become comfortable to an unpleasant situation. In Artwood's novel the speaker struggles to balance her desire for freedom with her contentment with Gilead. In the novel the speaker is forced to have sex with the Commander in hopes of baring him children. At first she sees it as a job but later on when she starts seeing him secretly she began to grow feelings for him. She became fond of a man that used her as a sex object simply because she had no other alternative. That was the life she knew so she had to adjust to it. The same thing happened with Nick. She was assigned to him as a job, but because she had no other person to love she found a way to grow fond of him. The speaker became comfortable to her situation. She no longer viewed it as a task. When the speaker's best friend Moira escapes, the speaker does not follow her. As much as she would like to be free, the speaker was more comfortable with the imprisonment of Gilead than an unknown freedom outside the doors of the Center. Margaret Artwood utilizes the speaker as a symbol. Artwood uses Offred to show the readers that people often cannot better their situation because they are afraid to try to move on; They would rather stay in an unpleasant situation that they are familiar with.

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