Resistance and Complacency

Resistance and Complacency

How can such a totalitarian and theocratic state be set up so fast, replacing the former regime? There must be a group of people believing in this new regime trustfully and enforcing the rules. The Aunts are the best examples. They believe that women are protected well and the society is going well. It is their responsibility and also obligation to teach, train and manage handmaids, because Gilead needs them and their work is full of honor.

Most of the people choose to obey the rules, such as the Commander, Serena… Maybe their lives were not very satisfying, but they just wanted to protect themselves from being blamed by the society. Therefore, they are afraid, and they are complacent. They do not want to resist the society for freer life, but only choose to be satisfied about breathing in the small gap.

Nevertheless, when a new regime is just set up, there must be some people who are resistant to it.

Offred’s mother is one of them. She is a single mother. When Gilead was set up, she was regarded as “unwoman” and was exiled to "the colonies". As shown in the video by Aunts, She and other “unwomen” resist the regime strongly. Meanwhile, in the colonies, they must get great punishment and poor treatment. We do not know her life, but it must be painful.

Moira is also a resister. She does not want to be a handmaid without freedom. So she wanted to escape from the Red Center. After she tried many times, she succeeded to get out. However, she was caught, and sent to Jezebel’s. When she met Offred, she seemed to be satisfied about her life in Jezebel’s, because it was much better than to be a handmaid. And she may not get any other kinds of better lives in such a society. Finally, She surrendered and did not try to resist.

Gilead uses violence and force to make people surrender. It was this society that squeezed people’s thought and hope for pursuing better life.

What is the real protection and violence?

Chen Piao (Christine)

Dr. Marquardt

ENG 2403

March 30, 2015

Word Count: 727

What is the real protection and violence?

The Handmaid’s Tale is a long novel. It is dystopian. It shows the society in the Republic of Gilead through Offred’s eyes, and it triggers people’s thinking about gender conflict, politics, violence, freedom, etc.

 Gilead is a totalitarian and theocratic state that has replaced the former regime. The environmental pollution leads to the low reproduction rates. So handmaids are assigned to bear children for elite couples that have trouble conceiving. Women cannot have personal property. They are not allowed to read or write. And handmaids even cannot have their own names. Offred is one of them. She serves the Commander and his wife, Serena Joy. Offred must have impersonal sex with the Commander every month, while Serena is behind her. The Eyes are everywhere, and Offred can leave the house only on shopping trips. There are many flashbacks about the former life she had. She actually had a family before. But when the new politics is on, they were caught and separated. She was sent to the Red Center and was indoctrinated into Gilead’s ideology in order to become a Handmaid.

Later in the Commander’s house, the Commander invited Offred to his study and play Scrabble together secretly. Without being pregnant, Offred is suggested by Serena to have sex with Nick, the Commander’s gardener and chauffeur, and pass the child off as the Commander’s. Soon they begin to sleep together frequently. Offred becomes caught up in the affair and ignores Ofglen’s requests that she gather information from the Commander for Mayday. Later Nick says the Eyes are Mayday members and coming to save her. Offred leaves, without knowing her future.

This novel actually contains a lot of information and thinking, such as the experience of Offred’s friend, Moira, from a resistant to one satisfies with the life in the club. But I only choose one of them to discuss. What I am going to discuss is the “protection” and “violence” in Gilead.

First, as Aunt Lydia says, a woman does not need to be worried about walking along at night any more. It is Gilead that protects all the people from horrific potential danger. There is less violent accident. The society becomes more and more orderly and safe. It is true on the surface. However, violence just permeates into the life. The bodies hanging beside the main gateway, the punishment to people who violate their obligation, the Colonies, and the Salvaging… Men are defined by their military rank, while women are defined solely by their gender roles as Wives, Handmaids, or Marthas. Common people have no right to read or write. People in Gilead actually have no freedom anymore. It is not protection or order. It is restraint. And it is a kind of mental violence.

Next, it is claimed that women are treated with respect and kept safe from violence. The official punishment for rape is extremely terrible. Nevertheless, Gilead just institutionalizes the sexual violence. In order to protect the multiplying of elite couples, handmaids must provide their wombs. They do not have the right to enjoy sex. They are just machines for multiplying. It is also the violence under the mask of protection. And it is a kind of sexual violence.

What is more, there is such a sentence in the novel, “We were a society dying, said Aunt Lydia, of too much choice”. It tries to convey that it is many possible choices that make people confused and slower the development of the society. Now people in Gilead do not need to worry about making choices any more. Their life will be scheduled well. And what they only need to do is to follow the track and contribute to the human’s development. Is this really a protection for human society? I dare say no. It deprives people of the right to make choices. It is also a kind of terrible spiritual violence.

As we can see, Gilead is totalitarian and theocratic. Its ideology cannot be set up in a short time. And it also cannot be destroyed in a short period of time. People need revolution. And a successful revolution also needs the gather of people’s hearts. It takes time. If people are not aware of the society nowadays and do not try to make it better, maybe the society will just become another Gilead, having to use violence to protect the society itself.

Love is about giving and giving up

Chen Piao (Christine)

Dr. Marquardt

ENG 2403

March 23, 2015

Word Count: 834

Love is about giving and giving up

Boy Marries Hill is a very short but interesting play. It lasts only around 10 minutes, but it describes three lively and totally different characters.

Tapesh returned from visiting his mother in India. He wants to break up with his girlfriend, Darshini. But Darshini does not agree, and lies that she is pregnant. She is very astonished because Tapesh says that in his mother’s dream, a goddess cursed his mother and ask Tapesh to marry a hill. When they are disputing, a pizza boy comes. He tells them his story and shows the reason why he never looks up. He had broken up with his girlfriend and then lived with his mother. He hates his life and has social anxiety. After the pizza boy leaves, Tapesh tells that his mother saved him from him violent father and she is very self-sacrificing. Tapesh feels sorry that he hasn’t gone back to India because he loves Darshini. When he asks Darshini whether she could move with him together, Darshini refuses. And she says the pregnancy is just a lie. Tapesh feels that she is not the one he loves, but the innocent hill is. At the end, they break up and do not remain any love to each other any more.

In this ten minutes, things changes a lot. Tapesh and Darshini both expose their real hearts to each other. Although they are both Indian American, they have totally different characteristics.

Darshini is a selfish girl. She is always logical when talking. After hearing Tapesh’s decision, she does not cry or become crazy. What she only does is to ask for reasons and argue with Tapesh. And it is also because she actually does not love Tapesh at all. What she loves is only her self. She is so selfish that he does not even care about Tapesh happiness. When Tapesh says her happiness is important to him, Darshini does not care about Tapesh’s dilemma, but stresses the importance of her happiness. From then on, she begins to expose her selfish heart. She even gives the suggestion about digging out the body of Tapesh’s dead father. Later she refuses to move with Tapesh together and says the pregnancy is just a lie. She does not want to give of herself, so she cannot get love from others.

Tapesh’s heart is diametrically opposite to Darshini. He has a heart with love. He loves Darshini and he loves his mother. It is the care that faces him with the dilemma. At first, Tapesh does not say he loves the hill. After seeing the selfishness of Darshini, he is so disappointing about her and finds the innocence and loveliness of the hill, comparing Darshini with it. He is always reasonable when talking, because he knows what he wants and what he loves.

There is some confusion about Tapesh, and I just show my own understandings here. First, when he says, “It could be a girl”, does it shows the gender discrimination? Or it just shows Tapesh’s doubt about Darshini’s words? I think both exist, but the latter more. Darshini’s dream may just be made up by angry words. Then it comes to the second question. Does Tapesh really believe his mother’s dream with goddess’s cursed, but not Darshini’s dream with goddess? In my opinion, maybe there exists some superstition about the goddess’s curse, but actually it is the heart feeling sorry that makes Tapesh believe he should move back, since it is the love to Darshini that makes Tapesh stays in America. What is more, does Tapesh really love the hill? I would say no. The hill represents his homeland and his innocent love. Darshini only keeps asking but not giving. Her selfishness tarnishes Tapesh’s genuine love. However, Tapesh’s mother did a lot and sacrificing a lot for him. Maybe the goddess in his mother’s dream just wants him to realize that, protect his innocent love and will lead him to his true love then.

The pizza boy is also a meaningful character in this play. His experience makes him have social anxiety and never look up. He only tells an abbreviated version of his life, so we cannot directly regard him as a victim. First, his unconcern shows that actually he is not willing to help Tapesh and Darshini with their issues. Second, he says “I don’t care about anything anymore”. It is also a kind of selfishness. Who the person is will surely affects how its life looks like. The pizza boy only complains about his life all the day, but do not try to change anything. No one can help him. Maybe his girlfriend felt really disappointed about him. Therefore, he cannot be Tapesh and Darshini’s consultant. He only provides negative information. And Tapesh will not shatter his decision due to the pizza boy’s life.

Love is not an issue of one person. It involves both sides’ giving and sometimes giving up. Selfish people who never devote themselves to others will not get others love back.

A non-Christian’s view about Book of Genesis

Chen Piao (Christine)

Dr. Marquardt

ENG 2403

March 16, 2015

Word Count: 941

A non-Christian’s view about Book of Genesis

       Every religion has its own understanding of the origin of the world. Book of Genesis is one of the brilliant works. I cannot say I totally like it, but I affirm its value.

       It is said in the book that, in the beginning, there was nothing but darkness and water in the earth. Then God created a series of things successively, such as light, sky, vegetation, seasons, stars, creatures and humankind. Then on the seventh day, God rested from work. The LORD God used dust to create a man and used one of the man’s ribs to create his wife. Under the serpent’s trick, the wife took the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil furtively, in the LORD god’s absence. The man and the wife both ate the fruit and knew the distinction of good and evil. The LORD God knew it and punished them three. Cain and Abel were the man and the wife’s sons. Cain killed Abel because the LORD God prefer Abel’s offering. Then Cain was punished. With time going by, and with human multiplying, the earth was full of violence and chaotic gradually. The LORD was disappointed and wanted to destroy everything. But Noah was a righteous man and the LORD likes him. So the LORD asked Noah to make an ark and lead his family and pairs of every creature to escape from the disaster. After the disaster was over, the LORD established some covenants to maintain the world’s order. Later, Noah’s youngest son, Ham, saw the nakedness of Noah when Noah was drunk. Ham told his two brothers. And they took a garment to cover their father. When Noah awoke, he punished Ham’s son Canaan to be the lowest slaves to his brothers.

       I am not Christian. So I just want to share my own understanding of these chapters.

       I do not like the process of forming the earth. As long as God said something, something would be created automatically. It was ridiculous and too casual. As for “living creature of all kinds”, It is also too general. I believe every kind of species exists with its own value and reason. And the kinds of species are unlimited, because everything is developing continuously. God just created “all kinds” and left them there, which in my view is irresponsible and too casual.

Things become controversial when it comes to God. First, God is so unsearchable.  God has a great power that can control everything’s form. We do not know how God came into being or where the power came from. God just created “everything” and dominate “everything”.

Second, God looked down on humankind and other living creature created somewhat. Every creature has its own thought and desire. Humankind has the desire to knowledge. God wanted the man and his wife to behave as told, but God even did not want to let them know what was good and what was evil. God gave them the instinct, but punished them due to it indirectly. It seems that humankind and other creature are God’s toys. Besides, when he found the world full of violence and evilness, he just wanted to destroy everything.

Next, God was not impartial enough. Sons of God took many pretty women as their wives, which added to the disorder of the earth. God did not punish them, but wanted to prevent this from happening by reducing the life span of humankind. What is more, God had regard for Abel’s offering but had no regard for Cain. And neither did he tell the reason, nor did he comfort Cain, but used a series of questions to irritate Cain. Indirectly, it is God that force Cain to kill Abel. Even if no one is perfect, including God, a dominator should try its best to be impartial.

Fortunately, God was trying to be a good dominator. When God felt sorry about creating the world and decided to destroy everything, God saw the righteous man, Noah. And Noah changed God’s mind, actually. God wanted to protect the various species and decided to reduce the amount and then dominate the world in a different way. It shows God’s effort to try to be a good dominator.

What I like most in the story is how God created the man’s wife. First, God did not force the man to take the women as his wife. When God think it is not good for the man to live alone, God did not casually pick someone to be with the man. However, God brought every creature to the man and saw what he would call it. Later, God took the man’s rib and created the woman. And it is the man himself that realized the importance of the woman and wanted to live together with her.

Second, “He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up its place with flesh”. God used dust to create the man and used the man’s rib to create the woman. What a wonderful combination! It is such a romantic and meaningful way! It shows that women’s status is neither higher nor lower than men’s. A husband and a wife are incorporate. They should leave their homes, find each other and combine with each other. A couple should be close to each other’s heart. A wife not only needs a husband’s love and protection, but also is his best helper and partner, and vice versa.

Book of Genesis is a product of religion. It cannot be proofed by science. Although there is something I do not like, I affirm its value. Because religion can give lost people belief, hope and direction.