263. A Work of Artifice

The poem "A Work of Artifice" by Marge Piercy uses a bonsai tree as a metaphor for the subordination of women. Her tone throughout the poem is clearly displayed from the beginning with its title, "A Work of Artifice."  As opposed to the word "art," "artifice" implies some sort of scam or trickery to reach a desired, although dishonest, result.  This theme is repeated through the entire poem.

Beginning with an eight line description of the bonsai tree, Piercy makes it clear that this miniature tree has been purposely restrained from reaching its full potential. The tree's limitless potential to grow "eighty feet tall", contrasts with the fact that it has been restricted to a height of "nine inches", by the gardener who prunes it meticulously.

The poem uses the phrases "small and cozy" and "domestic and weak" which are all too commonly used when referring to women.  Piercy implies that these are the terms which society uses when viewing women and their abilities.  In this manner, women are stripped of any belief in their abilities and must resign themselves to living the life set out for them by the surrounding culture.  They are comforted in knowing how lucky they are "to have a pot to grow in". This "pot" most likely refers to the belief that women should, and are indeed obligated to feel fortunate that men have taken it upon themselves to care for women since they are too weak and unfit to function on their own.  In addition to the lack of bodily strength commonly associate with the term, "weak" also implies a lack of authority, mental power, and moral strength, all of which have been incorporated into the stereotype of women.  

212. Money

“Money” by Victor Contoski is an interesting poem that uses imagery to describe money as though it has the characteristics of multiple living organisms. The first stanza implies that money is a wild animal, yet it is "willing to be domesticated." The next describes it as a small creature that can fit in a pocket. The words "nest," "softly," and "curl up" suggest a cozy little animal. The third stanza moves on to describe money like a dog - likable, it attracts other people. However, the tone changes in the fourth stanza when the speaker describes money as a self-obsessed amoeba. The fifth and sixth stanzas return to treating money like an animal that needs care, exercise, and watering. In the second to last stanza, the description of money is as something humans master, yet it turns on them. Perhaps like dangerous animals that we have tried to tame for our own entertainment yet it ends up turning on its trainers and seriously injuring them. The final stanza refers to money as a snake, or some other animal with venom, that kills its victim. As the poem progresses, it describes the gradual transformation of money from a harmless little mouse to a deadly snake.

A literary device used in this poem is personification. Money, an inanimate object is given animalistic traits. This allows the speaker room to make a large variety of comparisons to encompass all of the various characteristics of money. By using this device the money has taken on a living, breathing influence, which is stronger than a simple green piece of paper. This poem is a warning for everyone, be careful of money because it will not bring you happiness and it can change you into a greedy monster.

The Handmaid's Tale

The novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is about a handmaid named Offred whose job is to have sex with the Commander in order to produce a child. The society of Gilead was formed in response to the crisis caused by dramatically decreased birthrates; the state’s entire structure is built around a single goal: the control of reproduction. Women are reduced to their fertility and treated as nothing more than a set of ovaries and a womb. Gilead seeks to deprive women of their individuality in order to make them docile carriers of the next generation.

 

An important symbol I found in this novel was the handmaids red habits. The handmaid’s habits reminded me of the hijab that Islamic women wear. I found that the reason that Islamic women wear them is because it says in the Muslims' holy book, the Qur'an that Muslim women should draw their veils over their bosoms when they go out so they will not be molested. This way of dressing preserves the women’s modesty just as in The Handmaid’s Tale where women are supposedly respect above all else. The color of the habits is very symbolic. The red color is supposed to symbolize fertility, which is the primary function of the handmaids. Red is also the color of the blood of the menstrual cycle and childbirth. However, as seen in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter red can also symbolize sexual sin. While the handmaids’ role in Gilead supposedly finds its justification in the Bible, in some sense they commit adultery by having sex with the Commanders, who are married men.

 

My favorite passage is on page 295:

“Whether this is my end or a new beginning I have no way of knowing: I have given myself over into the hands of strangers, because it can’t be helped. And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light”

This finale part of Offred’s story leaves it up to the reader to decide if she escaped or if she perished. I would like to think she escaped just because I enjoy a happy ending but also because she ended the story on a lighter note. If Atwood had just left it as, “…And so I step up, into the darkness within,” I would have felt that Offred did not survive her journey but because, “…or else the light,” is added in at the end I feel that Offred escaped with the help of Mayday. At the very least I believe Offred came to terms with her life and was content as she stepped up into the van.

In spite of the disturbing sex scenes I enjoyed this book. While the subject matter was a bit uncomfortable the story was interesting and I was never once bored. Though a little confusing at times I especially enjoyed the flashbacks. It helped me to identify easier with Offred because she came from a time that was similar to my own and she wasn’t as obscure a character as Equality 7-2521 and D-503. Something I found interesting in all three novels was the loss of their names. Though we never learn Offred’s original name we know that she once had one and the loss of that name was just another way to strip away the person that she was before Gilead was established. Equality 7-2521 and D-503 aren’t really names although they are the only names the two characters had ever known. Since these characters didn’t have a true name it made them less of an individual; they were just parts in the machine of society. 

We

The novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is very similar to Ayn Rand’s Anthem. Both dystopian novels feature characters with numbers in their names, indicating a loss in their individuality. However, in We this loss of individuality seems to have been taken a step further. In the society of We every part of the people’s lives is controlled by the Table of Hours. There is no room for individual thought when every part of their lives is planned out; in this way the Benefactor can be sure to have complete control of the people, at least theoretically he can. Another way We is similar to Anthem is in the differences both protagonist have from their fellow citizens. In Anthem Equality 7-2521 was taller and smarter then his “brothers”. While in We D-503 has hairy hands, which he views as being a monkeys hands, they are something he absolutely detests about himself. To D-503 his monkey hands make him less of an evolved being because he has this left over trait from older times. These traits that set the two characters apart from others in their society allow the characters to escape the mindless masses and follow their own path even though in the end D-503 is brought back into the herd.

 

I found We to closely parallel to the Genesis story of Adam and Eve. One State is the Garden of Eden, an ideal society, and the Benefactor is God, then it is clear that D-503 is the equivalent of Adam. He is given the task of building the Integral and giving knowledge of the perfection of One State to whomever receives it, much as Adam was trusted by God to protect Eden. However, with the infiltration of the Guardians by S-4711, the Garden of One State was not perfect. S-4711 represents the Serpent in the Garden, and he and I-330, the Eve of this story, tempt D-503 with the fruit of knowledge, that is the soul and the outside world, the world of the Mephi, and as Eve encouraged Adam to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, so does I-330 seduce D-503 into joining her in the Mephi's cause. With as many possible Biblical allusions that occur in the novel, it is evident that Zamyatin may have had this very theme in mind when he wrote We. The S in S-4711's name may be representative of his role as the Serpent; it is also mentioned several times that his posture and body are "double-curved," similar to that of a snake.

  

My favorite passage is on page 33 and 34:

"The cheerful little crystal bell in my headboard dings 7:00 AM; time to get up. To the right and left through the glass walls I see something like my own self, my own room, my own clothes, my own movements, and all repeated a thousand times. It cheers you up: you see yourself as part of an immense, powerful, single thing. And such a precise beauty it is: not a wasted gesture, bend, turn."

 

I loved the imagery this passage produced. I could clearly picture thousands of people performing these basic routine movements. The passage helped to reinforce the idea that the people of OneState are really just one big person. It enforced the thought that all individuality had been eliminated in OneState. D-503 might has well been looking into a thousand mirrors. It disturbed me a bit that seeing all of these people performing the same movements as he was comforted and even cheered D-503 up. If I were to see something like this it would definitely freak me out.

 

I did not enjoy this novel. While I can admit that there were interesting aspects of it, such as how ingrained math was into the people’s minds that D-503 came to liken his love for I-330 to the square root of negative one, an irrational number, as his feelings for her were irrational to him. Overall I found the book to be dry and confusing at times. Frankly it bored me and I was very happy when I finally made it to the end of the book. 

Anthem

The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand tells the story of a dystopian society in which everyone is supposedly equal and the word “I” is unknown. No one is allowed to have their own identity and to be different could mean death. A major theme in this novel is the lack of identity. The main character, Equality 7-2521 has always been different from his fellow “brothers”. He was reprimanded by his teachers for growing too tall and for being to smart. “This is a great sin, to be born with a head which is too quick.  It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them” (Rand 9). These are aspects of himself that he could not possibly control and yet he was punished for them. In this society, anyone that seemed to be smarter than the masses was a cause for extreme caution and fear. For that reason, when it was time to receive his job title, Equality 7-2521 was sentenced to be a street sweeper. This devastated him as he dreamed of joining the House of Scholars. The rulers of this society are so concerned with keeping control of the masses that they force the ones who could improve the society into low level jobs so they’ll never be seen or more importantly heard. The society of Anthem had gone so far back in terms of technological advancement that the candle was a new invention to them. So when Equality 7-2521 tries to show them the light bulb he invented he is not praised for bringing an amazing invention to them instead he is punished for going outside the confines of his job.

 

This novel was full of a great many quotes but my favorite comes from page 111 and 112:

Today, the Golden One stopped suddenly and said: "We love you." But they frowned and shook their head and looked at us helplessly. "No," they whispered, "that is not what we wished to say." They were silent, then they spoke slowly, and their words were halting, like the words of a child learning to speak for the first time: "We are one .  .  .  alone .  .  .  and only .  .  .and we love you who are one .  .  .  alone .  .  .  and only." We looked into each other's eyes and we knew that the breath of a miracle had touched us, and fled, and left us groping vainly. And we felt torn, torn for some word we could not find.

This scene was incredibly touching; it really spoke to the romantic in me. The novel doesn’t deal with a great many emotions simply because they are not as important as other elements. However I do not believe the book would have been the same without the inclusion of this scene. Liberty 5-3000, now called the Golden One is desperately struggling to tell Equality 7-2521 that she loves him. Yet, without the word “I” she is unable to say exactly how she feels for Equality 7-2521. This leaves her fumbling, unable to convey her true feelings. This scene helps to show how an everyday phase such as “I love you” has completely disappeared from this society. Without the word “I” people cannot clearly express their true feelings and emotions.

For the most part I enjoyed the novel Anthem yet there was a part of the novel that I, to say the least, found upsetting. That was the role of the women in the novel, more specifically the role of Liberty 5-3000.When she was first introduced I thought she would be a strong female role the perfect counterpart to Equality 7-2521 role in the novel. However I found myself greatly disappointed. She became basically a servant to Equality 7-2521, following his every word without question or fail. He decided to change her name to Gaea and so she let him without a single question as to why she couldn’t choose her own name. Her willingness to accept the new names that Equality 7-2521 gives her is a symptom of her broader willingness to accept the identity that he conceives for her. All in all, the novel was an easy read that any reader could easily connect to on a personal level even though it dealt with a dystopian society set in the future.