Sunday, November 3, 2013
Pressures of Life
Pressure. There is so much pressure people live under throughout their lives. Pressure of appearance, pressure of peers, pressure of family, pressure to succeed. How can one work under such compression? Does it push them to work harder? Or does it simply create a mind trick that makes it near impossible to accomplish the tasks at hand? In The Handmaid's Tale, the handmaids have a constant pressure to conceive. That is their one job and if they are unable to accomplish this, they have the threat of becoming Unwomen. Does the stress from the pressure make it more difficult for them to conceive? On the other hand, if they did not have the threat would the job get done that way either? Pressure comes from control. It is a natural human thing to have a need for control. We want to control everything from our appearance to the way people act around us. Gilead controls its women because they want them to behave exactly how they wish. Control forces a lot of pressure which in turn could cause either fear or rebellion. Either way, it is not a healthy society. Power is faced everyday and pressure makes it hard to move around and be flexible. What ways do you see the women of Gilead cracking under the pressure?
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Many of the women of Gilead face the neverending threat of being declared Unwoman and being sent to the Colonies. Offred deals with this threat, as she is unable to conceive with the Commander. She thinks about it a lot in the novel, and it bothers her quite a bit. In the novel, the Handmaids envy any other Handmaids that are pregnant, almost to the point that they wish they were them, just so they could be done with their duty. Also, in Chapter 21, at Janice's birthing, someone spikes the drinks for the Handmaids, showing that even at ceremonies that celebrate a Handmaid completing her duty, the other Handmaids need something to forget that they cannot conceive or have not yet.
ReplyDeleteI think that The Handmaids that have not yet conceived are also jealous of those that have because they feel that they have not yet completed the one task that they are given. Seeing someone who is pregnant becomes a reminder to them that they have not succeeded; that they are failing at the only purpose for their life. They think that perhaps being pregnant will give them a sense of purpose and accomplishment: the closest things that they have to happiness.
DeleteThere is pressure in many or most situations that are faced daily. Stress is a factor that strings from pressure. Because of stress, a decision or goal that one is trying to reach can often be much more difficult or rough to accomplish than is necessary. In The Handmaid's Tale, Offred faces stress and intimidation from Gilead's society. She is intimidated by her task to conceive, as well as what will happen to her if she can not conceive. She knows that if she can not meet her tasks, she will be tossed to a place of cruelty. Offred suffers from the pressures of Gilead in multiple ways: mentally and emotionally. She no longer sees herself as someone with presence and belonging. She views her body as an empty vessel that exists for one reason: to conceive. She lives in the memories of her past, a time when she was happy and had a reason to be. Offred also finds ways to snake away from the pressures of Gilead. She builds a relationship with the Commander and with Nick, both of which are forbidden. With Ofglen, she finds a friend; someone that she can trust. Trust in Gilead is seldom kept among anyone. In The Handmaid's Tale, Offred's life in Gilead is surrounded in a heap of power and pressure. Gilead's power forces her to become a product of utility instead of a human who holds the rights of freedom and belonging.
ReplyDeleteStress can also contribute to not conceiving, therefore, the stress from the task they are given can lead to not conceiving, and therefore being declared Unwoman, so the Handmaids feel the stress of not conceiving, and it just adds on to the everyday life.
DeleteGilead's society puts on major pressure on the women of Gilead. I can not help but wonder what pressure that the Commanders are put under. The Wives of the Commanders also are put under pressure to let their husbands have a child with the Handmaids. It seems like the society of Gilead puts so much pressure on its citizens that it is not even healthy.
DeleteStress has a major role in Gilead's society. Sometimes they are unable to conceive due to this. Sometimes they cannot conceive because they are infertile. Gilead's society seems to punish those who cannot have children. The woman gets all of the blame for not becoming impregnated. The Commanders may be the ones who are infertile; yet, the women are punished for it by being called an unwoman. Due to the pressure placed upon her by society, Offred does not consider herself as an human being but as just a reproductive machine. Offred sees no value within herself anymore. This can really hurt many women. I believe that Gilead had to find a "sweet spot" with the amount of pressure placed upon these women. Women may even try to run away from the pressure. Overall, the societal restraints hurt the women of Gilead and the overall society.
ReplyDeleteFor the Handmaid's, there is more than one source of stress. There is the stress of not being able to conceive, the stress of having a child and it being an Unbaby, the stress of not knowing where their children are from their old life, and the stress of breaking on of the rules. All of these stressors put too much pressure onto the Handmaids and they will explode eventually. Most of the causes of stress are outside of the Handmaids control in the first place, like you mentioned with the Commanders being infertile. As you said, Offred sees no value in herself, and when that happens, is when people are the most unpredictable.
DeleteI think that the pressure comes from fear as well as control from the new government. Now, if a Handmaid fails to conceive, they are punished by becoming an Unwomen. It is the fear of failing that causes the Handmaids to act out in such rash ways when they know that the consequences are harsh. These acts can be having sex with a doctor, or in Offred's case, sleeping with Nick. The stress and pressure that the Handmaids are under makes it even harder for them to conceive. The pressure that the Republic of Gilead puts on the Handmaids and all of its female citizens may be too much for them one day. If this happens, the women could no longer care about their well-being and revolt against their society. I think that this would eventually happen. It is a logical thing to happen, when too much pressure is built up, something explodes, and in this case, I think it will be the women in the Republic of Gilead.
ReplyDeleteThe women of Gilead are the hull of the society and if they break, the whole society goes under. They hold the men together, create more inhabitants, supply food, and do all the housework. They know that they are under power and this creates the fear, as you say. The pressure of the power makes stress and fear and, for the Handmaids, it does make it more difficult to conceive because that is all their minds are worried about. The women of Gilead have no balance for their lives. They are forced to stick with this one task and they must devote every ounce of themselves to this task. They don't have freedom to have fun, blow off steam, or find a way to be balanced and sane. I think that you are exactly right that the women of Gilead are headed right towards and bomb of rebellion and that means Gilead will be no more.
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