Analysis
The Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut is a novel that contains many conflicting ideas that are important to the lives of people. Certain scientific advancements can either help the public or harm them such as the creation of the atom bomb. Science can provide a wide variety of things ranging from medicine to inventions such as the cell phone.
In the novel there are two inventions that can both help and harm the society, but harm more then help. Science allows for the invention of the atom bomb, something that can take the lives of many people in one single second. It could be good for the destruction of an area in a split second but other then that there is nothing else that could benefit from something so strong and powerful. The creation of ice nine by Dr. Hoenikker was something that could end the world if it was handled the wrong way. The second ice nice hits a drop of water it freezes it in an instant. The only benefit from this invention would be to freeze over mud for troops to walk over and not spend the time getting stuck in it. Once again an invention intended for good turns out bad. In the novel ice nine is the cause for the end of the world and the end of human life. These are two examples of how science can produce good things but at the same time an equal amount of bad.
Dr. Hoenikker was a well known scientist who was the creator of the atom bomb. The question arises whether or not Felix was a good person. Could the creator of something so dangerous as ice nine be a normal, innocent person? Hoenikker did not want the fame and fortune for his inventions, he just did what he enjoyed and thought was right. He was not the type to hang out and interact with his family or anyone else. He cared more about science then he ever would about his family. This causes him to sound like a terrible person but would such an evil person enjoy studying turtles and have toys in his laboratory? Its hard to say whether or not Felix should be known as evil or innocent; his inventions were life threatening to the public, but he was a quiet man who enjoyed keeping to himself. Innocent or evil? Dr. Hoenikker was a mysterious man who created something that ended the world.
Quote:
"After the thing went off, after it was a sure thing that America could wipe out a city with just one bomb, a scientist turned to father and said, 'Science has now known sin.' And do you know what father said? He said, 'What is sin?'" (21).
I think it is very ironic that the one who just created the biggest sin known to man, has to ask what sin is. Taking the lives of people in one split second is considered to be the worst thing a person could do and yet Hoenikker has not the slightest idea. This novel is filled with many accounts of irony but this is one of the biggest ones that stuck out. The father of the atom bomb has to ask what exactly sin is even though he just created the biggest one possible. For such a brilliant scientist how could such a question be asked?
Opinion
I was not sure what to think when I first started reading this book. Was Dr. Felix Hoenikker a terrible man who could not be bothered to spend time with his children or did he have a reason to neglect them constantly? When I learned of ice-nine I went back to believing Hoenikker was a great scientist who did great things for the world. It seemed like such a great invention that could greatly lower the burden when obstacles are put in front of you like a large body of water you must cross. By the end of the book my opinion completely changed about ice-nine. It may have been a good thought but once it was created it was so incredibly dangerous. It lead to the destruction of human life and the end of the world. Something that is so powerful should not be in the hands of humans or even created. Dr. Hoenikker may have thought he was doing wonderful things but when you look back on his major inventions they only caused great problems, such as the atom bomb and ice-nine.
Overall I thought this book had some interesting ideas mainly being ice-nine. The question of Dr. Hoenikker being good or evil kept me wondering through the entire book and by the end I concluded that he was a good man at heart but when creating his inventions the evil came out.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
The Handmaid's Tale
Analysis
Margaret Atwood's, The Handmaid's Tale, is a novel that focuses on the control of women and men in the Republic of Gilead. In this society neither the men or the women seem to be enjoying the life they are forced to live. For the women, their rights are taken from them at the start of this new life in Gilead and never returned. They are to live the proper way according to the rules of their Aunts and the jobs they must fulfill such as being a Handmaid to a Commander.
The Handmaid's Tale contains many literary devices, a very important one being irony. Through out the novel it is stressed from the Aunts that the lives women have in Gilead are very good compared to their old ones. The Aunts explain that before the women began to enter this wonderful society they were completely mistreated by men. When Offred was younger she used to witness and take part in the burning of porn magazines with her mother. The magazines were said to be degrading to women and caused men to view them solely as items and not human beings. These magazines were to please the men and it upset many women. The Aunts also mentioned how in the old world terrible things happened to women such as rape. The men took advantage of them and sometimes hurt or killed them. In Gilead women were taught that these things did not occur and women were treated as well as possible.
The irony comes in when the ceremony is introduced between the Handmaid and the Commander. In this society the ceremony is a task between the men and the certain women that is performed to try and reproduce. There is no interaction between the two aloud and no emotion must be shown. It proves to be ironic when the women do not enjoy the ceremony and they are forced to do it such as when a woman is raped. Irony also takes place with the club Jezebels. It is a hidden place where all the commanders go to be in the company of women. They secretly interact with the women while they wear very reveling clothing. The only reason the men sneak out to these places at night is so they can enjoy being with a woman while she is throwing herself at them wearing little to no clothing. Even though the Aunts said this society was free from the harmful ways of men, Jezebels shows that men are still using woman just for pleasure. Irony is a big literary device in The Handmaid's Tale and shows how Gilead is in fact not the perfect place for a woman to live.
Quote:
"I would like to believe this is a story I'm telling. I need to believe it. Those who believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance. If it's a story I'm telling, then I have control over the ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off" (39).
I think this is a very powerful quote because by Offred believing she is telling a story it gives her hope that she has control over the ending. In Gilead, a place where she has no freedom or rights, telling a story could be her way to rebel from the society. She is not aloud to talk or interact with anyone else so by creating this story in her head it is an escape for her. She also hopes that if she was telling the story and she had control over the plot eventually her life would go back to the way it was, before Gilead. This quote proves that Offred is really upset in her society but has no one to reach out to. She would do anything to go back to her old life with her husband and young daughter.
Opinion
When I first started reading this book I was not sure what to think of it. I thought it was terrible how the women were treated and did not understand why someone would want to write a novel like this one, but I also thought it was very well written. Offred's life was very boring and there was not that much action that took place but the author did a very good job at describing the events that happened.
The one thing that really shocked me in The Handmaid's Tale was the ceremony. I thought it was terrible how they took something that should be so special and filled with love and turned it into something where no emotion is shown. I also did not like how the women had no say in what was going on during the ceremony or at anytime for that matter. There were so many lies to the women just to make this perfect society and no one was even happy. I thought over all the events that took place in this book were terrible toward women but in a way it was interesting to hear Offred's side of the story and the pain she went through.
Margaret Atwood's, The Handmaid's Tale, is a novel that focuses on the control of women and men in the Republic of Gilead. In this society neither the men or the women seem to be enjoying the life they are forced to live. For the women, their rights are taken from them at the start of this new life in Gilead and never returned. They are to live the proper way according to the rules of their Aunts and the jobs they must fulfill such as being a Handmaid to a Commander.
The Handmaid's Tale contains many literary devices, a very important one being irony. Through out the novel it is stressed from the Aunts that the lives women have in Gilead are very good compared to their old ones. The Aunts explain that before the women began to enter this wonderful society they were completely mistreated by men. When Offred was younger she used to witness and take part in the burning of porn magazines with her mother. The magazines were said to be degrading to women and caused men to view them solely as items and not human beings. These magazines were to please the men and it upset many women. The Aunts also mentioned how in the old world terrible things happened to women such as rape. The men took advantage of them and sometimes hurt or killed them. In Gilead women were taught that these things did not occur and women were treated as well as possible.
The irony comes in when the ceremony is introduced between the Handmaid and the Commander. In this society the ceremony is a task between the men and the certain women that is performed to try and reproduce. There is no interaction between the two aloud and no emotion must be shown. It proves to be ironic when the women do not enjoy the ceremony and they are forced to do it such as when a woman is raped. Irony also takes place with the club Jezebels. It is a hidden place where all the commanders go to be in the company of women. They secretly interact with the women while they wear very reveling clothing. The only reason the men sneak out to these places at night is so they can enjoy being with a woman while she is throwing herself at them wearing little to no clothing. Even though the Aunts said this society was free from the harmful ways of men, Jezebels shows that men are still using woman just for pleasure. Irony is a big literary device in The Handmaid's Tale and shows how Gilead is in fact not the perfect place for a woman to live.
Quote:
"I would like to believe this is a story I'm telling. I need to believe it. Those who believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance. If it's a story I'm telling, then I have control over the ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off" (39).
I think this is a very powerful quote because by Offred believing she is telling a story it gives her hope that she has control over the ending. In Gilead, a place where she has no freedom or rights, telling a story could be her way to rebel from the society. She is not aloud to talk or interact with anyone else so by creating this story in her head it is an escape for her. She also hopes that if she was telling the story and she had control over the plot eventually her life would go back to the way it was, before Gilead. This quote proves that Offred is really upset in her society but has no one to reach out to. She would do anything to go back to her old life with her husband and young daughter.
Opinion
When I first started reading this book I was not sure what to think of it. I thought it was terrible how the women were treated and did not understand why someone would want to write a novel like this one, but I also thought it was very well written. Offred's life was very boring and there was not that much action that took place but the author did a very good job at describing the events that happened.
The one thing that really shocked me in The Handmaid's Tale was the ceremony. I thought it was terrible how they took something that should be so special and filled with love and turned it into something where no emotion is shown. I also did not like how the women had no say in what was going on during the ceremony or at anytime for that matter. There were so many lies to the women just to make this perfect society and no one was even happy. I thought over all the events that took place in this book were terrible toward women but in a way it was interesting to hear Offred's side of the story and the pain she went through.
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