There was something wrong with Nilofar's blog! So this is my comment to her post on the handmaid's tale! Also sorry that the blog was locked earlier on, I was experiencing some technical difficulties thus was only able unlock it now!
Hi Nilofar!(:
After reading your blog post on the reflection of the Handmaid's Tale, I began to understand it a lot better with reference to how it relates to Jonas' society. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to watch this movie thus from what I have read, I feel that it seems like we are reverting back in time as compared to moving forward in this movie. As you have pointed out, in this society the women basically have no rights at all, they are treated like property whose only purpose is to produce the future generation. Very similar to how in the past women were only allowed to stay at home to be homemakers and ensure that the children were taken care of. I find this rather funny and ironic because it was from the past how women have made such significant progress to be of equal status as compared to that of men. However in this movie, they are being treated as a form of property. Although admittedly it is in the best of interest for the society to have such a practise, it is inexcusable to treat women in such a manner. I am sure that there will always be another solution to solve the problem without having to resort to such horrible means. The alternative to this may not be as good as one hopes it to be but in my opinion I value the rights of these women over anything else. It is important that we respect this and is why since the 1900s women have been rewarded with their fundamental rights.
From what you have said, I honestly sympathize with these women! They had no say or choice in the matter and yet are being treated like property. Just from your reading I feel the pain for these women and what they had to go through honestly is a scary thought. Thus this has made me even more appreciative of the current world that we live in!(:
Annette
After uncovering such a scary fact, I sympathized with the people of the past because they were able to live in such a society where everything was restricted. Let alone have a thriving community where the population continued to grow in spite of this. I can never imagine myself living in such a world where everyone was so sheltered from the reality of life. These people have never been able to see the reality of the outside world and have been kept away like that of the people living in Jonas' community.
An example of this would be John Humphrey Noyes, the founder of the Oneida Community. He was unable to deal with his own weaknesses such as his insecurity with women or his shyness. Thus he decided to run away from this by constructing the Oneida Community, to make them acceptable in a society that did not see them as downfalls. This was John Humphrey Noyes' way of running away from reality to live in a "fake world" that he created for himself because he way unable to accept his downfalls.
However it is ironic how the harder an individual tries to achieve a Utopian world, do more dystopian factors start to arise. For example, in the Giver when Jonas discovered the truth, he started to feel like he was being oppressed and thus resented this. Also, in the Oneida community it began to decline massively because the younger members started to be affected by the outside world. Therefore, they no longer shared the same sentiments as their founder John Humphrey Noyes. But rather, the need for personal and individual development was beginning to show and finally led to the dissolve of the Oneida Community in 1881. This shows that it is only a matter of time before the truth is being revealed to the society and the members realize that it is not their Utopia any longer.
Therefore, it is essential that we learn to accept our downfalls because sooner or later we are going to have to stop living in our "fake world" to face the reality of life. A Utopian society will never be able to exist like that of Jonas' community and the Oneida Community. A more modern example of how a Utopian society cannot exist would be communism which alike aimed for the idea of equality of some sort. However, in this day and age the idea of communism fails to exist as well. Which is why I believe that we have to accept our downfalls in life and learn to pick ourselves up and not try to run away from these problems but rather face them head on!
This one photo encapsulates the main themes as well as symbols that were brought out in The Giver. Firstly, it would be the idea of "sameness" which is a theme constantly being emphasized throughout the book. The children of different races, twins as well as the colourless trees bring out the theme of "sameness". Jonas' community tries so hard to achieve this element, however from the first two pictures, it shows that being different is not necessarily a bad thing to have because we can live harmoniously together despite being of different races. The third picture shows us a very sad aspect, a community without colour and life to bring out the idea of "sameness" in Jonas’ community
Secondly, would be how Jonas is able to see beyond the surface of objects. The 2 toned apple, the eye filled with colour and the most important of all, the red rosy apple which stands out from the rest of the monochrome background. All these show how Jonas was different from the rest of his peers that he was able to see the colour of objects. This relates to the very key event where he discovered his rare talent of being able to seeing beyond, which led on to him being chosen as the Receiver.
Thirdly, the pictures of a fire place and a happy family depict love and warmth. This is related to when Jonas thirsts for love from his family. However this idea of love fails to exist in his rigid society leading Jonas to feel even more oppressed. This simple example brings out the rigidness of Jonas’ society that the idea of love and warmth does not exist because everything is structured and organized.
Fourth would be the young baby with deep blue eyes. This reminded me of the new child Gabriel. Gabriel plays an extremely important role as he acts as a symbol of hope to start over for Jonas. As a new child, he was not accustomed to the rules of society thus Jonas brought Gabriel with him to run away as a gesture of trying to change the way things were in his society. Jonas wanted to break free from the rigid, organized society that he lived in.
Fifth, would be the sled that symbolizes both the journey and discoveries that Jonas makes during his trainings as it was the very first memory he received. It also symbolizes his entry into a new world at the end of novel when Jonas discovers a real sled and enters the real world.
Lastly, would be the lake in Jonas' society which symbolizes escape from the confines of his society. For example when little Caleb drowned in the river, it was one of the few events that the community failed to predict would happen. Thus from this Jonas was inspired to try and change the community just like the river and its unpredictable behaviour.
One of the main themes in the Giver is the importance of memory. All throughout the book, it is constantly emphasized that without memory, there is no pain in life that we can ever experience. We cannot be plagued by regret or grief if we were unable to remember the event that brought about such a emotion or feeling. Thus in the Giver, it has been decided that the community should eliminate all pain by giving up their society’s collective experiences. This was done through designating the job of the Receiver to remember the memories for the community because the importance of memories was still recognized.
This let me reflect upon how many a times in my own life, I myself would wish that I was able to forget certain memories of life. For example those that made me feel sad, angry or depressed to eliminate the pain that these memories brought about, very much similar to that of Jonas' community. However, after giving much thought to it, I realized that having these memories of pain is when we are able to learn from our mistakes. Without the memories we will continue to face the same problems in life and never learn how to overcome them. Thus, I realized that these horrible memories I hold of my own life, is something that I treasure very much. Unlike before when I was all ready to give them up to forget the pain that came with these memories because from these memories, it is when I am able to learn from my mistakes, it is when I am able to grow as a person.
More than that, without memories, we will never be able to remember the happy memories that we have experienced. Something like memory comes in 2 forms, those that bring pain and those that bring pleasure. We cannot always look on the negative side of things, because with memories comes happiness as well which is something I will never be ready to give up. Without memories, life seems to be filled with no meaning or purpose. This was something that Jonas realized as well as he went through his training as the Receiver which was why resented this to run away.
Thus, after much thought and reflection, my memories are definitely here to stay to learn, grow as well as appreciate what they bring!
However, through these discussions, I have come to realize that we will never ever be able to achieve this idea of sameness, no matter how much we try to bring this idea about. For example, as seen in The Giver, the job of being a birth mother was looked down upon by other members in society. This was brought to an extent when Lily was scolded for hoping to be a birth mother when she was given her assignment. This simple example shows that there will never be true equality in society. Another example which hit me, was how Jonas was chosen to be the Receiver because this assignment was different from any other assignment. He was isolated from his peers and had to lead a different life of loneliness because of his assignment, which is ironic being that Jonas was living in a society that hoped to achieve sameness.
Therefore this idea of sameness is one that is very vague and idealistic because the truth of the matter is that we will never be able to achieve this. Being different from everyone is not necessarily a bad thing, but rather it just makes up who we are as people. No doubt, the idea of sameness is something good to have so as to prevent things like discrimination, but I personally believe that being different is perfectly fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions about certain matters, and we are in no position to dictate that, but rather, just learn to accept people's differences as an individual.
Another interesting part of the book which caught my attention was the idea of having a committee to decide your job as an adult. I believe that as long as someone sets their mind to something, nothing is impossible. Although as people we may be more suited for certain jobs, at the end of the day it is still our choice to make because its the basic respect that we can give to every individual in society. Through hard work, every individual will be able to accomplish that job. Furthermore if we never gave people the chance or opportunity to make a mistake, we will never ever learn in life because its from these mistakes that we learn and become wiser as people. This is something I myself can relate to, because right now I am striving very hard to become a lawyer which is something I may not be suited for. Therefore it is also the reason why I am working so hard in both academics and in my co-curricular activity to ensure that I can become a good lawyer when I become an adult. Although I may not be the best person for the job, I believe hard work makes up for everything thus every individual should be given this opportunity to choose what they want in life.
Overall, after reading this book, it really gave me quite a substantial number of things to ponder about, if whether I myself would have wanted to live in such a Utopian society. However at the end of the day after giving much thought to it, I appreciate the current world that we live in more than I ever have before.