Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale

For Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, I can only begin to explain a constant thrill of suspense and tension throughout the novel.
Atwood portrays a descriptive Dystopian example, that not only shows how we are able to survive to thrive if these situations were to become true, but also allows us to see the general feel of life in more then one aspect with reading the view from one characters eyes.
Atwood allows us to question not only our narrator, but also the way in which we see things throughout her novel. Her descriptive manner suggests more than one possible explanation when she questions things and allows us readers to picture the scene and the feel of the characters for ourselves.

From the beginning, we begin to doubt her methods from just the first chapter for she explains this simple and well-known image of any reader and turns it into something that we would find as confusing, almost disturbing even. Atwood allows us to question her sudden opening that we are not familiar to, which gives the reader that eager mind to continue the novel to reveal the full context towards us.
Throughout the novel, her information towards us appears as a constant flow but also in sharp, short snippets that bring the story into a more exciting and questionable novel. Her attack upon memory is vivid and toned in a way that we can almost feel every emotion, and every thought the character was feeling then, as the words leap out of the page.

From these clips she has given us, we are able to restore the time before the presence the character is living in now, and have a sense of how dismantled life became before this sudden control hit their lives. Throughout the novel, we piece together not only the past, but also the presence and how each member, whatever their status, is truly having to deal with from the sudden power held upon them.

From what I have read of The Handmaid's Tale, I find it to be a gripping and indulging text that lures the reader into finding out the truth within the end. This for us is merely simple questions that can easily be answered, but for the people of Gilead it is a matter of life and death. Gilead is a constant cycle that sees how the simplest things can be controlled whilst we live in a society that could easily crumble to this measure.

Atwood's use of language helps us to explore a world we are not familiar with and almost warns us of the possibility of this occurring. She is always allowing us to wonder on what is to happen all the way through to the end. Every character begins to open up and shocks the reader for it is unnatural within their nature which excites me to read to the end of this novel.  

Choosing A Level Literature

Choosing A Level English Literature

The reason I chose to do English Literature as an A level was purely because of the amount of detail we are able to find from the authors work.
Through my years in High school we studied "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck and of "The Woman in Black" by Susan Hills. These two novels opened up another meaning to the story that you would not realise if just reading in general. English Literature explores a greater depth on any aspect from setting to characters and made me instantly want to continue taking the subject on at a higher level. From reading a gothic horror to a historical fiction, I was able to see that there is always something to be told to the reader, in what ever genre provided to them.
For me, English Literature allows my mind to be more creative with more than what the author is telling me, but also with how I display this knowledge within creative work.

Before, I enjoyed reading regularly and was always eager to try any type of book there was out there, from being Gothic Horror to a Humorous Romance. With GCSE English I was able to enjoy it further with seeing the book within the authors eyes and knowing through the secret hints within the language they use. From learning this within GCSE, I hope to learn a far bigger aspect within books and continue to learn from them for my own enjoyment of writing.

In the future, I believe that taking English Literature would allow me to take on my future job of working within films. I find that with being able to see and know what the author is trying to portray towards the readers, will help to make a more dramatic and knowing sense within the film. With not knowing why the author has made the characters or setting or any other aspect in the book like that, it brings to any attention that if it was to come into the world of films, it would not be as enjoyable and pleasing for not only the readers that have enjoyed reading the book, but also of the audience watching the book as a film.
For me, going to university will allow me to get to this job and to continue exploring and enjoying well known books.

Rebecca Berry