The Handmaid's Tale

One of the major themes of Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale, is the transition from a society based on sex for pleasure to a society in which it has become for reproduction only. The origins of this transition could likely be found in the Church due to their desire for people to be more "orthodox". This loveless sex is demonstrated by the ceremony, in which Offred and others like here have sex with commanders, for the sake of reproduction. This is difficult for Offred because she remembers back to a time when she had control over whom she would have sex with, and could do it for pleasure rather than it having some "greater" purpose. I personally thought that the unhappiness generated by the "pleasure-less" world, was an attack by the author on the strictness of the church, which ties it again into the religious undertones.

"I wait. I compose myself. My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born." is a line that really demonstrates the lack of liberties of the people in the society, in a way that it is incredibly clear to me. The statement that she is "made ", as opposed to something born, is very profound in that it is showing that, she was not always like the way she is now, in need of being "composed" which is another word for controlled, but she was born with liberties, and now the world in which she lives, has "made" her to be what she is, the person in need of composing. In essence here, I just think that this quotation really shows the struggle for self-identity the people of Gilead are feeling.

As for my thoughts on the novel as a whole. I thought that this novel was superior to novels such as We, because the emotion of Offred, brought it to a whole new level that separated it from the "pseudo"emotionless characters of We. The Handmaids Tale, seems more realistic in that it is less of a science fiction novel, and more of a novel making a social commentary about the world we live, and how certain behaviors if taken to extremes, could be the bane of society. This is what makes The Handmaids Tale, so easy to relate to in comparison to other dystopian works.
As for the subject material, well it didn't exactly "thrill me" personally, but I felt like I understood the purpose of the novel, although I may not have agreed with some of it. So due to this I believe that the novel was good, but not excellent, which is why I'd rate it 3.5/5. This is because I simply found it hard to like the novel, although on the otherhand to deny the brilliance of its in depth writing would be folly. Thus in my biased opinion, it was good for what it is.

We

Yevgeny Zamyatins, We, is a dystopian novel in which its city, One State, seems to be the manifestation of the Marxist ideas of Communism. One of the things that is a major theme of the novel, and also contributes to the communistic idea, is the pink tickets in the novel. The pink tickets serve as a way for the government to moderate the publics sexdrive. The city has in place a system in which any number(person) is entitled to any other number, as a way to prevent jealousy/emotions,(keep everyone equal). This is just such a crazy idea in my opinion because one can just imagine what it would be like to have un-consentual sex with random people on a regular basis(unconsentual being if they pick you, not if you pick them).In essence I believe this is contributes to the overall theme of the novel, in that people are "entitled" to other people, which just goes to show how violated peoples liberties have come, and how the denizens of one state are oblivious to it.

"I rushed to the house office, handed over to the controller on duty my pink ticket, and received a certificate permitting the use of the curtains. This right exists in our State only for the sexual days. Normally we live surrounded by transparent walls which seem to be knitted of sparkling air; we live beneath the eyes of everyone, always bathed in light. We have nothing to conceal from one another; besides, this mode of living makes the difficult and exalted task of the Guardians much easier. Without it many bad things might happen..." in my opinion is a quote that really shows how deprived of personal freedom One State is, and I believe the quotation really paints a picture of how One State is so privacy-less. At the same time word choice, such as that of "rushed" implies that he was excited, and looking forward to "using his pink ticket", which shows that all though the citizens of One State are deprived of emotion for the most part, D, is struggling ,because he is showing emotion in this very quotation. In essence this quotation in my opinion portrays some of the major themes of the novel.

I thought We was a pretty decent novel, although personally I preferred Anthem because of its more upbeat ending(which is kind of ironic being its a dystopia). In any case, We, was hard to follow at first due to the point of view, being from the eyes of a mathematical "fanatic", who'se trouble in interpreting his emotions, tends to cross over into the readers point of view, adding a bit of 'chaos' to the reader.However at the same time the thing that makes it difficult to understand makes it 'authentic', to an extent I believe. All in all thought We, was in my opinion "3/5 stars", in that it was good but, nothing made it really stand out more than other dystopian novels I may have read,and the point of view from D's point of view was a little cumbersome.

Anthem

In Ayn Rands, Anthem, at the conclusion of the novel Equality(the protagonist) renames himself Prometheus, and his lover, the golden one, is renamed Gaea. I found this to be one of the most interesting premises of the story, with the Allusion to Greek mythology.
The name Prometheus is from the Greek Titan, of the same name, who "stole" fire from the gods and gave it to man. It is for this reason that it is interesting that Equality chose this name for himself, because he has given the world "fire" in the form of his "light", and has been punished into a pseudo-exile for it ; but it is also a symbol of hope, that like Prometheus he had given the humans hope which is made manifest through the light, but also in the knowledge that the acts of Equality have changed the way humans will perceive the world. It is also in this way that Prometheus(Equality) serves as a messiah type character, because by liberating himself from the chains of the society, he can then go on to spread the revelations he has made to others, and teach them the truth.
On the other hand Gaea, is the god of the earth, and known as the "mother" god. It is to this end that "the golden one" will fit this model issued by her name, in that she will be with Equality together most likely as a motherly figure, who is now free to experience the earth, without the boundaries of the city.
In essence, the choosing of the names Prometheus and Gaea are very significant in interpreting the ending of the book, because the names chosen imply a hope that they are going to make a difference in the world now, like those who came before them with the same name.

"I know not if this earth on which I stand is the core of the universe or if it is but a speck of dust lost in eternity. I know not and I care not. For I know what happiness is possible to me on earth." is one quote i found to be intriguing. It is obviously talking about the fact that happiness is found only on earth, because that is where the people are, and with the people one can ascribe a purpose. Also, it is to this end that I believe it is trying to make the point that the happenings of the universe, make one have a sense of "cosmic insignificance", and that the things that really matter are not of the intangible world but the material world that we live, that will make us happy.

Overall, I think Anthem was actually a very good story. I liked that its plot was simplistic, but with purpose. Also, it was short and to the point, and managed to hold your attention for all 100-some pages. Although it has a lot of good ideas in it, perhaps a bit more details about life in the civilization/"city", would have made the story have more of an impact. All in all, a solid story, 3.5/5 stars, in my opinion.