Symbolism
Claim:
Fashion and alcohol are the symbols used to display power, control and femininity.
Evidence:
"Moria, sitting on the edge of my bed, legs crossed, ankle on knee, in her purple overalls, one dangly earrings, the gold fingernail she wore to be eccentric, a cigarette between her stubby yellow-ended fingers. Let's go for beer." Analysis:
When Offred was applying makeup and Moria's style was being described, it displayed femininity and showed that they used to have the freedom to control their own appearance. When they decided to go out for beer it created a sense of power that they used to have which was taken away from them. These two things symbolized the power and control that Offred had before she was forced to be a handmaid in the commander's house.
Imagery
Claim:
The imagery was used when the narrator was handed the porn magazine at the park and when she threw it into the fire.
Evidence:
"The woman handed me one of the magazines. It had a pretty woman on it, with no clothes on, hanging from the ceiling by a chain wound around her hands. I looked at it with interest." "I threw the magazine into the flames. It riffled open in the wind of its burning; big flakes of paper came loose, sailed into the air, still on fire, parts of women's bodies, turning to black ash, in the air, before my eyes." Analysis:
The author made it very easy to visualize these two scenes by using a lot of details and emotions. It was interesting stepping into Offreds childhood, seeing what she went through and visualizing her experiences and how it relates to her current sexual and captive situation. I could see a pure and confused child being exposed to distress and conflict. A kid who does not fully understand what the point of those magazines were, why they were being burnt and why there were "pretty" naked women on them.
Figurative Language (metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, hyperbole, or understatement etc. ) Claim:
The figurative language that the author used in chapter 7 was similes and it causes the writing be a lot more descriptive.
Evidence:
"I would come up through a roaring and confusion, like surf boiling." Analysis:
The similes used by Offred this this chapter, make her points stronger and a lot m...
