Filming with my hair tied back today because a. my fringe is pissing me off,
and b. my hair is... I should have washed it last night. So you get ponytail Jaz! Hi!
Today we're going to be doing something a little bit different, but something
that I have talked about a few times as being a type of video that I
would like to make more of on my channel. And today is my first attempt at doing
that... I'm rambling because I don't even know where to start with introducing
this, but today we are going to get critical!
*let's get critical, critical*
And we're going to be getting
critical with The Handmaid's Tale. I'm going to be sharing with you guys five
quotes from The Handmaid's Tale that I think are important, and why. So without further
ado let's jump into it! I don't really know how to introduce these quotes.. I
think I'm just gonna say them.. so let's.. let's do it.
One of the main things that Margaret Atwood explores in The Handmaid's Tale is the causes and the reasons
why someone might become complacent, even in the face of injustice. Why is it
that everyone just seems to be so accepting of their plight? And this quote
basically is like an introduction to that, kind of, 'causes of complacency' theme.
If ordinary is just what you are used to being in your everyday life, when
something becomes ordinary to you, you just accept that as the way it is and
you don't really look beyond the way it is for the reasons why maybe it
shouldn't be the way it is.
So this quote is being used as a justification for some seriously social horrible things that are going on,
by saying "It may not be better for you, but you are just the 'some' for whom it is worse. You
need to sacrifice that in order for it to be better for the population as a
whole, and this is what is needed for the population as a whole." It's actually a
topic that, if you've studied law in high school or even in university, you've
probably come across it. Which is, like, this 'liberal harm principle.' In less
dramatic, or less extreme senses, this principle is actually one that we
genuinely base most of our laws off in society today. A
less extreme example would be speed limits. Like, we give up our freedom to
choose what speed we should go at, in order to make sure that we have some
kind of contingency plan in place for people who risk other people's safety by
choosing speed limits that aren't safe. so it can be a really good principle but
This book obviously explores the ways in which it can be exploited, and used in
harmful ways. Particularly in ways in which it might be used as an excuse for
something that actually isn't only worse for some, it's actually worse for most
people, or it's worse for everyone.
So this is another quote that talks about
that 'causes of complacency' theme that is quite prevalent in The Handmaid's Tale.
Because the main character.. at first she is quite critical of her position in
society, and she is critical of the society as a whole. But when she starts
having an affair with one of the other members of the household, she even
describes herself how complacent she's become. And I think this quote, even
though it's not used in that particular context, and it's not used in talking
about that particular relationship, I think those two kind of tie together
really well to paint this portrait of potential causes of complacency.
This, to me in particular, is a quote that really embodies this concept of language as a
tool of power, which is another one of the main themes that Margaret Atwood
explores in The Handmaid's Tale. It's kind of exploiting the word 'freedom' in
order to keep people from rising up against their lot in society. So she's
trying to argue that this stripping away of certain freedoms has actually been
replaced with a new kind of freedom, and supposedly a better kind of freedom for
women, that entails more respect for women. Even though what it really is, is just
using the word freedom, and playing around with it, and changing its meaning
in order to basically use it as a tool for exploiting women
This is the final and most important theme in The
Handmaid's Tale, of course, and that is women's bodies as political instruments.
How it is that an entire sex, that is women with uteruses, have been exploited
simply as a tool for the sake of society. They are no better than machines, or than
crops, or than water, or other resources that a society uses in order to survive
and be profitable. So this quote in particular embodies that, because she's
talking about the fact that she no longer has any kind of emotional ties to
her body. It has simply become this tool, that other people see simply as a
resource for the country in order to profit from. This is obviously the main
theme in The Handmaid's Tale, and it's a very important one to talk about. Not just in
terms of respect for women and women's rights, but also in terms of human rights
in general, because it's something that we have done in the past.
Slavery is another form of exploitation of human bodies as a tool at the expense
of human freedom. It's basically taken that very real concept that we should be
familiar with, and it's re-applying it to a different group of people, which kind
of forces you to take a step back from it and actually recognise it for what it
really is. And that's why I've always viewed The Handmaid's Tale as being such
an important book, and why it is one of my favourite books in spite of the fact
that it's not in any way an enjoyable read, it's a very bleak read and it's a
very confronting read. So I hope you enjoyed this video talking about some of
my favourite Handmaid's Tale quotes! I have made a blog post,
hopefully articulating my thoughts on these quotes better, and including some bonus
quotes from The Handmaid's Tale that I also think are very important, so feel
free to check out that blog post too, if you found my video to be too rambling-y!
Let me know what some of your favourite Handmaid's Tale quotes are down
below in the comments, because I am all for talking about The Handmaid's Tale!
And let me know if you've started watching season 2 of The Handmaid's Tale
as well! I will see you in some other video very shortly,
I'm sure. And until then, as always, stay classic!