Atwood’s familiarity with the power of literature materialized from her enlightening professor Perry Miller, who taught her American Romanticism at Harvard University in the early 1960’s. Perry Miller was an admirable teacher who Atwood dedicated The Handmaid’s Tale to after his death (Sullivan). From under his tutelage, Atwood began to evaluate and understand the connection between literature and power structures as she asserted, “it was a big eye opener for me” (Sullivan), because from him she learned literature emphasized how people reacted to political power in society, “Literature had to do with how people related to power structures and were shaped by them” (Sullivan). Due to Miller’s accentuation of how literature exemplifies the behaviour
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It is an incendiary device: who knows what we’d make of it, if we ever got our hands on it” (99). The way Offred regards that they can be read to from the Bible but not read it themselves demonstrates literature can be a means to personal and political self-awareness and a tyrannical authority would like to diminish any possibility of such an awareness that can cause disturbances in their overpowering rule. By the same token, when Offred was given the opportunity to read, breaching the strict rules outlined for her, she actively reacted upon it, “On these occasions, I read quickly, voraciously, almost skimming, trying to get as much into my head as possible before the next long starvation” (212). Offred was starved of reading because it could lead to the freedom of thought and ideas which would challenge the authority of a totalitarian …show more content…
Specifically, Atwood’s concern on political issues and her value of words and language can be displayed by her presidency of PEN – Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists Association – where she waged a vigorous battle against literary censorship (Carmean et al.). In Amnesty International, Atwood condemned the tyranny that persisted globally, “she was involved in struggles against totalitarian power and censorship on an international scene” (Godard). Being involved in such political groups awakened Atwood to the ways totalitarianism is instituted in society and helped her accurately depict that in addition to the way individuals were linguistically deprived. This notion is evident in the novel when the signs of stores are replaced with images because they were thought to be too provoking, “The store has a huge wooden sign outside it…You can see the place, under the lily, where the lettering was painted out, when they decided that even the names of shops were too much temptation for us” (28). The replaced signs of the stores stood more for the explicit control the government implements on citizens, and less of the way it was provocative, because it exhibits the ability of the government to
It is an incendiary device: who knows what we’d make of it, if we ever got our hands on it” (99). The way Offred regards that they can be read to from the Bible but not read it themselves demonstrates literature can be a means to personal and political self-awareness and a tyrannical authority would like to diminish any possibility of such an awareness that can cause disturbances in their overpowering rule. By the same token, when Offred was given the opportunity to read, breaching the strict rules outlined for her, she actively reacted upon it, “On these occasions, I read quickly, voraciously, almost skimming, trying to get as much into my head as possible before the next long starvation” (212). Offred was starved of reading because it could lead to the freedom of thought and ideas which would challenge the authority of a totalitarian …show more content…
Specifically, Atwood’s concern on political issues and her value of words and language can be displayed by her presidency of PEN – Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists Association – where she waged a vigorous battle against literary censorship (Carmean et al.). In Amnesty International, Atwood condemned the tyranny that persisted globally, “she was involved in struggles against totalitarian power and censorship on an international scene” (Godard). Being involved in such political groups awakened Atwood to the ways totalitarianism is instituted in society and helped her accurately depict that in addition to the way individuals were linguistically deprived. This notion is evident in the novel when the signs of stores are replaced with images because they were thought to be too provoking, “The store has a huge wooden sign outside it…You can see the place, under the lily, where the lettering was painted out, when they decided that even the names of shops were too much temptation for us” (28). The replaced signs of the stores stood more for the explicit control the government implements on citizens, and less of the way it was provocative, because it exhibits the ability of the government to