- Text The Handmaids Tale (Atwood) What is the purpose of morality Essay

- Text The Handmaids Tale (Atwood) What is the purpose of morality What are the pros and cons What is morality - Essay Example Whether it results in the reinstatement of moral values to the creation of a better world is the matter of concern here. Based on the principle that â€Å"no society ever strays completely far from its roots† (Curious Pursuits, 91), Atwood has created a future society reviving the trends and practices of the Nineteenth Century Puritanism. The novel, which is the outcome of composite factors like vast and thorough reading of history, extensive travel, first hand experiences of real despotisms and experience acquired through a membership in the Amnesty International, perpetrates the author’s conviction that totalitarian regimes breed fear and silence. In such an atmosphere, morality is also a degenerative instrument of torture at the hands of the dictators. Morality, when enforced, becomes nothing but oppression and invariably fails to serve its purpose. The term morality implies the ability to discern right, good and virtue from their counterparts. Human beings are endowed with the ability to rationalize and the free will to face crucial situations in life demanding the exercise of these faculties. Every society has its set of standards in morality, so also each individual. Various factors like cultural parameters, contemporary trends and individual preferences play vital roles in deciding and setting up these standards. The revival of Puritanism in the novel, with its dictatorial enforcement of standards of living pose an outrageous, dismal and despicable picture of an impending possibility fulfilling a dystopia’s mission of warning the world. The simulated American theocracy in the novel is patterned after the Old Testament standards. In the imaginary nation ‘The Republic of Gilead’ which is the United States of America in the distant future, women are withdrawn from the public spheres and are categorized according to the duties they

The concept of Emily Grierson as a trapped individual Essay

The concept of Emily Grierson as a trapped individual - Essay Example Emily Grierson was strongly attached to her father and it was her father who brought her up. Her mother had passed away and she did not have any other close relatives. This aspect of her life led her to live a life of solitude and her life was based upon her relationship with her father. Her father was a proud man who considered him to be superior to all the other people who resided in the town. He kept a distance for the other people and did not intermingle in the social gatherings with people. He instilled similar feelings in his daughter and she was also not very social and restricted to her life within the house. Her father considered all the men who offered to marry Emily not to be up to the mark and rejected all these proposals. This behaviour of the Griersons is portrayed by Faulkner in these words, â€Å"People in our town, remembering how old lady Wyatt, her great-aunt, had gone completely crazy at last, believed that the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were. None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such.† Thus her upbringing by her father pushed her into solitude and led her to lead a trapped life. Emily’s father was the most important figure in her life and the death of her father shattered her. She became hysteric and was not ready to accept the death of her father. She did not take the condolences of the people and sent them away. It was only by force that her father’s body was buried. This great loss pushed her more into entrapment and she was left alone in her life. The next major character that entered her life was an outsider, Homer Barron who came to visit the town. Emily became greatly attached to him owing to her solitude and loneliness but Barron opted not to marry Emily. She took a drastic step of poisoning Homer Barron and kept his body in her house. The reaction of the people of the town and their criticism for her can also be held accountable for her trapped li fe. The people in the town talked about her behind her back and only visited her out of curiosity to see what was going inside her house. This social alienation served to further prevent Emily from leading a normal life. Emily became totally isolated and did not believe in societal laws and regulations. She developed these believes owing to her entrapped life. She did not consider herself to be a member of the society. She did not allow for the installation of a mail box at her house as she did not want to be linked to the outside world. She also denied paying the taxes in the town and responded to the officials from the city by saying, "I received a paper, yes," Miss Emily said. "Perhaps he considers himself the sheriff . . . I have no taxes in Jefferson." It has been portrayed that the life of Emily Grierson starts â€Å"decaying† in her home in solitude. She began to decay physically, mentally as well as socially. She started losing her looks and was totally cut off from t he social environment of the town. She did not mingle with anyone and thus her life depicted a theme of decaying. She also lost her sanity as she went as far as to kill Homer Barron so that she could keep his body with her. The death of her father is the initiation of her psychiatric issues. This can be seen when she denies that her