Prompt #2: Allusions

[Mrs. Asti]

The meaning of some literary works is often enhanced by sustained allusion to myths, the Bible, or other works of literature.
Consider how Margaret Atwood makes use of such a sustained reference in "The Handmaid's Tale." Then write a well-organized discussion post in which you explain the allusion that predominates in the work and analyze how it enhances the work’s meaning.

*Respond to this post using the comment link below. At the top of your post, please include your first and last name.

[LisannetteG]

Lizannette Gonzalez

Allusions have always been used to reflect a larger picture or to refer back to a moral that has been stated before. An allusion that Atwood uses to enhance her novel is found right in the title with the word 'handmaid' being symbolically used to signify another woman bearing children when another woman could not. 
The story that Atwood refers to in the books title is from a story in the bible where a couple by the name of Rachel and Jacob attempt to have children however they fail. Rachael decided to give her handmaid, Bilhah, to Jacob to bear children and Bilhah ends up producing two children. Atwood's use of alluding to a biblical novel in her title gives readers a clue as to what the book will entail. The allusion of the handmaid also symbolizes how something as seemingly righteous as the bible can be so degrading towards women which is also reflective of the United States, how the country states that everyone is created equal and that they are endowed to life, liberty, and happiness, yet excludes women from this dream. Through her inclusion of this seemingly innocent word 'handmaid', Atwood shows that after a millennium of women not being treated humanely, the extremist nature of her novel might not be so far from reality if society does not alter itself for the better.

[Thomas]

Thomas Cusido
Allusions can be seen in most works of literature as a way to connect the work to a greater meaning and expand the message that the book may want to give to its readers. The allusion that is seen throughout the story is the name “handmaid”. A handmaid is a woman that bears a child for another woman that was unable to bear a child. In the bible, a handmaid would show “humility” and would “respectfully self-deprecate” and these women would give birth to children for “great men “and “kings”. This allusion parallels greatly with the story itself as the women in the story would be enslaved and forced to reproduce and the “great men/kings” are commanders. The contrast that occurs is that in the bible, stories that involve handmaids tend to be more of a great act that the women are partaking in, while in The Handmaids Tale, the women are now seen as objects rather than human beings and the acts are actually degrading since the women have no choice but to partake in the act of bearing children. Atwood was able to greatly enhance her work due to the fact that she was able to show that the ideas in her book are not that far from reality because the idea of female slaves has already been written about in the bible and the mistreatment of women has continued to be apparent throughout contemporary society, which could be the foundation for the mistreatment that the handmaids in her story receive if our society does not reform itself.

[Marlon]

Marlon Rodriguez
In literature allusions can be used to tie in a bigger meaning one of a more grandiose scale, allowing for the audience to pick from that a create a meaning it’s a device used to enhances, deepen, foreshadow, and comment it’s used vary. In a Handmaid’s Tale it can be found in the title itself “Handmaid” a connection can be easily contrived between the religious figure of The Virgin Mary, as in the religious teachings she is referred to as the handmaid of the lord creating the allusion and bringing it together with the themes of maternity and motherhood as the Virgin Mary did not bare Jesus like a normal woman keeping her purity and essence of her dawning her as a ideal whilst in the handmaid tale a contrast is made with the control and hierarchy that is created for woman in this world. Along with many of the other plots of the books alluding to and having similarity to other Christian with the “sons of Jacob” group sharing similar ideologies to the Christian Reconstruction group all curvilinear around the family hierarchy and the way things should be run and done. Much of what happens in the Handmaid’s Tale can be traced back from somewhere as the author Margaret Atwood said so herself everything in the tale is based of something that did happen before meaning it’s allusions and commentary to society is all based on preexisting events.

[Isabella]

In Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid Tale” Atwood alludes to biblical scriptures and other works of art to create subtle impact on the readers. In the title itself Atwood uses the word Handmaid to allude to those also known as women who carry a child when other women cannot do it. Atwood also alludes a lot to the bible and how in some part of the holy scriptures the bible degrades or dehumanizes women. For example, women are considered snakes and a distraction to men rather than them being counted as an individual. The uses of these biblical scriptures throughout the novel shows how even in our real lives’ women are being discriminated in such a public way and being devalued by what people see almost as a guide or a way of life. The use of the word handmaids in the title also foreshadows what the novel entails since Handmaids are often bearing children to the “great men” or the men in power while they are being treated poorly.

[Nohely]

Nohely Diaz
Many literary works contain allusions that are predominantly used to make connections between the work and a bigger picture. Throughout the novel, the main allusion was that of the “handmaid.” This term is usually given to the woman that bears children for another woman who is unable to birth a child. It being the book title, foreshadows what is going to happen in the novel. The Bible contains many references to how women were degraded for centuries. In the eyes of Christianity, a handmaid is meant to show modesty and during the time, they would birth the children of honored men showing the parallelism between both works in how women would be forced to birth the children of these “noble” men. “Handmaid” was written to originally be something good to partake in however, the unexpected became reality causing women to face concerning circumstances such as being treated like objects/degraded and oppressed to bear the children they would not have desired. Atwood’s words demonstrate that if society does not take action and fight for the rights of woman to be treated properly, the events that take place in her novel may not be far from reality.

[Marco]

In Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaids Tale" many biblical references can be seen throughout the text. The allusion to the Bible in the story provides the reader with a deeper meaning to the message that Atwood is trying to communicate to her readers. The Bible has, for centuries, been a humanities guide for their morality. The "goods" and "bads" that society has imposed are derived from the Bible. In the story, they use the Bible as an excuse to and a way to justify their extremist ideals that women should not have a mind of their own, that their only purpose on this earth is to provide men with children and nothing more. The society that Gilead has instated. It is ironic that they use the Bible, a book that promotes peace and prosperity amost us, to justify such horrible deed and actions against women. Margaret is utilizing this fact to demonstrate the fact that such horrible conditions in society should never be allowed. If we as a society begin to demean and treat others as lesser due to gender, or race and ethnicity, then society as a whole will fail.

[Luis]

Luis Gutierrez

As many readers know, many allusions that predominate over the novel " A Handsmaids Tale" refers to works of the bible. The novel mentions the Handmaids, whose main job is to bear children, the economies, who are more lowly in terms of classification, and the Marthas, who do household chores such as cleaning. The Marthas in the novel all tend to be busy with chores around the house throughout the novel. The Allusion represented by the Marthas can be found in the Gospel of Luke in the Bible. In the gospel, Jesus visits Martha and Mary's house. Mary listens to everything that Jesus was talking about, but Martha was too busy worrying over the housework. This obsession over housework is shown in the novel by the Marthas.