Player Piano- Symbol or Theme

One of the things that I noticed in the novel was the usage of human beings as objects with which to further themselves or others. Yes, it did happen quite a bit. It seems that as humans become less important in running a society, their purpose dwindles from doing things to being things. There were quite a few instances where this happened.

Firstly, I'll discuss Paul and Bud Calhoun. Yes, I will go as far to say that Paul was using Bud Calhoun, and so was the entire system. Paul would simply go past him every now and then, and demand a new machine. He just took for granted Bud's abilities. He seemed more interested in success in business than what exactly Bud was doing. The system merely cranked out whatever he was thinking up. Eventually, Bud thought up something that put himself out of a job. There was nothing left to do after that. Though he likely walked into that one himself, neither Paul nor the system cared much or did anything to help prevent it or then fix it. They simply took his ideas and cranked them out, kicking more people out of jobs than before. Paul went to Bud indifferently, and when he left, there wasn't much of a large disturbance in Ilium at his dismissal. Even when he boarded the train later, Paul was already thinking of what Bud could do to improve the system, even though an old conductor was sitting beside him. Bud was merely a miracle invention machine.

Next, I'll discuss the reverse of that, and also Finnerty, Lasher, and Luke. The Ghost Shirts decided to use Paul as a figurehead for their operations. He really wasn't anything more than that, and they probably wouldn't mind killing him and thinking up something else. They just figured that this was the easy way out. The great Paul Proteus had become a name on a piece of paper. He was just going to be sitting there as the alleged but hardly the leader of the secret society. Of course, once his purpose was finished, who knows what they'd do with him. As the people began to grow less of an attachment to the machines, they sought to break away, but still saw Paul as merely an item, a tool to fix the overall machine. No better than the society that they just fled. Perhaps that's the proof that the rebellion was doomed to fail.

Anita and Kroner also used Paul quite a bit, the former more so than the latter. Anita saw Paul, without a doubt, as a trophy that would get her into the papers. She just wanted him to do every last little thing she desired, to get her everything she sought. (She more or less sought the world, but still she'd likely have asked Paul for that and then shoot for the moon to boot.) She threw a temper tantrum every time she didn't get her way, and sought to make Paul feel miserable afterwards. Her continual reminding of Pittsburgh is the most notable of her little obsession. Kroner also wanted to use Paul to find the Ghost Shirt society. For someone who was supposed to be a fatherly figure, he really appreciates a little go-for rather than a happy young man. If he could catch the Ghost Shirts, then he would be the friend of a national hero, and doubtless that would have at least three or four (hundred) perks when Paul climbed the success ladder. Such a loving family, pushing the one prodigal son through the fray so they could get a little bit of personal satisfaction. As the closest part of industrial America to Paul, these are most definitely the antagonists and symbols of corruption. Fitting that they would seek glory for themselves.

Also, for a change of pace, Halyard simply used the citizen Edgar Hagstrohm as an exhibit to show the Shah of Bratpuhr. Of course, when the exhibit wasn't as wonderful as planned he simply dragged the tour to another house and made himself at home. To Halyard, the people of America were separate shows to be aired whenever it was necessary to impress foreign visitors. He made no effort to express concern over the opinions or conditions of the families, he simply put them all on display. And, naturally, the show went wrong and the Shah was not impressed all too much. In response, the tour moved to another location; if one show doesn't work, go somewhere else, it's just a cheap show. Doctor Dodge entered with no intention of being friendly, and made it very clear to Edgar that he was only here to impress the Shah when Edgar asked for a handshake. The citizen of America is now no more than something to impress the neighbors with, and they'd better do a good job at it too. Edgar, of course, made effort to show that he wasn't there to just be used. This was important in reminding authority that they were dealing with a living human being. Despite being described as average, it was interesting how wrong the computer was at choosing this person as the best place to advertise to the Shah.

There's an awful lot of person-using-person here. It seems that, especially in the last case above, an automated society comes at the cost of individuality but also at the cost of basic human value. People are not just there to serve a purpose like a computer program. They are important in their own way, and need to be treated as more than just another object to be used as seen fit. Of course, a world run by computers and managers rarely concerns themselves with the importance of human value. All that's important is a bigger number and more progression down a path of educated guesses. The human being becomes nothing more than an obstacle to be manipulated at will.

Player Piano- Passage Analysis

I'll go with the play. Just because it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Just a little peculiar. The whole thing is obvious propaganda, and to me it was so blatantly pointless and false at first I had to read it again before I could even comprehend how the others could accept it and believe that the managers were saviors. Quite frankly, I'm not so sure I'd use it or something like it to a crowd unless it was significantly tweaked.

My complaints have to do with the fact that the focus of the prosecution was less focused on how the civilians felt rather than the physical numbers. Now, if there was no need to really buy anything then a drop in pay would seem a little less outrageous. However, if the prosecution focused more on the fact that there was a large drop in public image, that most of Americans were dissatisfied, that most people were not happy in the least, then it might have been a little more apparent that there was a bit of a problem at hand. There isn't any point in progress if the progress doesn't make the people happy. Unlike computers, humans have feelings. This is probably why the Star Manager forbid any emotional evidence, because everything looked better in numbers. God forbid the managers have to suffer from emotional dissent (or rather, a soul). Of course, the prosecution only whines that managers are paid more than workers. Weak.

On the other hand, the defense states a whole lot of numbers. Numbers, that's all. More fridges, TV's, cars, and automatic toilets, I'm sure, than the rest of the world. The only flaw with referencing Caesar in the defense's speech is that even the poorest feller in today's world is infinitely better than he would be hundreds of years ago. Public advancements are beneficial to everyone, and I sure would hope that we've improved technology since Caesar's time. The only real qualifier with an ancient ruler comparison is luxury, really. The ability to have these extra items, though, is nothing if the people don't really enjoy them. If progression was strictly numerical, in terms of what should make someone happy, then the Benefactor and Beatty ought to be celebrated as wonderful heroes. Moreover, Caesar had plenty of fun bossing his people around, throwing them to the lions and such, being a real leader. Quite frankly, he was probably happier than most of the people in that automated world of technological America. (Of course, the assassins put a minor damper on his leadership, but aside from that, he's probably laughing at Ilium.) This seems to stress that the only factor important in progress is if the numbers are bigger at the end of the process than at the beginning.

I also laugh at the statement that the boss of the managers is really John Averageman. That one was the biggest laugh in the entire comedy routine. I highly doubt that the consumer really concerns himself with dictating to the managers what should be made. The managers call for construction and then it is sold to us by hitting us over the head with a hammer until we buy buy buy buy buy. McDonald's sells us burgers; we did not ask for meat, cheese and veggies between bread to the response of a fast food chain scampering up, begging to grant them the privilege of feeding us. They sell burgers to us. End of fairy tale. When they think of something new, they tell us it's better and just buy the thing. Most of them try to show up other restaurants by adding their own spin on a classic, which sometimes is the spin that makes it trash. Furthermore, if the managers can brag that they're getting a bigger paycheck solely to produce more for the Averageman, I'll assume that these engineers pay for company projects out of pocket. If they are, that's reason #592 to get rid of the system because workers shouldn't be paying to work for someone. If they don't, then I'd love to find out where those rich engineers spend their thousands of dollars. Balls and dances? Country clubs? Grand cuisine and a wonderful cruise or two? Yeah, that really helps out John Averageman, enduring a cruise around the ocean. It would be so terrible if the engineers weren't happy enough to do their job.

Really, the whole play makes a weak argument from the prosecution and a load of rubbish from the defense. Materialistic improvements come at the expense of personal pride and entertainment, and that's really no improvement. Quite frankly, the whole thing is just a single reason for why there was even an automation revolution in the first place, and a poor excuse at that. Plus, the reasoning behind the bigger paycheck for engineers seems to stress the fact that something's not right. The fact that this was cheered so darn much makes you almost want to pity the poor fellas who have no clue how to run a country. Vonnegut really put a lot of emphasis on making this terribly ridiculous and obviously fake.

Player Piano- Reaction to the Novel

Trying to keep this short, I'll say that I preferred this book over a few of the others read in class, primarily because of the wit and humor in the novel. I find the jokes, though dry, dark, and dreary, add a great deal of entertainment to the novel. The ironic twists and turns were well placed, and kept me interested to a greater extent than the other novels. And I will also say that this ending was one of the better ones in the sense that it did not just suddenly drop off with no hint of the future. It would certainly be better if the ending was a tad more hopeful, yet that not only isn't Vonnegut's style and would be terribly out of place, the novel still concludes slowly enough to wrap up all loose ends without simply dropping off as it did in Handmaid' Tale or ending abruptly as in We. It was pretty good, I feel.

It's also frighteningly accurate. There are so many different things that technology is capable of doing today that human effort is becoming unnecessary and the way of the past. Just about everything can be done without human beings, and eventually they won't be needed. ATM's, checkout lines, packaging and shipping, assembly lines...pretty soon the only thing people will be needed for is to fix a small kink in the system. Soon people may only be unnecessary beings wandering the earth with nothing to do. Even if you had all the time in your life to yourself, it'd get pretty darn boring. There'd be nothing to do. The only thing that makes vacations (say, for example, Christmas break in 2 weeks) so fun and wonderful is that you've been toiling away incessantly for an eternity. Now you want to enjoy yourself, and you can. This world would bore you eventually, and most likely sooner than you'd ever dream, and with nothing to do you'll spend most of your life in absolute boredom. It'll be Fahrenheit 451, only with books. Miserable.

However, there is one glimmer of hope: this sure won't happen in our lifetimes. Technology, I've found, is wonderfully unreliable. It'll take at least 20 years, more likely 25, to perfect computers. They always crash or catch cold or do something weird. It'll take longer than that for mankind to perfect systems for everything else. And by that time, there'll be some arrogant punk who's figured out some way to break the new toys with the push of a button, and the whole process of creating a system will begin again. There's a far better chance of us figuring out how to live on Mars rather than to make a completely automatized world. A TV show once detailed how in 50 years they'll have perfected hovercars and will have a networking system built into our body so someone can personally monitor our health every second of the day. Alternative fuel hasn't been completely figured out yet, much less put into action to a large degree, and I doubt the anti-gravity measures will be easily calculated. And considering how bad computers are, I highly doubt that super network in our body will ever run even half the time at 50% efficiency. We all think that such a world is possible, but I know from experience that things take a lot longer to do than originally intended. They're also a tad tougher. If we ever reach that stage where our lives are completely automated, I will be thoroughly shocked and impressed. I really don't think that it's possible to achieve such a level of automation so quickly. We're still only beginning to improve technology, and there's so much that we haven't even dreamed of doing yet. A number of these dreams are right in this book.

The Handmaid's Tale- Symbol/Theme

I am going to discuss the expression of power in this novel. Now by expressing of power I primarily refer to Aunt Lydia being a bit of a complete ***** and certain other authoritative figures either abusing their power in some way or their controlling of it. I'm not sure whether conclusions can be drawn due to position and the fate of others of the same ranking and gender, or whether or not it's just due to character, but in the end it basically makes some solid statements about people and the absolutely corrupting substance known as power.

Aunt Lydia is absolutely drunk on power. There is no other word for it. (other than, of course, the omitted word from above that sounds like the bolded word before it) Considering her position, however, it is completely expected. She is one of the few women with unrestrained, unchecked power, and she enjoys using it. When Moira walked, or rather, strutted out of the Center with that air of authority, she was cleared without a moment's hesitation. She commands even the soldiers with nothing more than a stiff back and a dirty look. This gives an idea of how darn powerful the Aunts actually are. She now takes the position of training the women to become Handmaids and respectable ladies of Gilead. She can be quite cruel, though, and she likes to flaunt her power. She tortures Janine relentlessly, then takes advantage of her resulting want of acceptance and significance by offering her the position of lapdog. She takes her sweet time reading the Salvaging speech as well. She enjoys being in power, the sheer force she can exert on the rest of society. An oversight during the Janine meeting causes the young woman in question to understand that she was going to be sharing this power, and though Aunt Lydia did allot some authority to Janine, she was reluctant in doing so. She was quite surprised when Janine actually requested to sit before Her Pompousness. Whatever the reason, out of all the subservient women, she was of the few that gained power. As as result, she ended up corrupted by it when placed in a community of powerless women like her. It all went right to her head.

A stark contrast to this is Serena Joy. Yes, she was also not the nicest of people, but she had a reason for it. Besides, she really did not abuse her power. She could have made Offred absolutely miserable, but simply let her be. In fact, she even offered to help her in the middle of the novel. Th conspiring certainly did not demonstrate any use of power. She could have forced Offred to have sex with someone else if she really desired that baby, or if she just wanted to know that Offred was being brutally raped every few nights. Aside from that, she could have berated Offred every single day, or had the Marthas overcook her food. She could have kept her awake at night, or could have had her standing in a room somewhere holding something heavy pretending to need help moving something heavy. She could have done many things, but instead left her well alone. She does not take advantage of anyone in the household, but rather just exists with them all. In stark contrast to Lydia, who had no reason whatsoever to be so freakin' annoying, Serena Joy seems like one of the nicest women around. Both have power. Only one of them abuses it. Perhaps Serena is far kinder than Lydia, or is too exhausted to be a jerk. Perhaps her situation is less of a send-in-the-next-batch job than Lydia's, so she is nicer to the people she'll be living with until she's dead. Maybe she just needs some friends. Either way, she certainly hasn't been corrupted by power. Rather, she seems tired of it. Perhaps Lydia got drunk on power quickly, and never broke the addiction of indulging in it, while Serena gradually eased into it and found that it wasn't all that much better. Maybe it was just because Lydia can exercise power over many others.

The Commander is somewhat in between the two. I say in between because he does pull for some side "favors" from Offred, but doesn't really abuse his power all that much. Although we don't know whether he asked for these few favors from the other women and Handmaids, it can be inferred that Offred is the only one involved in this. I'll ignore Nick for this part, because he's simply willing to help his boss out. There isn't much pulled from him, other than the drive to Jezebel's. Now, of all the things that he could do, he ends up pulling Offred into his office to play Scrabble. As a treat to both of them. Regardless of his position as Commander, he's going to be in serious trouble if he gets caught. And all he does is ask for Scrabble and a kiss. He even gives a few things to Offred. However, this also abuses his position in the sense that he relies on his name as Commander to get all the black market stuff, and to coax Offred into joining him for the occasional game. He could be demanding much worse. In all, it's a measured indulgence; not passively floating through life by the book, also not being a complete son of a *****. (same word as above) He is a man; he has several other liberties and sources of power, yet he doesn't really flaunt them all that much. He knows what is just enough to get optimum enjoyment out of life. That being said, he did overindulge that one night in Jezebel's. If Offred is not the only Handmaid brought here for that reason, then he really does abuse his power significantly and is a little more of a jerkwad than I have given him credit for.

To analyze all three at once, several reasons can be offered. Perhaps gender can play a part in power corruption in this society. Lydia is one of the few women that can lord over the little authority granted to this gender, therefore she abuses it profusely. Serena Joy, while she does have power, does not have a whole whopping lot, and therefore will not impose her might on others because she really doesn't have all that much power to impose. The Commander has a good deal of power, but he is a man, and men are allotted significantly more power. Therefore, he is not as easily corrupted by it; it is almost second nature to him. Then again, another aspect is how freely you can impose that power on others. Serena Joy has very few people to impose power over, and the Commander can only impose power on his own household and those underlings that fear the position. Lydia has a whole lot of women under her command, and she gets fresh meat every once in a while. She has a lot of people to boss around and make miserable. Also, she has a significant level of command in the society because she read the Salvaging speech. Also, the position they are in can severely affect whether or not it's really worth it. The Commander can exert power to a certain degree; he can get in an awful lot of trouble if he's caught doing what he's doing. However, he has enough power to get away with it. Serena Joy is stuck with her underlings for the rest of her life, save the revolving position of Handmaid that will need to be broken in all over again at every changing. Lydia can basically do whatever she feels like doing, other than murder. She is in absolute control. Of course, this may all be due to personality and nothing more, meaning that all this is just coincidence. However, I believe that a combination of these factors have made these people the people they were in the novel, and their environment determined whether or not they would fall prey to the corrupting influence of power in their hands. In a world of restriction, power can do nothing other than corrupt.

We- Symbol/Theme

Something that I noticed in We was the large use of numbers and logic. Noticed, of course, is a little bit of an understatement. The references continue throughout the book. I personally think that it all refers to the summation speech by the Benefactor at the end of the novel, and how inhuman a "true love of society" is. What I believe is trying to be conveyed is the idea that logic and reason really cannot be applied to something that does not always function as predictably as a computer program, namely human beings.

The Table of Hours seems to be more than just a freakish way of setting up the lifestyle of the community. It dictates exactly what the people need to be doing exactly when. However, the entire process is much like a pre-programmed system that is able to operate autonomously. There really isn't anything the Benefactor and Guardians needed to do other than to remove any bugs in the system. The community of OneState is mechanized; it is no longer a community but a program or a machine. The life had been more or less sucked out of it. Considering this, D-503's remark about the system is that everything would be 100% perfection if the Table of Hours listed directions for every second of every hour of every day for all eternity. The system is idle for those free hours; it needs to be doing something. Otherwise, the system is dead until it awakes again. D-503 is talking from the perspective of a machine at this point. Now a complete mechanized society whose only objective is to continue existing actually IS SOMEWHAT UTOPIAN when it comes down to the technical stuff. Tell you what: program a computer with a short little schedule and tell it what happiness is, and it would tell you continually that it was happy. Is it really happy? Not really, because it has no idea what happiness is, besides whatever you said it was, but it is content with doing what it needs to do. What it thinks it must do. It assesses situations and responds with a technical answer. Thus, this community can be loosely called utopian only when mankind is completely mechanized.

Now, there's just one little problem with living beings: they think. Computers don't think, they compute. Machines just act. We think, and when we think we really explore many things that a computer might call absolutely pointless and stupid. They would explode trying to just accept the fact that we actually waste time living. Now, I'm going to say that this translates roughly to the fact that HUMANS ARE NOT PERFECT, and cannot achieve a status of perfect happiness. At least, not while being human. D-503 can still think about the square root of negative 1; a computer would just put it out of mind and only read ERROR if it saw it. But D-503 can think about it. This causes him to attempt to understand, find some answer to, explore further, get irritated over, rack his brain about, etc. etc. etc. until he snaps. As long as we can think, as long as we have free will, as long as we have a soul with preferences and emotions, we cannot achieve paradise on earth. There are too many, if one can call them, variables, to completely deduce the equation Happiness. As a result, we are doomed to the bad times as well as the good. We can't just have one without the other, because we exist on several planes of existence. Computers don't; either it is or it isn't, and this is how it's done. However, some people can waste their lives chasing perfection rather than living. D-503 spends most of his time in the novel fretting over why why why. He wants to be "happy." He doesn't care much about anything else. Thus, the Benefactor in the end of the novel gives him exactly what he wants. He extracts D-503's imagination (and free will) and makes him a mindless drone. The Benefactor has done this to the whole world, as far as we know. How "nice," giving the whole world the "happiness" they always wanted. See what I mean?

This is actually quite cruel. Humanity wants to exist and know they're existing. They do not want to simply perform task, compute result, begin next task, 1010010101010. (That's binary computer-talk, by the way.) However, society is going to pieces in the search for said perfection. The Benefactor has granted their wishes. In a sense, it is the best thing for the world. No hunger, no discrimination, no suffering, no unhappiness. All problems solved. Thus, it can be noted that society should really be glad they can live rather than wanting more, wanting constant bliss, wanting an easy life. Live how you'd like, but don't waste the time you've got. Just live. This society has already become mostly computer, and at this point knows of no other way to achieve happiness. If they already have all this granted to them, why not continue on and get the rest of the problem fixed, to never suffer again? Another thought D-503 had was about how happiness was always thought to be a plus. He often noted several other items as a plus or minus, to express his opinion. He later begins to wonder about the inherent opposite to that number, and how it must exist and must be included somewhere in the equation of life. The extraction of imagination solves the problem: set everything to zero. It isn't quite positive, but it sure isn't negative, and that's all that matters. D-503 also tries to make a function out of love and death. That he had quite a bit of difficulty with, because it isn't necessarily true. He was trying to mix both the logic of mathematics and the emotions of the soul he was experiencing. Those two really don't mix, accentuating how different the logical road to success is from the emotional and gut feeling road.

This novel seems to exaggerate the mathematical concept of perfection, and how inhuman it really is. But this, I think, is the purpose of that exaggeration. The logic behind perfection and paradise is highly inhuman and is not supposed to be applied to unpredictable humans. We cannot follow a system like a computer. We only know how to live by our own beliefs. As a result, it attempts to show how utopias are really impossible for us, and also not to worry about living as much as actually living. Logic cannot be applied to life to receive an all-powerful result. That result is somewhere near infinity, and the only beings that know of that number are the inhuman, soulless ones that live in the realm of probability, theorem, and instructions. They can determine how to live perfectly; only we can live, and we can only live by living, not computing.

Anthem- Symbol/Theme

One of the major noticeable characteristics of Anthem was the continual references to one large being of man. The names of the people, the daily schedule of events and how they are carried out, and the peculiar rules and mannerisms all seem to emphasize that the community is not a community, but rather a single group of people. One huge brotherhood of man, whose sole purpose is to simply exist and slave away for everybody else because individuals are as nothing. What is truly interesting is that the individuals of the society, though they work for the entirety of man, are truly fearful individuals whose prevailing thoughts reflected an idea that they are and have never been anything but evil, and that they owe their lives to their "brothers and sisters" for all the trouble they have caused.

Firstly, all the people in the community have names that are symbolic of unison and wholeness. Equality, Fraternity, Unity, etc...all stand for a united group of persons. However, these words have very little of their true meaning left. If they are now names, then there is a good chance that their meanings have lost value, and that to use them in this society would not get much of a reaction in return. Instead, it is assumed that the society is all these words, and that they are no longer needed. After all, that would only be stating the obvious. In the novel, Equality gets scolded for singing or whistling, I forget exactly what, and he states that he did so because he was happy. Then the elder tells him, in effect, well that's obvious, of course you're happy, everyone is. In losing their meaning, there is no real way for the citizens to confirm that there is, in fact, unity and equality. Equality should supposedly have known that he was happy, just as he should supposedly know the community abounded with continual expressions of unity. It was taken for granted. However, this hides (or rather, partly emphasizes) that there really is no unity. If there was, the people would be as one people gladly working together for the betterment of others. The unity is only skin deep; within, they do not know what else they could possibly be. They do not realize that the community's stressing of unity has devalued what unity actually is, and has torn them farther apart than ever. Equality also has a technical but really-not-there-fully existence in that everyone appears to be the same and therefore equal, but in reality the people set themselves lower than everyone else because of their own personal "sins." The community really isn't united any more than it is happy.

The daily schedule is also an emphasis that all people are as one. They all rise at the same time, go about their jobs, and travel to their respective eating quarters and recreational facilities with all the others of their specific kind. Now I'd like to point out the obvious fact that if everyone were that same it really shouldn't matter where you went with what people, so long as you followed a schedule. No, apparently, the people are equal, but not that equal. Anyway, everyone moves in the same way around their life with their section, all working in unison. Again, it only appears to be unison. Equality stresses the fact that he daydreams, and therefore is evil, unlike his brothers. Well, how does he know that, exactly? The idea that everyone could be dissenting secretly seems to stress that the society is meant to keep the people in apparent unison to dissuade any that feel like doing something else. The rampant fear of how anything that all do not think is evil prevents anyone from really expressing how they feel. This most likely causes everyone to withdraw from others, with a sense of fear of being recognized as evil. This, more than anything else, result is a society that focuses on the individual's struggle to blend in. It points out the fact that everyone is terrified of being different, so in pretending to be the same everyone fakes it and cautiously blends in, ever wary of and distant from others. No one can trust the other, and no one wants to be evil. Let the evil keep their distance from the holy.

The other little quirks of the society include strict separation of women and men, where neither can speak to or even really acknowledge the other. For a society of unity and equality, there really is a little bit of a required explanation for this. About the only reason that would count would be that they needed to separate them for sexual and competitive reasons. But if they've got that much control over the community, I really doubt that many problems would arise due to lust or competition. Besides, that is an evil that absolutely must be avoided. No one in the community would want to be evil. Therefore, the separation really stands against any idea of unity. Particularly when considering the security at the Palace of Corrective Detention. When Equality breaks out of the Palace, he just knocks a door down and then walks right out. No one ever disobeys society. If anything, that incident shows that the Elders go pretty much unchallenged, and that there really shouldn't be a fear about allowing others to mingle. Other than the fact that the two different genders are a difference that they cannot ever overcome. A weak solution to an unavoidable part of nature that only accentuates the disunity of the society. Curiosity also kicks in and makes people want to break the rules even more. Also, the peculiar practice that everyone had to go to an assembly with their group as recreation deserves some attention. Everyone is expected to want to watch the same thing, to appreciate the same form of art. Really, this isn't unity, this is just a ticking time bomb. Some will tire of the performance, then either express it and be rooted out or will become terrified that they are evil and do not think as their brothers really ought to be thinking. Others will most definitely show some great appreciation to it, and may whistle, bob heads, tap feet...do things that are different that will land them in trouble, like Equality's whistling or singing. Personally, I think that subjecting everyone to a play is just passing them through another sieve or an obvious negligence that will point out that the entire community is not 100% united in all thought, all the time.

As as result, the many aspects of the community that seem to hint to unity only point out how far from unity the society is. It reminds us that perhaps the more one attempts to achieve total unity and conformity, the more nature will rage against it and express itself in defiance. The people end up becoming paranoid and self-deprecatory. Equality's escape was bound to happen at some time, and is bound to happen again. Eventually, in a world that points out how different everyone is and teaches them that these differences are evil, someone will get to the point where, believing they can't get any lower, they will strike out and act for themselves, doing as their different minds dictate.

The Handmaid's Tale- Analysis

What to analyze, what to analyze...so much to choose from... ... How about the Ceremony? Well, not quite the actual Ceremony, and by that I mean the...well, THAT part, but...more of the stuff leading up to it, and the reasoning behind it. Surely there's some special meaning to the reasoning and not just the act. That act definitely has a large reason, but I overwhelmingly see it as a part of society that just about everyone hates, which accomplishes a purpose that really was meant to be reached through other means.

Well, beginning with the fact that everyone has to gather for the prayer part of the Ceremony, it is apparent that it is exactly that, a prayer service, as much as it is another chore that everyone's got to go through. Everyone gathers in the room and waits for the Commander to read from the Bible. Perhaps it stands symbolic for the church service. This is the new religion of procreation through handmaids, which Gilead in the name of God commands due to the rising infertility of women. He is the one that reads, for the purpose that the women do not have the right to read. However, it is kept in a box, locked up tight. It is referred to as an incendiary device. Only the Commander has the key. This reemphasizes the fact that the only people who are allowed to speak religion are the ones that have been told what to say, the ones that dare not say anything that would conflict with the twists of law the women have been taught. As is stated offhandedly, who knows what the women would think if they ever managed to get ahold of it. Perhaps this is emphasis on the fact that the truth is kept under lock and key, along with the freedoms that it now imprisons. The Bible itself, which does not actually command any of this, which stands for the warping of the pinnacle of holiness and goodness, is also the freedom of speech which no longer belongs to the women. Moving on, the Commander reads only the bookmarked pages. They do not skim through the books, looking for the correct page and possibly seeing something that defied Gilead's iron regime, contradicted their orders. Even the men do not have freedom of speech, but rather the responsibility of keeping the women away from the very thing that gives them that right.

As he reads, he reads only that parts that dictate to be fruitful and to replenish the earth. There really is no main message here, other than that women are vessels that are meant to make babies and then more babies after that. The Bible is meant to give more important messages than that, and God's main focus was not to just make more humans. He could do that Himself with little effort. The Bible is merely being used as a tool to fit the purpose Gilead intended for it. As the readings continue, the story of Rachel and Leah is read. The novel only mentions the part where the wives offer their handmaids as substitutes for birthing. Now there's a whole lot more than that to the story. Rachel was the wife that was supposed to be married off to Jacob, but due to some trickery he married Leah instead. He then works and eventually married Rachel as well, but then neglects Leah. As a result, God, who was not very happy with Jacob nor Rachel for this treatment of Leah, made Rachel barren. Rachel, if anything, did this to get around God's curse, and then the handmaids were used in a sort of competition to see who could make more babies. Really, it's not as if God commanded that the handmaids be used to make more babies. In this way, the Bible is cut and pasted into a different version that allows Gilead to enforce a practice that would otherwise have gotten an overwhelming response to go shove it where the sun don't shine. It seems to reemphasize the fact that the government had used a holy writ to achieve its own evil ends, to show a destruction of a good religion into something that completely warps the original message in the opposite direction. In this light, the almighty Republic of Gilead is nothing more than a gigantic hypocritical fake.

With the false command from God, the Commander then concludes and asks for a moment of silence, at which Serena Joy ends up crying. This "good news" doesn't exactly make people happy, or result in any large level of goodness. Rather it does the opposite and creates much hatred and sadness. Serena's crying seems to emphasize the fact that the new version of the old story is more of a reminder that she's worthless to Gilead, that a replacement is necessary because she's nowhere good enough. Women again are depicted to be nothing more than decoration, and this shows that really no woman has a purpose except for that sole reason stated in the forbidden Bible. Also, it seems to be an omen of bad things to come, where a silence for hopeful prayer results in some dread of what is to come. In the end, the Bible ends up being the exact opposite of what it should really be. Gilead has completely changed the meaning behind it, and has made it into a weapon against the people rather than the saving word. The interruption Offred mentions reminds that even the Beatitudes had been changed to ensure that the women followed orders as expected, and that there was a justification for the rule. This passage points out primarily the hypocrisy of the holy society of Gilead and what the Bible has become as a result of the new powers in charge. And the new Bible is as effective as the old one, albeit the effect opposite from what it should be.

We- Analysis

One of the interesting aspects of We was the final chapter. In this chapter, the book is spontaneously resolved by making D-503 a mindless computer-like drone of OneState. Also, I-330 and the rebels are tortured and later liquified. Sort of a let-down, a tad bit of a bummer of an ending. Not quite all too fulfilling when the main character, troubled for all his time in the novel, perhaps even from chapter 1, suddenly loses all free will and is reborn a walking corpse. That and betrayal by the one person he really loved. Or thought he loved. Either way, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that, despite all logic, the ending of the novel WAS a happy ending in a highly technical and disturbing manner. NOTE TO THE READER: if you haven't caught my drift yet, I introduce you to my method of sarcastic understatement. I do NOT like the ending of the novel, nor do I support OneState. However, thinking in the computer logic that the Benefactor discusses a few chapters prior, technically this is a happy end to a troubling tale.

Throughout the novel, D-503 fights to discover what he really wants. He suddenly begins suffering from the sickness known to OneState as "soul." Well, that is a good thing in reality, to have a soul, but as the Benefactor may have put it, depending on context, soul is what prevents society from attaining a utopian society. The closest we can get to Heaven is only attainable if we sacrifice our souls. Only computers can really be happy without being unhappy. Note that this happiness and unhappiness is in theoretical terms. Without one, there cannot be the other. D-503 mentioned somewhere that society always thought of happiness as a plus sign, but never considered the opposite that mathematically had to exist, and realized that one could not have a free floating positive without negative. Continuing with this, the troubled D-503 now obtains, at the conclusion of the novel, his perfect happiness as a computerized human. He never really warmed up to the idea of the soul, and its removal from him allows him to attain some higher level of peace and fulfillment that is very similar to...well, I won't mince words, it's really no better than dying. However, he gets his impossible happiness without a negative. Zero is referred to as a nonnegative number, meaning it isn't negative. (hence the non) However, zero has no negative equivalent. Hence, the conclusion of a mathematical utopia, ending in perfection, in lack of want or unhappiness, the lack of a negative: the impartial, nonnegative number 0. Besides, a book that begins with inhuman math and logic really can't end in anything other than math and logic, can it?

But why did the Benefactor see D-503 soon afterward? Why have him witness the torture of I-330 which he did not remember and treat him to a dinner? Well, I wrote earlier that perhaps the Benefactor is trying to bring humanity to the utopian end they've been begging to reach, to end their pointless suffering in the search for perfection and paradise. It's disturbing, but in a way he may be attempting to act as the fatherly omnipresent higher being that looks to ensure that he's happy. If D-503 suddenly woke up without an imagination and thought that he'd done all this weird stuff, (weird to him in his new form) he might be a little unsettled. Maybe the Benefactor merely wanted to ensure that the whole business that had occurred was over, all in the past, and welcome in a new friendship with D-503 and an acceptance into the community. Since D-503 didn't react to the torture of the others, especially I-330, the Benefactor could relax and know that D-503 had finally found peace. Consider it a mercy killing, like when the Benefactor told D-503 that he was just being used. In fact, D-503 himself stated that his shouting was like trying to stop a bullet that was still being fired into him. Maybe all this was to forgive D-503 and double check that he's not going to go back into the suffering that he desperately wanted to be rid of, yet at the same time desperately wanted to be part of. The Benefactor put him down to end his suffering, and then granted him forgiveness. Perhaps the dinner was even analogous to the Last Supper, and would therefore be yet another symbol of friendship and new life.

So there you have it. A twisted logic that puts a happy face on the ending. The Benefactor puts on the fatherly guise, forgives D-503, and welcomes him into a community that never suffers, that is always at peace. One heck of a funny looking smiley face, but it can be made. Perhaps the crazy mathematical approach actually applies to the end of the novel, and this is somewhat right. If not, I can only state that the Benefactor was being a real jerkwad by having I-330 tortured in front of D-503, in an attempt to flaunt that D-503's one of the inhuman utopians, and really this signals the demise of all humanity and the rise of the zombie humans of OneState. This makes the ending a complete bummer and reminds us that not everything will always turn out the way we like it. It can still say that true perfection is not attainable by humans with souls and that in reality even true paradise isn't all we think it to be. I just prefer to think that there's SOME positive outcome to this story and not that everyone just up and (spiritually) dies.

I assure you I still am human and do not support crazy utopias such as these. I would sooner live in the deepest hole in the Netherworld. I am just finding some way to be really technical/argue semantics/analyze this book.

Anthem- Analysis

The reactions of the Scholars when Equality brings them his invention is actually quite interesting. To me, at least. As recap, Equality brings them the creation that he had made in the hopes of showing it to the world, and even possibly for the betterment of mankind. The Scholars react a little differently than he thought they would, though. First they cower in fear of it. Then they rage and demand the most excruciating deaths imaginable. They then tell Equality that what he had made is evil on several technicalities: he made it alone, so it is evil; no one else knows of it, therefore cannot believe in it, therefore it is evil; and even if it is going to help mankind, it is evil solely for that reason, and that humanity should toil because to work hard and unnecessarily is good. At this, Equality curses them and flees.

Now this is laden with a few small significances. Firstly, the fear that the Scholars expressed towards the glass box is obviously connected with the other references to the unknown. The society is afraid of the unknown; or rather, the people are afraid of the unknown because of what they have been told by the elders. The uncharted forest is a source of fear that no one dares to approach, because it is all uncharted, unknown. The people never state what they are thinking, because anything different is evil, and what goes on in the heads of others is unknown. Likewise, the new invention is unknown. There is a glaring fear of the unknown present. It signifies that, because the elders say that the unknown is evil, the people of the society are too afraid to know anything. They don't want to know. It's as if Adam and Eve bit the Apple of Knowledge, but in knowing then curling up in fear of thinking. Technically, knowledge is bad, so we'll just sit here and not know anything other than what is told to us, because only that is what we should know. That is what has happened to this community. They are afraid of difference, and of knowledge of unknown things, because everything is different when you get down to it. Therefore, all things are evil if they are different, and one cannot know difference if one has no knowledge of anything else to COMPARE IT TO. (Sorry, I'm taking my comparison theory too far in my rants, aren't I?) This is why the Scholars are afraid of the invention: they are afraid of the difference, the new knowledge. It is something that is out of the ordinary, something inherently evil. Also, the strong mention of evil signifies the religious grip on the community. The fear of evil alone causes the people to not rise against those in charge.

As for the signs of evil, the Scholars show themselves to be jealous. More than anything, they are jealous. Jealousy is what brings judgment to any "sinners" in the community. Anyone different might be better than others; therefore, there must be some level of jealousy in the community. The Scholars have been clearly outdone by some ordinary Joe off the streets. Naturally, besides the whole evil thing, they are a tad irked at being shown up by a street sweeper. Their uncontrollable fury displayed before one of them reminds them that it is the Council's job to determine punishment, not theirs, shows that, for a moment, they let their emotions and personal, individual, different thoughts get the better of them. Their extremist demands to have Equality "whipped until there is nothing left under the lash" show that these guys really don't like being bested. They're sore losers, and if they can't be the best, they'll just destroy whatever's better than them.

The signs of evil themselves also tell a bit of info. The fact that they call it evil solely on the basis that it was not developed with others is a telltale sign of hysteria. What, does that mean that if they now make it with others, it becomes good and they get the glory? Again, jealousy. Hypocrites. The notion that the number of people present determines good and evil demonstrates a lack of importance as to the idea itself and its purpose, and instead emphasis on whether or not any one person is better than another. Also, the other notion that its making life easier proves its evil shows a severe demand for mindless dronage. If they don't work, then they think. If they think, they become even more afraid of difference, or tolerant of it, and things begin to break down. Heaven forbid people actually thinking for themselves and not the fifty people standing around them. The mentioning that it would put the Department of Candles out of commission is another big signal that change and unknown is unsettling. It took fifty years to show everyone that candles are better than torches, and were unknown and different but still good. Fifty years. That long to let everyone know that there was a better way of making light. People in this society really like their personal bubble, don't they? No change, no difference, just the same beautiful world around them 24/7. Meanwhile, a light bulb would make things so much better and easier. The purpose was for the betterment of humanity. (I bet, though, since plural is evil, it actually would take a lot of people to change a light bulb in this world.) However, better or not, the people are not important. A single form of existence with a single, mindless collective thought is.

The fear expressed emphasizes more than anything how afraid of change people are, and how terrified they are of the unknown just because it's called evil. Words have no meaning other than to be tags. Even the names have lost their real meaning, and are just a form of telling one "they" from another. Rather, simple conditions decide whether something is good or bad, beneficial or not. A web of technicalities for the hypocrites that advance society by keeping it back for fear of the unknown. Even if it's not progress, knowledge is always a step forward.

The Handmaid's Tale- Response to the Novel

Now this is exactly the opposite of what I think of when I try to imagine a religious fanatic society. Well, perhaps I'm imagining the wrong thing, as this isn't quite a religious fanatic society. My idea of religious fanaticism is a world that lives inside a monastery. This world of Gilead merely says, "well we're God's community and we're in charge and if you don't think we are the rulers of the universe then you can (quite literally) go to hell. We fund the travel expenses!" Religion is simply a justification. Though that's probably why it's so freakin' creepy, because today's world has religious justifications out the wazoo. Islamic radicals purging the land of infidels as Heaven wills, us trying to spread Christianity to those same people because Heaven wills, and then both trying to impose religious-centered rules and regulations in their own lands because Heaven wills...It's all about what our respective Gods may have or may have not subtly implied. Quite frankly, if anyone ever willingly rejected any specific form of salvation, I'd say it's their own choice. Religion and respective salvation is a choice that someone's gotta make on their own. I've never known anyone to try and drag someone to Heaven with them, although quite a few threats for an excursion in the opposite direction have been made. The trick is to understand that not everyone believes in the same exact thing you do.

Now I mention rules and regulations. What could I possibly be referring to...Ah yes, the frequent demands to ban gay marriage and abortion. I personally am a Catholic, and I do understand why these things are against God's will, but I really don't think that there's any need to go around on a crusade. Firstly, the Constitution hasn't said bubkus (I hope that's spelled right) about either, so those powers go to the people. Therefore, why the church is bugging the government is beyond me. If anything, it's a state right, and they can more than willingly decide on their own. Secondly, America was founded to escape any restrictions the people would ever be bound with due to religion. The great forefathers would be turning in their graves if they thought that religion is causing restriction of rights, after they spent so much time and blood getting that freedom. Put in Aunt Lydia's words, they fought for freedom FROM religion, not freedom TO place your religious beliefs on somebody else. At this time I do acknowledge that several of the forefathers could be very opinionated, and maybe would have pushed for the prevention of gay marriage, but I'm sure you all get the point that I'm attempting to make.

Getting off that rant a little, a militarized takeover and impression of biblical passages and rules actually is somewhat prevalent in today's world. Many extremists believe in the Bible or respective religious novel to such an extent that they would follow it unswervingly, believing it to be the only path to salvation. The militarized utopia of Gilead is in its own way becoming utopian in their minds. If the will of God is followed, and God is all good, then they must be perfect holiness themselves and should then be happy. Now, besides the fact that a great deal of the Bible is historical text and figures of speech, I really don't think much of it was meant to be followed to a T. It was merely a guideline, if you will, with only a few "if I were you I really wouldn't do this or I might have to smite you" clauses. The notion of following one's religion this closely can almost be described as valorous and pious, being as they technically are the pinnacle of goodness by their rules. However, this religion is twisted. Much of the religious messages have been adapted for the purposes of the Gilead army and government. When one molds religion to fit their own needs, it destroys whatever goodness and purpose that may have been in the actions and thoughts. As a result, it creates only evil.

Now one can't deny that religion is used as an argumentative point in today's world. It is a quality we look for in government officials (wait, what about the separation of church and state?); we often use religion to justify wrong actions that we may have taken, taking it out of context to make us appear to be in the right; some people use religion as an aid to sell their own ideas and supplies. Religion is being used to a large extent in today's world as a form of justification and rationalization. It is the will of the greater powers, and you cannot hope to oppose me, or you oppose an unstoppable force. Well, aren't you so impressive? NOT! All that makes it is an excuse, and nothing more than a bargaining chip. To make God nothing more than an excuse for you to do as you please is not only insulting to said higher powers, under your own definition it is, in fact, sacrilege. To put yourself in the shoes of God and give orders is something only done by those drunk on power. You are free to express your beliefs, but you really shouldn't impose them on others. I think this novel is a good reminder of what corruption happens when people bring religion into governing, and a warning that we should keep them at opposite points of the spectrum as much as possible. Guide yourself, not others, along whatever path you believe in. Walk it yourself, and if you walk it alone, then so be it.

We- Reaction to the Novel

The opposite yet exact same as Anthem. Interesting. Logically utopian yet technically far from it. No I am not just saying weird stuff. We had within it a mathematically superior theory of how to make the world a utopia. Technically, it really isn't a utopia, because nobody is really happy, they're just kept occupied. However, the idea of running a world like this, when you think about it, ensures the end of starvation, of hatred, of all the big problems everyone in the world likes to complain about. The only catch is that you need to become a computer program in order to fully enjoy it. Just for the record, if I were ever to be thrown into that world, I doubt I would be able to keep myself from smirking. The idea of everybody goosestepping, chewing, and perhaps even breathing in unison is just cartoonishly hilarious. Disturbing, but hilarious.

Now, if the world was like a computer, it would have no emotions and have no need for abstract concepts such as happiness or love. Being as it's not, though, and that human beings have a strange abnormality known as a soul, those abstract notions are quite necessary. In fact, we really can't do without them. They make us, shall I say, human. It's almost as if we humans are the only obstacle that needs to be overcome to have a utopian human society. That being said, I delcare utopian societies impossible. There cannot be happiness and happiness and some more happiness with absolutely no discontent whatsoever. You have to have at least an irritating itch in the center of your back in order to have even the slightest bit of contentment. As D-503 puts it, everyone believes that happiness is infinity in the positive direction; where is the negative of that? You can't just have a positive and pull it out of the air, or not have any of the opposite whatsoever. Both are needed. One could even go as far as to say, that without that negative to compare things to (or even a lesser positive, derived from adding a certain negative in question) one could not define happiness. Human beings have a soul that gives them preference and the ability to feel emotions, and therefore to be happy. However, by the same token they must deal with the unhappy as well. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, to take another logical route. The only way to eliminate sadness and discontent is to destroy the ability to sense that, to destroy both happy and sad. Light and darkness will always be there; if you don't like the darkness, or the light, close your eyes. Both will still be there, plain as day (or night), but if you really don't want to see one you should accept not being able to see the other. Either get over it or just stop existing. Nothing will be exactly as you demand it. Today's world is all about instant gratification. Well, things won't always go your way. Be grateful that you even have a way, that things even go at all. Be content with what you have, or be ready to give up everything for perfection. That's my take on it.

And for D-503's nemesis, the square root of negative one...if I were him, I'd just leave it as a lower case i. Problem solved. If you can't find the solution with numbers, use letters. That's why they're there, to be used. Make use of them, as with everything else in your life. Just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it's not a good thing. Find the good in everything. If there is a bad, then there must be a good somewhere in it, waiting to be found. There cannot be one without the other.

Anthem- Reaction to the Novel

Now this was one freaking weird society. Or rather, one freaking weird brotherhood of man, it should probably be called. One enormous collection of lame brains with no willpower, but a programmed order of self deprecation. If society ever becomes like this, I will call it Armageddon and the Rebirth of Semi-Intelligent Life on Earth. That being said, it seems to be some fanatic religious society whose focus is to get back to the simple things in life. The really simple things. With only togas and candles, and the notion that everything else was evil, it appears to me that someone believes great advances in the world are the sources of all misery and depression. Several religious fanatics believe that science is the Devil's work and brings only evil and sin, and if that science is represented by Equality's invention then there is a little more to the story than simple fear of advancement. This can be coupled with the notion that certain extremists believe that hard work is a great sign of your faith, and that it cleanses the body. There are hints of extremist culture in here, regardless of other connotations.

But aside from that, this society is more of a society of fear and control. No one is allowed to be different, and anyone who has thoughts different from others' or acts differently from others is evil. Why the focus on evil? What is so evil in not being the exact same as everyone else? Well, perhaps we should put out a poll on that in today's world. In all likelihood, no one with half a brain or more will put out some racist comment, but the emotions and feelings may still be there. There is a great deal of intolerance for those that are different from oneself. Not everyone is a bigot, but to some degree I believe all people are most comfortable with people who are just like them, who share their interests and beliefs. Perhaps this is a strike against conformity. Quite frankly, if being different from others is evil, I would consider that a good thing. If all human beings were perfect in action and thought, then I'd still expect there to be something that can depict a flaw of some sort, because humanity is not, by any stretch of the imagination, capable of being 100% divine. That is God's job, and I doubt even He goes without trouble all the time. Evil also presents some contrast to good, and if everyone in the world was completely perfect mankind would be the most boring and dreary race on the planet. (See my segment on Fahrenheit for my contrast rant) However, people do need to stop being so fearful and intolerant of others. Racism is a major example, but even between people of the same race, religion, and shoe size there exists some level of friction. Even small differences seem to make us uneasy. We have to accept everyone, big quirks and small, all aspects of that person, not just declare them evil and move on with our lives. (Of course, most people don't see in terms of only good and evil, this is a bit of an exaggeration, but the point is clear, correct?) Besides, mankind refers to a collection of human beings. Different human beings. If mankind can be made by simply running someone through a copy machine then mankind isn't really all that descriptive and/or special.

Back to the Opus Dei factor, the Palace of Corrective Detention was the oddest form of "correctional facility" I've ever heard. Whip the guy until he passes out and then stick him in a cell until he gets the message/confesses/gives out some names. Sounds more like the Inquisition to me. That, and the fact that it's called such a fancy name. If I was in charge of that society, I would call it something more inspiring. Maybe the Palace of Pain or the Facility of Redemption or even something like House of the Evil Ones if they had to stick with something a little weakish. "Corrective Detention" sounds like a rap on the fingers and no cookies. Perhaps it refers to the "corrective facilities" our criminals go to today, with their well-prepped cells and psychiatrists. Maybe it emphasizes an irony, that in this world those who are good and have done little wrong are tortured, while in our world those that have done much wrong are treated quite respectfully. Or, to mention torture, that we really don't torture, but rather question rather forcefully utilizing measures that inflict not as much pain as death-like, nightmarish experiences. (In other words, well maybe we might have) But still, why so much mutilation? I still find the reaction of that one Scholar amusing: He shall be lashed until nothing remains to be lashed. Well I'm sure that's a fantastic way to relieve stress, but for trying to help one's fellow man, which, if I'm not mistaken, was the entire freaking point of this society, you expect him to be whipped into a fine goo? It seems that some people find it beneficial to inflict pain on others, for both the punisher and punish-ee. Either that, or they're a little too devout. Regardless, it seems a little odd to me. Still, there have been such cases in the past. There's a good chance history will repeat itself.

Fahrenheit 451- Analysis

One of the interesting things that I noticed in the novel was a lack of happiness, which had been replaced by assumed happiness. There's little logical reasoning behind the "happiness" here, aside from a statement that all people are free to do whatever they feel like doing, so long as it's mindless. Happiness seems to have become less of an emotion than a state of existence, and even then an assumed state of existence, not fully realized. I attribute this to something I'll call contrast, the comparison of two different things. This not only defines happiness, but also a few other emotions in the community.

I doubt I really need to define contrast, but in essence the theory would be that everything has to have an opposite; life and death, light and darkness, happiness and sadness. Otherwise, there's only one thing existing, and without anything to compare it to it's just normal business of the day. It loses its power and effect. The community has had so much "happiness" and has such a mindless life of pleasure that it begins to lose sight of what happiness really is. Well, who cares, really? Happiness is a good thing, and we are happy, we've got everything; isn't that what's important? NOPE. It's no different from being absolutely miserable if there's nothing to compare that to. Even if you can say you're happier than you were yesterday, you can still feel happiness. These people have lost the will to take the time to compare. They just think they're happy. They know there's an opposite, but that has nothing to do with them, so it's out of their minds. However, when something bad happens, they don't have the slightest clue what to do. If you've ever sat in a room with the lights off, you'll eventually develop a faint "night vision" and be able to see the outlines of things in the room. However, if the lights go on, you're blind as a bat. After the one night when Mildred is found almost dead from sleeping pills, she acts as if there was no reason for her to kill herself. She is happy, after all. What really happened was that she tried to kill herself, because she didn't know how to stop the light that was bothering her. When people who have lived in fake happiness all their life suffer tragedy, they are blinded. They expect the light to just go out. Some block it out themselves, by racing around in the Beetle cars or watching mindless TV. Others can't block the lights out, and kill themselves, afraid of the light, unable to deal with it. In fact, all people are afraid of the light, because they are never really are able put it out, but still try to block it out, like pulling a cover over your head. When Montag began his escape, everyone was most likely terrified, and needed the "snap ending" of the scapegoat to put their fears at ease. They would have gone bonkers if they thought that a killer was on the loose. Just put the unhappy deed out of sight, out of mind, leave it to itself, it'll burn out if you ignore it. In this way, they can "know" they are "happy" again because the bad guys lose and the good guys win. They need that light out, that sadness kept away from them, because they can't cope with it.

Following this reasoning, it can be inferred how people became bored. As Montag said in the beginning of the novel, there are several recreational hours, which the people have to appease their boredom, to be happy doing what they enjoy to do (so long as it's not thinking). But again there is only one of a pair here, not between boredom and pleasing activity, but rather of what you want to do and what you do to pass the time away. I'm going to infer that those who did not frantically spend their free time doing something mindless were the oddballs of the society. In this way, the activities that are being done lack the possibility for true appreciation, for real enjoyment. It's just something else that needs to be done; you want to be happy, don't you, so just do it. It's not what they made time for, but what they were given time for. If you don't have a time when you're staring at a wall, bored out of your skull, you can't possibly think up something fun to do, something to save you from boredom. Put another way, the reason Christmas presents are special is because you only get them once a year, and it is a way that someone else can express appreciation for all you've done, for who you are. You wait bored out of your skull the night before and then jump up excited the next morning, eager to see what you have and then choose what you want to do with your gifts. If you got a Christmas present every day, then it really wouldn't be special, but rather a "Well what it it today? A quick speed down that street over there or a few hours of clowns chopping each other to bits?" The people are being given the gift of everything to do and no time to decide what they want to do. They are unable to take the time to choose and enjoy, but are rushed on to do something else. It's all just a distraction from the fact that you'd really prefer to be somewhere else.

Basically, the community has tried to shut out the negatives to their positives. They believe that they can enjoy their lives if sadness and boredom are eliminated. They cannot be eliminated. When the opposite comes at them and blinds them, makes them uncomfortable, they are unable to think of what they should do in order to continue with their lives. They cannot resolve their problems, because they have never really experienced these things very often. Without a response, many kill themselves or degrade further, climbing into their own dark corner of a room, trying to block out the light of negative emotions. They obsess their lives around mindless fluff, in a way setting themselves out of life in order not to suffer the pain of unhappiness. If you have no tome to live, you cannot feel sadness or boredom; if you already cannot find happiness or amusement, then there's no problem in blocking out all emotions entirely, becoming a mindless drone, racing around life's bend to the next thing that keeps your mind off of how miserable you really are.

Fahrenheit 451-response to the novel

Well maybe I'd better get started on these now. Terribly sorry, been busy. Anyways, beginning at the beginning, Fahrenheit 451 was an...interesting book, to say the least. A little extreme, but I thought that it was somewhat realistic. The actual society itself, with all its high-tech gadgets, is beyond our capabilities at the moment, definitely, but the ideas behind it are actually possible. Today's world is falling a little farther away from social activity and more toward one's own personal entertainment, more towards one single person living on his own by his own rules. Today, it's common for people to want to be by themselves or with others like them. That I agree with wholeheartedly. But there is a difference between that and simply doing what you feel like doing without regard for what you should be doing or how it affects others. And you definitely shouldn't go bashing people up or racing down streets just because you find it amusing. Some level of self control is necessary. As far as education goes, yes, I concur that I'd probably enjoy being elsewhere rather than studying and working, but quite frankly I'd probably be bored to death within a few minutes. I think that it's better to spend a good deal of your day working, studying, doing what you need to do, especially if it's boring, because that's what makes your entertainment part of the day so darn fun. I'll get into contrast analysis in a bit.

Also, it is possible to have a country ruled by minorities. By ruled I mean obsessively hypersensitive to the desires of minorities. Examining Election '08 and even popular reality shows seem to emphasize and make spectacle of different races of people. At every turn there is supposed to be some sharp division between one person and the guy standing right next to him, something that supposedly sets them apart, even against, each other irreparably, a division of some sort. And if it isn't an attempt to catagorize and make people the epitome and representation of their people, it's the obsessive attempt to get one's own way using racism and hatred as an excuse. Now, I'm all for people speaking out against others if they truly have been discriminated against, and I do know that there are some very warped people in this country. However, what I do not approve of is to make every case involving a white man and another ethnicity a racism case, to make everything the struggle of a minority against an intolerant world. There will always be racism, but not everyone is a racist, and just because something does not go your way does not mean that it was rigged against them. Additionally, some people will make comments against other ethnicities because they're complete jerkwads. This does NOT, in my opinion, justify a crusade. We do live in a free country, and sadly certain intolerant jerkwads have the right to be such jerkwads. However, it does not mean that if someone's called a bad word they need to parade, march, riot, threaten, and otherwise mass at the government's door in an attempt to seek reparations as if they've been shot or raped or otherwise. And although I do not think that we will ever begin burning books by the masses, consider the debate on whether movies with smoking need to be rated R. Now I really think that's a bit of an overreaction; if parents have that little control over their kids (or we're that weak-minded, and I doubt we are) then they really shouldn't be parents. Besides, just because they see something on TV does not mean that they will flock to the store and begin chain smoking right outside it. Trust me, I was that young once, and I really wasn't affected by movies all that much. I just watched a film and thought, "well that was funny or exciting or can we buy it in stores to watch at home."

This novel seems to be highly connective with today's world, despite the fact that it was written over 50 years ago. Frightening, isn't it? Well, the story was a little extreme, but I feel that it was okay. Not particlarly amusing or entertaining, but still quite interesting.

U2 song analysis

Well, the song definitely has a connection or three to The Handmaid's Tale. The first lines begin with not believing what is seen and heard, but rather to just close your eyes and sense "the enemy." That, I believe, can also be said of the novel; it's a little restrictive and aggressive, and those Guardians really do a little more than just guarding. They are more often than not the agents of justice, if one could call them that. Contrary to popular enforced opinion, the people claiming to be the good guys are really more like the bad guys. Or, to view this from another point, this is also the idea that was drilled into the women's heads day after day, that the people walking next to them are simply feral animals. Don't trust the others beside you, they simply want to use you, only the best of the military is your friend...perhaps?
The next lines pertain to a somewhat defeated woman, which can be said about most of the women in the Republic, being stripped of their freedom and dignity. No one really likes the new order. Offred, however, continually finds hope in her imagination, and believes that there may be a time when she can escape all that is around her. In other words, the refrain of the song fits in perfectly here.
There were several references to wanting to be part of something that could be believed in. Now, the women of the Republic are more or less excluded from the world, and just exist. But what else is there to do? There is no real religion or movement, they've all been stamped out, save for one which everyone absolutely HATES. There's no point in being of something unless you believe in it. It makes it all worthwhile to do something you want to do; it gives a sense of individuality, and importance.
"Take a cup, fill it up, drink it slow"... well, I'd say it pertains to the desire to be able to enjoy oneself and really take the time to do so, rather than to just speed through your life. This connects fairly strongly to how Offred lived her life before the (I guess I'll call it) coup, just passing through the hotels, not knowing the details, just having sex and moving on...and then later regretting it because now there's absolutely nothing. A message to experience and enjoy all parts of one's life, to not take things for granted. Or it could just be the usual sensual line, which would connect to how Offred misses Luke. The usual love song lines.
The little two-liner right below the last refrain hints at how everything has already been done and no one knows what to do. Perhaps it stands for the fact that there's nothing else to do except to wait out the storm and continue on, enduring for the moment when it all gets overturned. Everybody else has already died in one way or another doing something radical. Maybe the successful thing to do is the idea no one's suggested, not doing anything?
I've been rambling so I'll wrap up the last stanza as fast as possible. The song references stashing and seizing, and responsibility begun from dreams. That most likely is a message to take what you can to survive and prepare for any possible chance in the future, and that if you dream you'd better be able to fulfill it. Don't just wish, but make it happen as well. Offred should be doing everything she can to not get killed and to be able to find her missing family. And she's struggling with it a little, but is doing that.
Continuing from that, dreaming out loud to find a way out. That most likely translates to the fact that the only thing that you need to get away from all the madness is to hope and dream. Believe and it will take you far. Offred's dreams, I think, will probably get her somewhere other than the normal daily trudge and duty, at one point or another. To find Luke and her daughter will most likely drag her out of the social catastrophe.
In short: Believe, do not give up hope, eventually you'll figure it out and succeed so long as you keep at it. And, of course, the acrobat line refers to the fact that Offred and just about everyone else is playing the part of the obedient citizen while they really wish the guys in charge would just hurry up and explode.