Prose Analysis Sample for Independent Reading Project Miller 2011

In the 1986 novel The Handmaid’s Tale, author Margaret Atwood depicts a cruel dystopian
society where certain women, known as Handmaids, are used only for reproduction and no
longer have any control over their own lives. They are forced to serve as surrogates for the elite
members of society who have been rendered childless by a futuristic disease. In the following
excerpt, the narrator reflects on the confinements of her situation through a description of a room
she has been assigned.

In a well-organized essay, analyze how the narrator’s attitude towards her situation is revealed
through the use of literary devices such as tone, detail, and figurative language.

A chair, a table, a lamp. Above, on the white ceiling, a relief ornament in the shape of a
wreath, and in the center of it a blank space, plastered over, like the place in a face where the eye
has been taken out. There must have been a chandelier, once. They’ve removed everything you
could tie a rope to.
A window, two white curtains. Under the window, a window seat with a little cushion.
When the window is partly open - it only opens partly - the air can come in and make the
curtains move. I can sit in the chair, or on the window seat, hands folded, and watch this.
Sunlight comes in through the window too, and falls on the floor, which is made of wood, in
narrow strips, highly polished. I can smell the polish. There’s a rug on the floor, oval, of braided
rags. This is the kind of touch they like: folk art, archaic, made by women, in their spare time,
from things that have no further use. A return to traditional values. Waste not want not. I am not
being wasted. Why do I want?
On the wall above the chair, a picture, framed but with no glass: a print of flowers, blue
irises, watercolor. Flowers are still allowed. Does each of us have the same print, the same chair,
the same white curtains, I wonder? Government issue?
Think of it as being in the army, said Aunt Lydia.
A bed. Single, mattress medium-hard, covered with a flocked white spread. Nothing takes
place on the bed but sleep; or no sleep. I try not to think too much. Like other things now,
thought must be rationed. There’s a lot that doesn’t bear thinking about. Thinking can hurt your
chances, and I intend to last. I know why there is no glass, in front of the watercolor pictures of
blue irises, and why the window opens only partly and why the glass in it is shatterproof. It isn’t
running away they’re afraid of. We wouldn’t get very far. It’s those other escapes, the ones you
can open in yourself, given a cutting edge.
So. Apart from these details, this could be a college guest room, for the less distinguished
visitors; or a room in a rooming house, of former times, for ladies in reduced circumstances. That
is what we are now. The circumstances have been reduced; for those of us who still have
circumstances.
But a chair, sunlight, flowers: these are not to be dismissed. I am alive, I live, I breathe, I
put my hand out, unfolded, into the sunlight. Where I am is not a prison but a privilege, as Aunt
Lydia said, who was in love with either/or.
Prose Analysis Sample for Independent Reading Project

40-minute Essay Example

In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood depicts a dark futuristic society
where certain women, known as “Handmaids” are viewed as second-class citizens. In this
excerpt, the narrator discusses the details of her assigned room and how the room reflects her
confinement in this society. Throughout the passage, Atwood reveals the narrator’s cynical yet
ultimately conforming attitude through the use of tone and extensive detail.
In the very first paragraph of the excerpt, the narrator notices the absence of the a
chandelier and remarks that those in power have “removed anything you could tie a rope to.”
This opening remark, with its hint of suicide, immediately establishes a dark and ominous tone in
the passage. This tone is continued throughout with the various other references to the
protections offered by the room against suicide - the partly open window and the picture on the
wall, “framed but with no glass” both illustrate how desperate women can become in their lives
as Handmaids. The narrator realizes the hopelessness of her situation and the situation of all
Handmaids, and expresses her unhappiness with her realization that even though she has a
purpose - she is not being “wasted” - she still “wants.”
The painstaking details of the passage also reflect this dark and despairing attitude
towards her situation. Throughout the excerpt, Atwood emphasizes the monotony of the
Handmaid’s life by describing each detail of the room. The narrator notices “the floor, which is
made of wood, in narrow strips,” the rug made of “braided rags” and the “print of flowers, blue
irises, watercolor.” This attention to detail implies that the narrator has an overabundance of time
on her hands, and that life can become so dangerously mundane that even “thought must be
rationed.” She seems to realize the ugly irony of the room’s decorations - even though the center
of the ceiling’s relief has been neatly plastered over, she still views it as a symbol of the violence
of this society, as it looks to her “like the place in a face where the eyes have been taken out.”
The details of the passage at first make the room seem institutional, like a prison cell. However,
towards the end of the passage, the narrator’s attitude towards these details shifts slightly; she
realizes the importance of these small luxuries, stating that “a chair, sunlight, flowers: these are
not to be dismissed. I am alive...where I am is not a prison but a privilege.”
Throughout the passage, Atwood’s tone and use of specific details reflects the narrator’s
attitude towards her environment. The narrator views her environment through a critical eye -
she is aware of the many limitations imposed upon her in by her position as a Handmaid in this
futuristic society. However, she does not put up any form of resistance to her role; rather,
discusses the ways she adapts to her life as a Handmaid. She is aware that the small decorations
in the room, though not extravagant, are there primarily to give her a false sense of security, but
in the end she also realizes that in her situation, any small mercies should be welcomed.