Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Discussion Post 4: The End
Interpret the last chapter of the book. Is the ending tragic or hopeful? Does this matter? What does the epilogue do the change or modify the meaning of the book? How does ending the book in a voice other than Offred's change the narrative? (Answer any or all of these questions.)
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I believe that the last chapter of the book leaned more toward negativity than hope as Offred went with the Eyes. It was really apparent by her thoughts and the language to convey those thoughts that she was breaking down both mentally and physically. She says, “Fatigue is here, in my body, in my legs and eyes. That is what gets you in the end. Faith is only a word, embroidered.” And it is only Offred’s “faith” in Nick that allows her to leave with the Eyes into an unknown (seemingly dark) future. However, the epilogue of the book suddenly puts Offred’s story into a different light as it is discovered by sociologists years later. Now, Offred’s story has key to uncovering what Giladean society was like when it had just begun instead of the narrative of some oppressed Handmaid. Furthermore, it answers some questions about Offred’s own life as well, especially what happened to her at the end. For one, we definitely know that Gilead eventually collapsed from the inside due to the network of eyes rebelling and the Underground Femaleroad, though it may have not happened in Offred’s lifetime. Second, it is more likely that Offred escaped and recorded these tapes rather than recording her life as it goes. This is because Handmaid’s were probably not allowed to own property such as tape recorders and cassettes. Thus, Offred’s ending sounds more hopeful than what she had recorded. Unfortunately, we, like the historians/sociologists, cannot rely on this information alone because we have to question the accuracy of these tapes. Nevertheless, the epilogue makes Offred into more than just a Handmaid: it gives her a sense of identity that may have not gotten in her lifetime after she was a Handmaid. In the end, I still feel that the ending sounded cynical, since it put Offred’s story into an even greater mystery.
ReplyDeleteThe ending of the book left questions of all sorts. The way Offred felt and the Eyes acted I believe the ending is only something more tragic going to happen to Offred. She had pushed the line to far, and truly no one could be trusted. She was mentally breaking down, she didn't know what to do, her only answer was to ender her life somehow. The only thing that willed her to go and have some hope was Nick, he said to her, "Trust me". To Offred that meant a lot, she really put her faith in Nick and really trusted him, some one the things she thought of doing as she expected the end was ways to be with Nick as the ending to all the tradgedy she expected to experience. The epilogue tries to piece together the puzzle and sort of explains how the major events happened. Answers questions most readers have after finishing this novel. The way Offred acts at the end makes you think she is going to get the worst, but come to find out there is alwasy a twist to things, always someone who really aren't who they seem to be. Nick, being part of the Eyes, but also the "servant-figure" for the Commander. Just goes to show there is always someone superior watching those who think they have the most power and control and can get away with breaking the rules. Hearing the story and explanations from another voice really helps to make connections and it's more or less that the story is being read to you and explained unlike when Offred is the narrator and you read and make your own interpretations asking yourself questions that may never be answered. BUT even though it is being told in a different context the meaning behind it all is still very wrong and doesn't change how horrible the whole scheme is.
ReplyDeleteThe ending is more tragic than hopeful. Offred at the end of the book was seeming to me that she was having a mental breakdown. She is feeling that Nick went agains her. Nick tells her to trust him in which she does. At the end she ends up going with the eyes which is tragic.
ReplyDeleteThe ending of the book to me seems more hopeful than tragic. Yes the eyes come for her, but Nick calms her and tells her to go with them. That everything is going to be alright and really why would Nick come up to her room to tell her that if he didn't know? In all actuality he was risking his well being to deliever that message. The outside world to her is still very much unknown and with the eyes falling apart how are we to say that she didn't end up in a better place. In the end she was takin out of the place that she hated.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the last chapter I couldn't help but think that Offred was going to have a tragic ending when taken away by the eyes. Even though Nick had told Offred to trust him it is hard for me to let that change my mind in thinking that it will be a hopeful ending. Nick had lied before saying that he was just a servant when actually he is part of the Eyes. After reading the epilogue I feel that Offred did have a hopeful ending. How else would she have made the recordings of her life story? During the book it never said anything about her having a recorder while being a handmaid; so it seems to me her recording would to have taken place after she was taken by the Eyes. This therefore means she was sent to a place where she was able to have more freedom and ahve a possession like a recorder.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the last chapters of the book I felt that Offred has finally came to deal with the whole concept of the Gilead life style. She has finally accepted it. Leaning towards the end when Serena Joy confronts her about the dress, Offred begins to feel scared now because she feels that she’s going to die. When the van came for Offred there was no way she could escape, she felt helpless and betrayed by the one person she trusted, Nick. Offred’s story ends on a note of uncertainty but the Historical Notes offer some clarification, since the Professor believes that Offred must have escaped, aided by Nick, although what happened to her after that we can never know. Since the Historical Notes seemed to clarify that the Gilead society has vanished, the ending of the story seems a more hopeful than tragic, even though we don’t know exactly what happened to Offred the simple fact that the society no longer exists is gratifying.
ReplyDeleteAs i finished the book i feel like once Offred finally came too with the idea of the Gilead lifestyle and began to adapt she was mislead and betrayed by Nick. He told her to trust her and when she slowly began to she found out that he was secretly apart of the "Eyes". The last chapter made me was more tragic than hopeful because as she was put on a black van she had no clue what was to happen next but because of her betrayal she assumed the worst.
ReplyDeleteAfter finishing the novel, i think that Offred's fate with "The Eyes" is more tragic than hopeful. Although she felt she could trust Nick because of the affair between the two, in the end he had lied about several things and we have come to find out through the epilogue that he was infact in association with "The Eyes". Offred was emotionally and physically breaking down, and although she didn't know whether or not to believe in Nick's genuineness, i think that because he was the last to make her feel anything remotely close to love, she had to take the chance and trust him. With the dark and pessimistic voice of Offred as she describes her situation with the "The Eyes", i feel we have no choice than to expect the worst for her.
ReplyDeleteThe ending of The Handmaid’s Tale really left me rather confused. I felt like the end of the book didn’t give me the closure that I was expecting from a book like this. Throughout the book, it seemed like Offred was always trying to cope with the situation and every time she stumbled upon a mishap that had happened to another handmaid, she would be astonished but then realize that it had nothing to do with her. Well all of her cautiousness changed as she became more adventurous with meeting both the commander and Nick. There came a point where she wasn’t very mentally stable and I think that the ending was more hopeful than tragic because if she hadn’t taken by the Eyes, then she would have had to endure a more painful life but being taken away instilled some hope and prospects for a better future with maybe something else to do than to be the source of fertility.
ReplyDeleteThe ending of the book is hopeful. I believe that this is so because when Nick was taking Offred to the car with the eye on it he said “trust me” and he used the key word “mayday” which was the identification word of the members of those that were in the secret underground group; this makes me believe that he was a member of it and therefore was legitimately trying to help Offred. I think that to some extent it does matter if the ending of the book is tragic or hopeful. I believe that this is so because if the ending is tragic it could leave the reader with a feeling that there is no hope for a better world, and give them a feeling of hopelessness for change; but if the ending was meant to be hopeful then it could yield a feeling of encouragement and motivation to go out and attempt to help change some of the issues in our world that the book presents. The epilogue helps to give light on some of the larger events that occurred in the novel (IE: it talks about some of the reasons behind why the birth rate was declining (aids, sti’s, ect)). I feel that the epilogue changes the book meaning because it took the book from being something that felt more like a woman who was actively telling you the story of her life to having it be something that we should be studying and examining – just like the students were in the classroom in the book. In simpler terms, it makes the book more of one of educational purposes rather than one of leisurely reading.
ReplyDeleteI actually do think the ending was as hopeful as it could get. While it only offers the immediate gratification that Offred will be removed from the household, it does not hint at where she would go from there, nor does it give any indication of what chances or options she will have after she leaves those doors. Yes, Nick's whisper of "trust me" does seem to instill hope, but the entirety of the novel is filled with the theme of distrust. Since you are set up throughout the novel to distrust everyone, it would be almost hypocritical to expect the reader to trust Nick and the Eyes at the very end of the book. It is, however, interesting that the book ended with a narrative by a historian in a future era. Many things about that final section are hopeful. Obviously, the Gileadean era is a thing of the past. Even the fact that the people of this society are able to study history is a change from Gilead. Women have regained at least some their previous freedoms as a women is a member of this historical society, as well as what I assume to be an American Indian (Johnny Running Dog), which indicates the return of minorities in society. The speaker also discusses the end of the Gildean leaders and suggests the possibility of Offred's survival.
ReplyDeleteI was kind of disappointed in the ending of the novel. The whole time we were reading it I was waiting for something exciting to happen and I thought maybe the end would take a dramatic turn, for better or for worse. Instead, the ending was rather anticlimactic. I am glad though that the epilogue hinted towards a more positive ending. Obviously Offred must have ended up somewhere where she could record all of the events that took place. I thought ending the book in a different society looking back on the woman was a very interesting alternative. It makes the readers focus more on the journey of Offred than where she ended up.
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