The Handmaid's Tail.

ENG.1B

READER RESPONSE

THE HANDMAID'S TALE

In the story of The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood sets the tone with the narrator describing what every night feels and looks like from what use to be a gymnasium which is now where the narrator and the rest of the girls sleep. The narrator is basically explaining what goes on in her recent posting from the certain types of uniforms they wear to the everyday chores that they have and the gossip amongst all the girls. One thing that stands out about this story is that she uses comparisons and is very descriptive about everything she talks about.

In the first chapter, the narrator begins describing where she sleeps at which is an old gymnasium. She sets the tone of an old high school gymnasium that held high school basketball games and high school dances. The narrator makes the basketball games easy for me to visualize by how she describes the atmosphere of the game.

English: Illustration for The Handmaid's Tale, a n...

Handmaid under the Eye

The Handmaid's Tale

She describes a balcony that ran around the gym filled with spectators and the scent of sweat that she could smell, faintly like an afterimage. The way the narrator explained it was very similar to the basketball games that I use to play in back in high school. Then how she describes the dances with music lingering and garlands made of tissue-paper and even the disco ball that powdered the dancers with a snow of light.

The narrator comes back to reality by describing the realistic things that she experiences such as the army cots that she sleeps in with an old army-issued blanket. She also talks about the guards with guns and the chain-linked fence topped with barb wire.

In chapter two, the narrator begins describing her decorated surroundings. She describes the rug on the floor as...