In the past year, we have seen too many outrageous news about the situation of women: famous university professors publicly stated that women are not suitable for academics; pregnant women jumped to death due to the inability of caesarean section; female students have been sexually harassed by their tutors for a long time..... .Although we are in a futuristic 2018, many of our thoughts on women’s issues are still pre-modern, and many people even dare not say out loud that they are feminists.
And there is such a story about the magical and real situation of women. To count the most watched American dramas in the past year, "The Handmaid's Tale" must be on the list; the second season has also been filmed and will be broadcast in April this year. As soon as the news was announced, many fans of the drama had already begun to look forward to it. What kind of story is this? Why make so many people want to stop?
The story begins with a woman named Offfred. She is a maid of the Republic of Gilead and one of the few women in this country who can give birth. She was assigned to a commander's family with no offspring to help them bear children. Like other women in this country, she has no freedom of movement and is deprived of property, work and reading rights. Except for some special days, the maids are only allowed to go out shopping together once a day, and their every move is monitored by the "eyes".
In this world, the female body no longer belongs to herself, but becomes a mobile fertility machine, only used as a container for offspring to multiply. The situation and behavior of women in this story can touch so many people precisely because it touches countless thinking that can reflect the current: women's reproductive freedom, surrogacy, population decline, environmental degradation...
The important thing is that women are not a mobile fertility machine, so they should not be treated like this. As the author Atwood wrote: "Why are women interesting and important? Because they are in real life." Why should women not be regarded as just a container, but a three-dimensional and rich like a man? An autonomous person? Because they do.
Author | Li Jiayu
Rachel said, "With my maid, Bilhah, here, you can have sex with her so that she will have a child under my knees, and I will have children because of her."
——"Bible·Genesis" Chapter 30 Sections 1-3
On the birth day, Mother Elizabeth was responsible for the whole process.
Doctors and ambulances equipped with various instruments can only stand by outside the room unless the situation is extremely critical. The women from the entire residential area rushed in, and under the call of the alarm and the escort of the delivery truck, they gathered in the master bedroom on the second floor. Even though the room was dull and the women were sweating profusely, they still gathered around the birth stool in an orderly manner as taught before, chanting "strength, exertion, exertion" rhythmically.
This is a production scene that can only be seen in the Republic of Gilead. There are two mothers, so the delivery stool is set up as a two-seater, one in front, one behind, and one on the other, so that the two will become one in the process of delivery: the bishop’s wife is in the back seat, with legs spread apart. Stretching out to the sides, as if giving birth were about to be delivered; the girl sitting in front of her was a maid with a big belly, "like a huge fruit", moaning in pain, and exerting force at the same time.
The handmaid’s body does not belong to her, she is only regarded as a "useful container".
In "The Handmaid’s Tale", Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood borrowed the story of Rachel and the Handmaid Bilhain in "The Bible Genesis" to construct a bizarre but historical future world, just like In the preface of the new edition, Atwood emphasized that she “will not include in the book any events that have never happened in the'nightmare' that James Joyce calls history, or any technology that does not exist. There is no small imagination. Invention, law without imagination, brutality without imagination". So no matter how unbelievable it is to read this book, please believe that those that are impossible to repeat may be staged at any time, and those that have been owned may not be seen at any time.
Holy container
"Take yourself as a seed"
The past just disappeared. It seems to be overnight, but it is not an instant change. "It's like lying in a bathtub that is gradually heated", waiting for the bad news to come slowly.
Women used to wear big earrings and a shirt with a row of buttons in the front. They can untie or not untie. At that time, people seemed to be able to make choices. But Grandma Lydia said, "In the past, there were too many choices for the destruction of society."
Even Offfred began to wonder whether he had really been on the beach wearing a swimsuit. For this kind of things, people's perceptions are always changing too fast. She hasn't seen women wearing thin stockings and short skirts just above the knee for a long time. The women of Gilead are not so unscrupulous, even the wives. The identity of the servant girl made Offfred have to wrap herself in an ankle-length skirt. The whole body is red, which is the sign of the maids. The white double-winged headscarf on their faces is to isolate them from the world, while the red cloak, red gloves, and red umbrella with red dress and red shoes make them look like "dipped in blood."
(Atwood is not only a diligent and prolific writer, but also one of the few poets in the Canadian literary world of the 20th century with an international reputation. She has won most of the heavyweight international literary prizes except the Nobel Prize for Literature, and was awarded More than ten colleges and universities including the University of Toronto awarded honorary doctorates. Her work has been translated into more than 30 languages. In 2017, Atwood won the Kafka Prize and the German Book Industry Peace Prize.)
"Think of yourself as a seed," or a well-trained sow that walks upright. In the "Red Probation Center", the maids must remember that "the people who stand and wait respectfully are also serving God", and the maids must be considerate of the wives' misfortunes and difficulties, and be "holy containers" for them to give birth to and support them. , Let them become suffering mothers.
You must know that Offfred had also been a mother in the past, and Luke was still with him at that time, and the family was happy. But one day her daughter disappeared with the stuffed rabbit she used to play with, and was never seen again. Luke didn't know where he went, and there was no news ever since. Offfred didn't know who he should ask, and he didn't know who he could ask. Nowadays, there are eyes and informers hiding their true identities everywhere. There are also the searchlights above the checkpoints, the machine gunners ambushing on both sides of the road, the guards shoot at every turn, they don't care about the meaning of life.
Even Offfred was not even called Offfred before. She has her own name, but it is forbidden to use it now. The names of the maids all begin with "of" (of), which means subordination, and the names behind refer to the archbishop to which they belong. This also means that in the future, whoever serves as Bishop Fred’s maid will be called Offfred, and now Offfred is later called Offgren or Off Charles is not necessarily.
Carefree
"Don't underestimate this freedom"
Not only is Offfred immersed in the original way of living from time to time, many people are probably the same.
Although everything has changed. After earthquakes, nuclear explosions, and toxic substances, the environment of Gilead has continued to deteriorate, and the proportion of abnormal babies born during this period has also increased. After the catastrophe, they proposed to include the maids in the newly promulgated law: assign women with reproductive functions to the homes of archbishops who have no children, so as to help them continue their offspring and prosper.
The insemination ceremony has also become a routine activity that must be carried out at home every month. After the bell rings, everyone in the house needs to appear in the living room: the bishop in a black uniform, the lady in a sky blue skirt, and the maid, the maid, and the driver. The bishop should read the passages in the "Bible" first. Then the "family" performed their duties according to the rules: the lady lay on the head of the bed, neatly dressed, with her legs spread out; the maid was sandwiched between her head and her pubic bone was placed on the bottom of her head, and her skirt was rolled around the waist; the bishop below completed him. The steps, without the slightest emotion, move like a marching pace. Everything performed here is not a pastime, but a serious ceremony, a ceremony where the "family" participates together.
Mother Lydia used to say, blessed are the meek. Because of obedience, people nowadays have learned to “leave many things and live as usual”, just as Offfred never heard from Luke and his daughter again; the maids also had difficulty touching anything other than cloth and wood. Things, not to mention cigarettes and alcohol; even all the things in the house that can be tied to the rope have been taken away, the mirror on the wall has been removed, the window can only be opened slightly, and the shatter-resistant glass is installed; the magazine is in It was burned a long time ago, because reading and thinking require limited rations like milk and honey; lawyers and university professors are also gone, the school is closed, checkpoints and alarms are set up at the gate, and a fence is hung on the wall near the gate. Exclude the corpses of the public.
Nothing is abnormal. "The so-called normal, said Mother Lydia, are things that are used to become natural. For you right now, all of this may seem a little abnormal, but after a while, you will become accustomed to it, which is not surprising. "
According to Mother Lydia, women should be more fortunate. Because of the presence of checkpoints and machine guns nowadays, no man on the street will slander them and use their hands. "There are two kinds of freedom, said Mother Lydia. One is to do whatever you want, and the other is carefree. In an age of anarchy, people do whatever they want and do whatever they want. Now you are free from danger, no more Fear. Don't underestimate this freedom."
incredible
Change can be overnight
Of course there is freedom in Gilead, but it only belongs to some people. Just like the bishop, there is only his office in the house for men to come and go, not even the wife. Of course, at certain times, the bishop made an exception for Offfred. He asked the driver Nick to pass a message for him. At nine o'clock in the evening, he wanted to see her.
This is not the first time the bishop has summoned to be alone with Offfred. The other Offfred was discovered by his wife because of such a private tryst, and ended it on her own. But in fact, no matter which Offfred is, there is no right to choose. She could only come to the door at the agreed time, only to find that there was "another world, a world of normal life".
All around the walls are books, and everything that should be in normal life. Know that in one day, women were deprived of all these things: work, finances, and reading. No one can explain all this. The boss just told you, I’m sorry I can’t keep you working, and the law tells you to leave; and the young people who collect money in the street shop only tell you after repeatedly inputting the correct card number. The red light means this bank card. Has permanently expired.
There is nothing unbelievable. Change can be accomplished overnight. Of course, it’s not the first time that this kind of news appeared in newspapers. It’s just that people never think that they are characters in the news. When the erotic mall closed, people realized that the water temperature was already close to the boiling point, and the bad news was approaching.
Of course, there are always ways to adapt to all of this, such as the subsequent black market transactions and "slut clubs" where officials can only visit. If you stay longer, you will find that everyone is trying to cross the border secretly: the archbishop longs for Offfred to play Scrabble with him, and kisses him tenderly at parting, "just like the real"; the lady whispers It was suggested that since Offfred’s stomach hasn’t been moving for a long time, it’s better to let the driver Nick be the replacement, "As long as the child is healthy," everything seems to be no problem.
I still remember the question and answer given by the mothers in the probation center: Jenny, who had been gang raped, was surrounded by everyone, and was swallowed up by everyone who shouted, "Everyone, whose fault is this?" "Her fault, her It’s her fault, her fault.” “Who seduced them?” “It’s her, it’s her, it’s her.” “Why would God allow this to happen?” “To teach her, to teach her, to teach her "Jenny learned it after only one time, and this time she spoke first, "It's my fault. It's my own fault, and I tempted them. I deserve it." Teaching and learning are so easy.
A foreign tourist with a camera hanging around his neck has a curious mentality. He would like to ask a translator to ask Offfred, who is walking down the road in red, "Are you happy?" "Yes, we are very happy." Fufred murmured, because "I have to say something. What else can I say?"
Attachment: Three questions about "The Handmaid's Tale"
1. Is "The Handmaid's Tale" a "feminist" novel?
If you are referring to an ideological pamphlet in which all women are angels, victims of loss of moral choice, or both, then the answer is no. But if you are talking about such a novel, the women in it are all interesting and important human beings-with different personalities and different behaviors-everything that happens to them is crucial to the theme, structure and plot of the book. Important, then the answer is yes. In this sense, many books are "feminist".
Why are women interesting and important? Because they do in real life. They are not the products added by nature, nor are they insignificant participants in the fate of mankind. Every society has always been clear about this. Without female fertility, mankind would cease to exist. For this reason, mass rape and murder of adult women, girls, and young children has long been one of the characteristics of genocide wars and other wars aimed at conquering and exploiting certain groups.
Kill their babies and replace them with their own. Cats do this; let women give birth to children but are unable to raise them, or take the children away from them for their own purposes and steal the babies-this is a widespread spread , The theme that has existed in ancient times. Controlling women and babies is a characteristic of every authoritarian regime on the planet. Napoleon and his "cannon fodder" soldiers, slavery and its renovated human trade-they are all the same. For those who promote forced childbirth, we should ask: "Who can make a profit?" Sometimes it is this group of people, sometimes it is that group of people. Someone always benefits.
2. Is "The Handmaid's Tale" anti-religious?
Again, it depends on the meaning of your question. Indeed, a group of authoritarian men took control of power, trying to re-establish an extreme patriarchal society that prohibited women from reading (just like the American black slaves in the nineteenth century). What's more, they can't control money, can't work outside, even some women in the "Bible" are inferior. This kind of regime uses all the symbols in the Bible, and any dictatorship in charge of ruling the United States will not let go of these resources.
The plain clothes worn by Gilead women come from Western religious symbols-archbishops and wives are dressed in blue, symbolizing purity, originating from the Virgin Mary; maids dressed in red, symbolizing bleeding during childbirth, and also originated from Magdalene Mary Jesus expelled 7 evil women from her body. In addition, if you want to flee, red is easier to recognize. The wives of men of lower social class are called "economic wives" and wear striped clothing. I have to be honest, those lace-up hats that cover the face are not only inspired by mid-Victorian clothing and nuns’ clothing, but also from the outer packaging of an old Dutch cleaner in the 1940s, with a The woman's face was covered, and I was terrified of this image when I was a child. Many totalitarians have used clothing to identify and control people, whether it is forbidden to wear or forced to wear—think of the yellow six-pointed star symbol that forced Jews to wear in the Nazi era and the Roman purple representing noble status—many of them They all rule under the banner of religion. This makes it easier for infidels to add their sins to their desires.
In this book, the dominant "religion" gradually controls power and becomes the dominant doctrine, and the religious sects we are familiar with are gradually abolished. Fleeing to Canada through secret channels, as I expected. Offfred herself also has a private book of the Lord's Prayer in the Bible. She refuses to believe that the current regime is granted by a just and merciful God. In today’s real world, some religious groups have launched various campaigns to protect disadvantaged groups, including women.
Therefore, this book is not "anti-religious". What it opposes is the use of religion as a cover for tyranny; this is totally another matter.
3. Is "The Handmaid's Tale" a prophetic novel?
This is the third question I was asked—even when I was writing this novel in 1984, as certain people in American society took power and passed laws, what they claimed to be— -This question was asked and asked again, and it became more frequent. No, this is not a prophetic novel, because it is impossible to predict the future: there are too many variables, all possibilities exist, and it is impossible to predict. Can it be said that this is a counter-prophetic novel: If the future can be told in detail, it may not happen. But this kind of taken for granted is also unreliable.
A lot of different materials gave birth to "The Handmaid’s Tale"-collective executions, ban on extravagance, book burning, the SS "source of life" plan, Argentine generals’ acts of stealing young children, and slavery. History, the history of polygamy in the United States...there are numerous, too numerous to mention.
But there is another form of literature that I haven't mentioned: eyewitness literature. Offfred did his best to record her story; then hide it, believing that it might be discovered by someone in the future, and this person can understand its meaning and spread it out. This is a promising move: every recorded story implies a future reader. Robinson keeps a diary. Samuel Pepys also wrote a diary, he recorded the Great Fire in London in detail. Many people did this during the Black Death plague, but many of their records often came to an abrupt end. There is also Romeo Dallaire, who wrote down the massacre in Rwanda and the world's indifference to this event. And Anne Frank, who hid the diary in her secret room.
There are two kinds of readers who will read the stories told by Offfred: One is at the end of the book, at a future academic conference, this kind of readers can read freely, but not always as we wish. Compassionate; the other is the individual reader in any era. This is the "real" reader, the "dear reader" for which every writer writes. Many "dear readers" will become authors themselves. This is the beginning of all writers like us: start with reading. We heard that a certain book was uttering, telling us about it.
After the recent U.S. election, fear and anxiety spread. It is generally believed that basic civil liberties have been violated, and many of the rights that women have won over the past decades and even centuries are also facing crisis. In such a divided climate, hatred of many groups began to grow, and extremists of all kinds began to express their mockery of democratic regimes. So it is certain that somewhere, someone—I think there should be many people—is writing down their personal experiences. Or they will keep it in their hearts and write it down if possible in the future.
Will their messages be suppressed and buried? After a few hundred years, will anyone find them behind a wall of an old house?
Let us hope that everything is not so bad. I firmly believe that it will not. ——From Atwood's preface to "The Handmaid's Tale"
This article is exclusive original content. Author: Li Jiayu; Editor: Zhang Chang, walk around. Reprinting is not allowed without the written authorization of the Beijing News, and you are welcome to forward it to Moments of Friends.
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