Annotated Bibliography
1. Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986.
“My name isn't Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses now because t's forbidden. I tell myself it doesn't matter, your name is like your telephone number, useful only to others; but what I tell myself is wrong, it does matter. I keep the knowledge of this name like something hidden, some treasure I'll come back to dig up, one day. I think of this name as buried. This name has an aura around it, like an amulet, some charm that's survived from an unimaginably distant past. I lie in my single bed at night, with my eyes closed, and the name floats there behind my eyes, not quite within reach, shining in the dark.” (84)
The Handmaid’s Tale was written by Margaret Atwood in 1985 and published shortly thereafter. The novel, told from the perspective of the protagonist, Offred, is about life in Gilead, a totalitarian state that replaced the United States. Offred is the handmaid (or concubine) to The Commander. She and the other handmaids are assigned to prominent and distinguished couples of the republic that are unable to conceive a baby. Offred discusses her daily routines, as well as describing flashbacks of what life used to be like in the United States. When Offred reminisces about the past, she speaks of her single mother’s boldness and her role as a feminist activist, and she remembers her fiercely independent best friend, Moira. Offred reminds the audience about the freedom and independence of women in the time before Gilead. After a period of time has passed and Offred doesn’t get pregnant, the Commander’s wife encouraged Offred to have sex with Nick, the chauffeur. Offred consents and their sexual tryst turns into a full blown affair. Meanwhile, the Commander takes Offred to a brothel and his wife finds out. She promises to punish Offred for her misconduct. Offred is taken by The Eyes, who Nick says are secret members of the Mayday rebel group. The novel ends with an epilogue in the form of a lecture in the year 2195. It is unknown what happened to Offred.
Atwood wrote this novel in 1985, shortly after Ronald Regan was elected as the president of the United States at a time when conservatism was being revived. There was a fear by feminists that all of the gains made during the Women’s Rights Movement was going to be lost, as is depicted in the society of Gilead in the novel. Atwood’s novel investigates the possibilities of what the world would be like if there was a return to more traditional, male-centred values. It is apparent in this novel that Atwood was strongly influenced by what she saw happening in the world around her. She saw Regan trying to bring back more traditional values as a conservative political leader, and in her novel she beings to light what she believes would happen if women’s rights were suddenly taken away—creating a dystopia for American women. I think Atwood exaggerated what the future would be like for women without the rights they fought so hard for, but I think this was her intent. She wanted to create a dystopia that was so far-fetched that it made readers think about the possibilities and to encourage women to keep fighting for their rights so that the portrayed dystopia would not become a reality. Knowing that Atwood wrote this novel in light of the rise of conservative values confirms my assumption that authors are influenced by what they see happening in the real world. They use the events of the present to create a piece of fiction that is relevant to the audience, and often the author is influenced by issues that transcend time and are significant even over long periods of time.
2. Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008.
“Winning means fame and fortune.
Losing means certain death.
The Hunger Games have begun…” (back cover)
The Hunger Games is set in a futuristic time when all of North America is divided into twelve districts. These twelve districts participate in a ‘modern-day’ gladiator tournament called the Hunger Games, where the participants are one male and one female teenager from each district. When Katniss Everdeen’s twelve-year-old sister is nominated at The Reaping, Katniss is quick to volunteer herself as a tribute for the Games. Katniss takes part in a brief training session in The Capitol, then she is sent to the Arena where the Games are to take place. The reality-tv-like fight to the death Games are broadcasted in every district, where audience members are able to sponsor tributes with gifts for survival. Katniss and her district partner, Peeta, team up to fight to the end. Katniss and Peeta challenge the Games’ purpose by intending to eat poisonous berries in an effort to kill themselves so there is no winner of the government sanctioned Games. In the end, the Gamemakers allow both tributes to be crowned winners but not without some dangerous consequences.
Suzanne Collins was raised by a military family so she was exposed to the horrors and realities of war from a young age. She moved around to many different cities across the United States and Europe, allowing her to see the different landscapes (and districts) of the USA and Europe. She mentions being influenced by her exposure to Greek mythology, specifically the myth about Athens sending seven boys and seven girls into the Labyrinth in Crete to be devoured by the Minotaur. In addition, she based the idea of the Hunger Games as a modern day gladiator ring. One evening while watching television, she was flicking between coverage of the Iraq/Afghanistan war and some reality TV when she got the idea for The Hunger Games. At the time, reality TV was on the rise in popularity and you couldn’t turn on a television without being exposed to media coverage of the war. Collins combined the two into one story. Not only was Collins influenced by her upbringing and interests, she was influenced by the popular events of the time. In the quote above, I think Collins is basically alluding the fact that if you ‘win’ at reality TV (or The Games) you gain great fame and fortune, which is true, if only for a short period of time. When she says, ‘Losing means a certain death,’ I think she is referring to the fact that the war in Iraq/Afghanistan wasn’t being won and the cost of that was a great number of deaths for military personnel. She combined her opinion on the two subjects and created an entire trilogy based on these ideas! Originally, I thought that only authors that wrote decades ago were influenced by the world around them but after reading the novel and reviewing Collins’ influences I was able to see that even current writers are influenced by the events they see around them.
3. Condie, Ally. Matched. New York: Dutton, 2011.
“Ky can play this game. He can play all of their games, including the one in front of him that he just lost. He knows exactly how to play, and that's why he loses every time.”
In Matched, Cassia lives in a world controlled by The Society. The Society chooses your job, your mate, your future. Cassia is ‘matched’ with her long time friend, Xander at a special ceremony, but Cassia begins to question her match when she gets a brief glimpse of Ky, a school mate, before the matching screen goes blank. As Cassia and Ky become closer and begin to fall in love, Cassia begins to question the legitimacy of The Society. She then needs to choose between Xander and the life expected of her or Ky and a life that no one has ever dared to follow.
In an interview with Bop Tigerbeat magazine, Condie stated that she got the idea for the Matched trilogy when having a discussion with her husband about marriages and how many countries around the world do not have defined rules for marriage, like the United States does. She started wondering what it would be like if a government had supreme control over marriage, like choosing your spouse for you. In addition, she pictured the setting and plot as a ‘prom-gone-wrong’ scenario based on all of the proms she had supervised as a high school teacher earlier in her career. What if at the prom you found out your future spouse? Condie based the idea for her book on things she’d talked about and seen in her own life; her novels were influenced by her immediate surroundings.
4. Orwell, George. 1984. Toronto: Penguin Books, 1949.
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.”
Orwell’s 1984 is a chilling prophecy about what the future holds in a totalitarian ruled world. Winston works for the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history to in accordance to Big Brother’s values and agenda. Winston begins to doubt Big Brother’s rule and begins a romantic affair with his co-worker, Julia. Winston and Julia rent a room above a black market shop owned by Mr. Charrington. They feel that they are secretly rebelling against Big Brother; however, Winston wishes to rebel further, while Julia is content rebelling through her sexual encounters with Winston. They meet with O’Brien who gives them Emmanuel Goldstein’s resistance manual, which Winston dives into right away. Winston and Julia are ultimately arrested and taken to Room 101 where they are tortured into submitting to Big Brother’s rule.
George Orwell wrote 1984 in 1949 after the rise of totalitarian governments in Germany under Hitler and in the Soviet Union under Stalin. Both Animal Farm and 1984 were both politically charged novels that were inspired by Orwell’s hatred of totalitarianism and political authority. At the time when Orwell penned 1984, it seemed entirely possible that society could be monitored ceaselessly by the governments in power. Orwell chose to bring to light the dystopia that type of control would have on society, and he did so in such a way that his novel’s overarching ideas are still relevant today. The slogan, “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength,” is contradictory in nature but alludes to the mass psychological control of the masses through propaganda. The idea of controlling the masses with the use of propaganda would have been apparent to Orwell who watched Hitler use the same type of propaganda as psychological control over German citizens. Orwell took what was going on in the world at the time and created a fictional account of what the world would be like if we didn’t stand up to the political powers in control if we disagreed with their way of governing the country. Orwell makes it clear through the ending of the novel that he believes that unless people band together in large groups to fight the government, they will win. Winston and Julia were only two people and not able to fight the powers that were, so therefore they were re-educated in the beliefs of Big Brother.
1. Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986.
“My name isn't Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses now because t's forbidden. I tell myself it doesn't matter, your name is like your telephone number, useful only to others; but what I tell myself is wrong, it does matter. I keep the knowledge of this name like something hidden, some treasure I'll come back to dig up, one day. I think of this name as buried. This name has an aura around it, like an amulet, some charm that's survived from an unimaginably distant past. I lie in my single bed at night, with my eyes closed, and the name floats there behind my eyes, not quite within reach, shining in the dark.” (84)
The Handmaid’s Tale was written by Margaret Atwood in 1985 and published shortly thereafter. The novel, told from the perspective of the protagonist, Offred, is about life in Gilead, a totalitarian state that replaced the United States. Offred is the handmaid (or concubine) to The Commander. She and the other handmaids are assigned to prominent and distinguished couples of the republic that are unable to conceive a baby. Offred discusses her daily routines, as well as describing flashbacks of what life used to be like in the United States. When Offred reminisces about the past, she speaks of her single mother’s boldness and her role as a feminist activist, and she remembers her fiercely independent best friend, Moira. Offred reminds the audience about the freedom and independence of women in the time before Gilead. After a period of time has passed and Offred doesn’t get pregnant, the Commander’s wife encouraged Offred to have sex with Nick, the chauffeur. Offred consents and their sexual tryst turns into a full blown affair. Meanwhile, the Commander takes Offred to a brothel and his wife finds out. She promises to punish Offred for her misconduct. Offred is taken by The Eyes, who Nick says are secret members of the Mayday rebel group. The novel ends with an epilogue in the form of a lecture in the year 2195. It is unknown what happened to Offred.
Atwood wrote this novel in 1985, shortly after Ronald Regan was elected as the president of the United States at a time when conservatism was being revived. There was a fear by feminists that all of the gains made during the Women’s Rights Movement was going to be lost, as is depicted in the society of Gilead in the novel. Atwood’s novel investigates the possibilities of what the world would be like if there was a return to more traditional, male-centred values. It is apparent in this novel that Atwood was strongly influenced by what she saw happening in the world around her. She saw Regan trying to bring back more traditional values as a conservative political leader, and in her novel she beings to light what she believes would happen if women’s rights were suddenly taken away—creating a dystopia for American women. I think Atwood exaggerated what the future would be like for women without the rights they fought so hard for, but I think this was her intent. She wanted to create a dystopia that was so far-fetched that it made readers think about the possibilities and to encourage women to keep fighting for their rights so that the portrayed dystopia would not become a reality. Knowing that Atwood wrote this novel in light of the rise of conservative values confirms my assumption that authors are influenced by what they see happening in the real world. They use the events of the present to create a piece of fiction that is relevant to the audience, and often the author is influenced by issues that transcend time and are significant even over long periods of time.
2. Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008.
“Winning means fame and fortune.
Losing means certain death.
The Hunger Games have begun…” (back cover)
The Hunger Games is set in a futuristic time when all of North America is divided into twelve districts. These twelve districts participate in a ‘modern-day’ gladiator tournament called the Hunger Games, where the participants are one male and one female teenager from each district. When Katniss Everdeen’s twelve-year-old sister is nominated at The Reaping, Katniss is quick to volunteer herself as a tribute for the Games. Katniss takes part in a brief training session in The Capitol, then she is sent to the Arena where the Games are to take place. The reality-tv-like fight to the death Games are broadcasted in every district, where audience members are able to sponsor tributes with gifts for survival. Katniss and her district partner, Peeta, team up to fight to the end. Katniss and Peeta challenge the Games’ purpose by intending to eat poisonous berries in an effort to kill themselves so there is no winner of the government sanctioned Games. In the end, the Gamemakers allow both tributes to be crowned winners but not without some dangerous consequences.
Suzanne Collins was raised by a military family so she was exposed to the horrors and realities of war from a young age. She moved around to many different cities across the United States and Europe, allowing her to see the different landscapes (and districts) of the USA and Europe. She mentions being influenced by her exposure to Greek mythology, specifically the myth about Athens sending seven boys and seven girls into the Labyrinth in Crete to be devoured by the Minotaur. In addition, she based the idea of the Hunger Games as a modern day gladiator ring. One evening while watching television, she was flicking between coverage of the Iraq/Afghanistan war and some reality TV when she got the idea for The Hunger Games. At the time, reality TV was on the rise in popularity and you couldn’t turn on a television without being exposed to media coverage of the war. Collins combined the two into one story. Not only was Collins influenced by her upbringing and interests, she was influenced by the popular events of the time. In the quote above, I think Collins is basically alluding the fact that if you ‘win’ at reality TV (or The Games) you gain great fame and fortune, which is true, if only for a short period of time. When she says, ‘Losing means a certain death,’ I think she is referring to the fact that the war in Iraq/Afghanistan wasn’t being won and the cost of that was a great number of deaths for military personnel. She combined her opinion on the two subjects and created an entire trilogy based on these ideas! Originally, I thought that only authors that wrote decades ago were influenced by the world around them but after reading the novel and reviewing Collins’ influences I was able to see that even current writers are influenced by the events they see around them.
3. Condie, Ally. Matched. New York: Dutton, 2011.
“Ky can play this game. He can play all of their games, including the one in front of him that he just lost. He knows exactly how to play, and that's why he loses every time.”
In Matched, Cassia lives in a world controlled by The Society. The Society chooses your job, your mate, your future. Cassia is ‘matched’ with her long time friend, Xander at a special ceremony, but Cassia begins to question her match when she gets a brief glimpse of Ky, a school mate, before the matching screen goes blank. As Cassia and Ky become closer and begin to fall in love, Cassia begins to question the legitimacy of The Society. She then needs to choose between Xander and the life expected of her or Ky and a life that no one has ever dared to follow.
In an interview with Bop Tigerbeat magazine, Condie stated that she got the idea for the Matched trilogy when having a discussion with her husband about marriages and how many countries around the world do not have defined rules for marriage, like the United States does. She started wondering what it would be like if a government had supreme control over marriage, like choosing your spouse for you. In addition, she pictured the setting and plot as a ‘prom-gone-wrong’ scenario based on all of the proms she had supervised as a high school teacher earlier in her career. What if at the prom you found out your future spouse? Condie based the idea for her book on things she’d talked about and seen in her own life; her novels were influenced by her immediate surroundings.
4. Orwell, George. 1984. Toronto: Penguin Books, 1949.
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.”
Orwell’s 1984 is a chilling prophecy about what the future holds in a totalitarian ruled world. Winston works for the Ministry of Truth, rewriting history to in accordance to Big Brother’s values and agenda. Winston begins to doubt Big Brother’s rule and begins a romantic affair with his co-worker, Julia. Winston and Julia rent a room above a black market shop owned by Mr. Charrington. They feel that they are secretly rebelling against Big Brother; however, Winston wishes to rebel further, while Julia is content rebelling through her sexual encounters with Winston. They meet with O’Brien who gives them Emmanuel Goldstein’s resistance manual, which Winston dives into right away. Winston and Julia are ultimately arrested and taken to Room 101 where they are tortured into submitting to Big Brother’s rule.
George Orwell wrote 1984 in 1949 after the rise of totalitarian governments in Germany under Hitler and in the Soviet Union under Stalin. Both Animal Farm and 1984 were both politically charged novels that were inspired by Orwell’s hatred of totalitarianism and political authority. At the time when Orwell penned 1984, it seemed entirely possible that society could be monitored ceaselessly by the governments in power. Orwell chose to bring to light the dystopia that type of control would have on society, and he did so in such a way that his novel’s overarching ideas are still relevant today. The slogan, “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength,” is contradictory in nature but alludes to the mass psychological control of the masses through propaganda. The idea of controlling the masses with the use of propaganda would have been apparent to Orwell who watched Hitler use the same type of propaganda as psychological control over German citizens. Orwell took what was going on in the world at the time and created a fictional account of what the world would be like if we didn’t stand up to the political powers in control if we disagreed with their way of governing the country. Orwell makes it clear through the ending of the novel that he believes that unless people band together in large groups to fight the government, they will win. Winston and Julia were only two people and not able to fight the powers that were, so therefore they were re-educated in the beliefs of Big Brother.
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