{"id":328,"date":"2019-11-09T13:35:32","date_gmt":"2019-11-09T18:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/?p=328"},"modified":"2019-11-09T13:35:32","modified_gmt":"2019-11-09T18:35:32","slug":"the-handmaids-tale-ch-x-xi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/2019\/11\/09\/the-handmaids-tale-ch-x-xi\/","title":{"rendered":"The Handmaid&#8217;s Tale Ch. X-XI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This section of <em>The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em> provides greater insight into the how the Gilead assumed power. We learn that after \u201cthe catastrophe,\u201d members of the Gilead \u201cshot the president and machine-gunned the Congress\u201d (174). Offred recounts that in the moment, these acts were blamed on \u201cthe Islamic fanatics\u201d (174). After these attacks, the Gilead authority suspended the Constitution. New regulations were implemented: newspaper censorship, roadblocks, and closure of \u201cPornomarts,\u201d \u201cFeels on Wheels vans,\u201d and \u201cBun-Dle Buggies\u201d (174). These changes reflect the beginning of a shift towards a conservative society. Offred notes that Moira worked for a women\u2019s collective at the time that the Gilead assumed power. Moira worked in the publishing division and \u201cthey put out books on birth control and rape\u201d (178). I found this piece of information interesting; prior to the Gilead, Moira worked as an activist for women\u2019s rights, yet we know that Moira defied authority and escaped the Center as a mechanism for survival\/maintaining autonomy. I think that her occupation prior to the Gilead and her decision to the escape from the Center relate in the sense that both decisions reflect a desire to stand up for what she believes in.<\/p>\n<p>I am very interested to see how Offred\u2019s relationship with the Commander continues to develop. In this section, we learn that the previous Handmaid gathered the phrase \u201c<em>nolite te bastardes carborundorum\u201d <\/em>through visits she had with the Commander. Moreover, we learn that the previous Handmaid hung herself from the light fixture in her room. This helps to explain why the Commander continues to invite Offred into his office \u2013 to make sure her life is \u201cbearable\u201d (187). This confirms that the Commander\u2019s own feelings serve as motivation for his actions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This section of The Handmaid\u2019s Tale provides greater insight into the how the Gilead assumed power. We learn that after \u201cthe catastrophe,\u201d members of the&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/2019\/11\/09\/the-handmaids-tale-ch-x-xi\/\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Handmaid&#8217;s Tale Ch. X-XI<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4516,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/ldst390cnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}