BULLWHIP EFFECT (EFECTO LÁTIGO)

often becomes metaphor for artistic creation. This aspect will receive further attention in Chapter Four.

patriarchal oligarchy in Gilead regards as natural, that is woman as 'mother', is in fact shown to be a cultural construct.

The text also discusses contrary positions within the Women’s Movement, as for example, the pros and cons of the separatist position. Moira, Offred's oldest and dearest friend represents the lesbian feminist point of view. Her argument in favour of separatism, and Offred's objection to it, are a vehicle for Atwood to introduce the debate.

In Moira's view separatism is necessary for women in order to avoid being absorbed into

'masculine' structures and thinking, as they usually are compelled to, in order to 'survive' in a male- dominated society. In a good- humoured argument with Offred she maintains that to participate, as Offred does, in such a world is equivalent to consorting with the enemy, and it shows a blindness to the necessity of political struggle. According to the separatist stance, change can only be achieved by women ceasing to participate in unequal relationships in order to develop an alternative. Offred's objection to such a way of life is that it is marginal, and will not influence society or advance c h a n g e . ^

58 Paulina Palmer, pp.105-107.

59 'I said there was more than one way of living with your head in the sand and that if Moira had

However, Offred's point of view is not necessarily valid. Separatists write books and poetry, as does Moira who works for the publishing division of a women's collective (p. 187). They influence other women, they provide various forms of help and support for the women who need them. Moira is indeed a touchstone of value in the novel in various ways and a symbol of active resistance to the Gilead regime. She survives intact the programme of conditioning into the acceptance of female guilt and evil imposed on the handmaids at the Centre. Moira is the only one who has the courage to escape. When her first attempts fails she endures physical punishment (p.102) and then escapes by a very daring route (p.143). Moira's resourcefulness, her practicality and courage make Offred and the other women like her look like 'wimps' (234). However, Atwood's

characterization of Moira, has been criticized for offering a stereotyped version of the lesbian feminist.

The result of the debate against and in favour of separatism, rather than advocating one or the other position, highlights, I think, the risk of isolation and of lack of involvement, whether it *60 thought she could create Utopia by shutting herself up in a women-only enclave she was sadly mistaken. Men were not just going to go away, I said. You couldn't just ignore them.'(p.120).

occurs on the separatist side or on the liberal feminist side, such as Offred's. It also points out the divisions in the Women's Movement, and between women. This prevents women from achieving a sense of unity, and enables oppressive regimes like Gilead to subjugate them.

Offred’s reflections on the way she and her friends lived in the period prior to the rise of Gilead indicate the necessity for involvement and political awareness. The story of violence, especially that against women, reported in the newspapers were like 'bad dreams dreamt by others....We were the people who were not in the papers ... blank white spaces at the edge of print....We lived... by ignoring ... in the gaps between the stories'(p.67). Atwood highlights the attitude of complacency and lack of interest in politics which typifies the liberal middle class. She underscores the necessity to be politically aware and constantly pay attention to what is happening, since,

'Nothing changes instantaneously'(p. 66).

The effective interaction between the worlds of past and present, achieved by Atwood's utilization of Offred's memory, combined with Atwood's feminist focus and use of irony, is what distinguishes The Handmaid's Tale from the works of dystopian fiction mentioned above. Besides, unlike traditional

dystopias, the novel, as its title suggests, is also a 'tale', which recurrently affirms its status as an artefact. This aspect of the novel will be discussed in detail in the following Chapters.

In next section I shall focus on Atwood's unconventional use of fictional modes and genres in Surfacing. The features and norms these modes and genres imply echo in the text which, as a result, defies classification. Atwood thus violates that implicit contract between author and reader, dependent on a set of shared expectations, which is the basis of the novel as a genre.61

1.4 The ' Quest ' Revisited : Su r f a c i n g

Barbara Hill Rigney notes how in Surfacing the 'balance between generic worlds is almost perfect', as the text is 'halfway between poem and novel, theological treatise and political manifesto, myth and realism'. 62 I would add that Atwood's text 61 Jonathan Culler, 'Towards a Theory of Non-Genre Literature', in Surfiction, ed. by Raymond Federman

(Chicago, 1975), pp.255-262 (p.262).

62 Barbara Hill Rigney, Margaret Atwood, p.38. The