I hadn't really made connections between this book and history before we discussed it in class. The society in this book seems so unreal and alien to me that it is difficult to think that it all comes from actual parts of history. People used to and some still do live in societies like this. In my group we saw connections between The Handaids Tale and the underground railroad as well as with things like re-patriation, public executions, the handmaid's uniform, testifying, and propaganda and censorship. After discussing these things I think that I can see the message that Margaret Atwood was trying to send, about our societies. I couldn't even believe how horrible this society sounded but now I realize that almost every country has had at least some negative aspects of Gilead in their society. We related certain propaganda from the book to what happened in WWII. The censorship is very similar to that in communist China and the Soviet Union. It is pretty obvious how aspects of the book are similar to the underground railroad, people can secretly escape by going and staying in different houses, just like the underground railroad. Having a discussion about this in class helped me see a purpose and message in this book.

I am so mad because I really liked this book up until the end. I hate when books just end without explaining anything. At the end of Handmaids Tale we don't know if she got away safely or if it was a trap. When i finished the chapter I thought there was going to be another one and then there wasn't it was so upsetting. I've decided that Offred, or whatever her real name is, escaped the society with them and they were people disguised as eyes. I think this book should have an epilogue so that it can explain all the unanswered questions. Did Nick escape? Did she ever find Luke? Did she have a baby? Where did she go? there are so many unanswered questions. It is really sad that ofglen killed herself what if was really her team that was coming for her, what if they were disguised as Eyes just like the ones who came to get Offred? I am kind of confused by the last sentence "And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light." I wonder what she means?

Oh My God! so much stuff happened in these last few chapters and I wasn't expecting any of it. From the night out with the commander to the Salvaging i don't even know where to start. One thing I am still kind of confused about is how long has it been since that day when Offred and Luke ran from the guards? It was great when we found out that Moira was alive, and at least she wasn't living in the colonies. It seemed reassuring that there are so many people who are working against the society. When Moira was speaking i was wondering what would happen if she got pregnant but then she explained that they had their tubes tied so that questions wouldn't arise. This seems like it is in contradiction with their entire society because they should want more kids and they should have a "don't ask don't tell" policy concerning pregnant women for the good of repopulating themselves. Finally something is happening with Offred and Nick but i am confused because wouldn't they notice if she got pregnant and it obviously wasn't from one of the ceremony days?
The last thing I really need to talk about is the salvaging, it was just over all so disturbing. Before the Aunt told the women that being raped was their own fault but now they were definitely blaming the men. It was so sick how the handmaids just attacked him and like Offred they must have known he was innocent, or have they really all bought into this society?

I really don't understand the point of this society because before i thought the whole reason it was like this was to repopulate society but their system seems to be doing the opposite. Because they hold this idea that men can never be sterile there society will die out. If they forced them to have sex with the younger men at least it would make some sense this just makes no sense. I also don't understand why they have this society if no one believes in it. Even though the Commander said it was better he doesn't act this way he brakes the most rules. In the book right now every character believes in breaking the rules and doesn't like the society; the Commander, Serena, Nick, the Marthas, Ofglen, and obviously Offred.
When i was reading chapter 33 this sentence, "We line up to get processed through the checkpoint, standing in our twos and twos and twos, like a private girls' school that went for a walk and stayed out too long." i realized what the hanmaids remind me of. It reminds me of Madeleine.

I am so glad that we learned that Ofglen is against this society. I was worried that all the women were corrupted but at the same time i wondered how anyone could think that way. Now i am thinking that almost everyone in the society is not a believer, i bet it was just one persons idea and this lack of trust in their society is what has allowed it to continue. The Commander is another example of someone who doesn't believe in the society. I wonder how he manages to get all those illegal things, like lotion.
Another thing that i thought was kind of funny about this society is that, for the women at least, there is no issue of sexuality because they are not supposed to have any sexual attraction or sexal feelings. Therefore in theory it wouldn't matter if you didn't like men like Moira, because it is not about liking someone it is all about having children. Of course in practice this society as we would all agree doesn't really work out like that.
This chapter gives us more insight into how Offred must have felt the day things began to change and how it got to that point. I really don't understand how someone can think a ood response to the assasinations of the president and all of Congress is to take all power away from women. I see no connection there.

The chapters dealing with the pregnancy were really confusing to me because there were so many flashbacks and the information in them didn't seem to be that important or give us any crucial information. It seemed like not a lot happened for a long time. also what happened with Nick. She seems to have just completely dropped that subject, I still think they are going to get together. I was also wondering what will happen if she gets pregnant and it was obviously not from one of the ceremonial days? Will she be in trouble? Will they get caught? Also what is the punishment procedure with commanders can they be punished? I wouldn't be surprised if they were immune from being punished. I am a little bit confused about what happens with children. Do all children get taken away? Why can't the wives or the handmaids just raise them they even have the help of the Marthas?

I am actually really enjoying reading the Handmaid's Tale. It really keeps my attention and I want to know what is going to happen next. i feel so bad for Offred it sounds like one of the worst lives someone could have. I don't understand how the government could have just decided this is now how they want society to be run. How did they get everyone to go along with this? I assume that most women and men would have been opposed to this idea and probably still are. How could things have escalated to that point? I wonder what happened to Luke I hope he is ok and I hope that there is a happy ending to this book. I knew right from the beginning that something was going to happen with Nick and Offred. The thing that is kind of confusing about this book is the flashbacks. I get really confused with what is present day and what is in the past.

I found "When it Changed" to be kind of confusing the over all gist of the reading I got but the details were hard to follow. I thought that the women lived on a separate part of Earth and that the men were coming from another part. How else would they speak russian? But everyone else in class seemed to think they were on a different planet. I was also confused with how they managed to have kids with no men (I mean the science behind it). The message that i got from the reading was that it is impossible for us to have complete equality between the sexes while there are still two. People have created these certain stereotypes that men and women are supposed to fall into and it is impossible to rid society of this categorizing. I think the reading had a similar message as Left Hand of Darkness but it had a little more of a feminist message. I think Left Hand more about creating equality with no gender where as When it Changed was more about how there can't be equality with men.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending of Left Hand of Darkness. I kind of like how the end is left open to interpretation but at the same time I want to know what happened. The end kind of reminded me of a way that a lot of movies end, with the protagonist about to retell everything that has happened. Genly is about to answer sorve's guestion," Will you tell us how he died?-Will you tell us about the other worlds out among the stars- the other kinds of men the other lives?"p. 301. I think the ending is nice the way it ends with a reflection upon everything that has happened and Estraven. In class we also discussed in our group how weird it was that the last page doesn't have a page number. Was this done purposely? It seems like it was because the numbers are placed automatically they don't write in each one so they couldn't have just forgotten to do it. I do not think that Genly will stay on Gethen I think he will stay as long as the rest of the crew does but then he will return to his job and maybe go to a new planet. He obviously had a reason for becoming an Envoy in the first place because i know I would never want that job. Genly seems like the kind of person who doesn't really complain he just accepts things and does what other people want. It never seemed like he really got that upset or angry even when he was kidnapped and in the van. That's why I think he will go on with his job, it gives him something to do and a purpose in his life. If he just stayed on Gethen what would he do where would he go?

I actually really enjoyed chapter sixteen because of the character development and for the first time i felt like the story was going somewhere, literally and figuratively. I liked that there is now an apparent goalin the book. Genly and Estraven have somewhere, Karhide, that they are trying to get to unlike earlier in the book when I didn't really know what to make of things or what the point of things was. I'm still not really sure how this book is going to have a good ending, maybe it won't but we are getting close to the end and i wonder how the author will deal with this. I feel like I understood what was going on in the chapter a lot more because the plot was more simple and clear, i know that some people found this boring but i enjoyed it. i also felt like this was the first chapter where we actually got to know Estraven and Genly because the chapter wasn't about Karhide or Orgoreyn it was about them. I have also really changed my opinion of Estraven over the past few chapters. At the begining i didn't really like or trust him but now i can see that he has good intentions and really is looking out for Genly Ai.

Chapter 13 really changed my impression of Orgoreyn. I used to like Orgoreyn more than Karhide but now I have changed my mind because Orgoreyn seemed like a communist dictatorship where people have no rights and are not told what is going on in their society. When Genly Ai was taken I got the impression that he hadn't really done anything wrong their fear and suspicions of him drove them to treat him so badly. it seems really unfair that all of those people would just be arrested and sent to prison without any kind of trial or even being told what they had done wrong. even when they were all so close to death on the bus Mr. Ai said they acted really obediently. At least in Karhide all the people knew what was going on and that Mr. Ai was the envoy, where as in Orgoreyn none of the citizens are told anything. The only people who get to decide things are the thirty-three. It reminds me of communist Russia in the way it is governed and the citizens or Commensals are treated. I also found it really disturbing that no one helped the dying people other than Mr. Ai and when he asked everyone to share the water equally no one listened.
I would also like to point out that I really like that we made that encyclopedia on Wednesday because it is hard to keep all the people and places straight.

I have a question that refers to the whole book but particularly to chapter nine. I don't understand why all the characters have two names. Is one their last name and the other their first? For example in chapter nine Therem of Estre is the same person as Estraven. Is Estraven his first name, that's what I think. I also liked the discussion question in class that asked whether or not we thought Estraven was a traitor. I was confused by why they were referring to him as a traitor in the story when he only killed those other people in self defense. Why is he considered a traitor for uniting to clans?
Another question i have about the book is how is Mr. Ai able to communicate with the Karhidians and the people of Orgeryn? i understand that he has been in Karhide for two years and that he would have picked up the language but he has only been in Orgota for a few days and is already able to communicate with all the people and was when he first arrived. Maybe he some how managed to learn the languages before he went to winter. But how would he have done that because they supposedly knew nothing of these people isn't Mr. ai there to learn about them. i wonder if there languages are all very similar.

Honestly i am really confusedby this book. I'm not really sure what it is going to be about or what we should already be getting from it. I don't really like Mr. Ai he seems like he is sexist and and dislikes the fact that the Karhidians don't go to war. on pages 48 and 49 he says "Quarrels, murders, feuds, forays, vendetas, assassinations, tortures, and abominations, all these were in their repertory of human accomplishments; but they did not go to war. They lacked, it seemed, the capacity to mobilize. They behaved like animals, in that respect; or like women" I assume that he means it in a negative way that the Karhidians don't go to war and are therefore like animals or women. First of all what is wrong with not going to war? Why does he want them to be going to war? I think it is great that they can avoid war and keep peace on their planet. Maybe Mr. ai should be learning how they manage this instead of trying to convince them to be like his planet. Also, i don't like the way he says they are acting like women because they don't go to war, as if it is an insult. This shows that his character is some what sexist.