themes

Question 1

epoch of crisis

Answer 1

human ability to survive during great social upheaval of technological and theocratic totalitarianism
fin de siecle anxieties

Question 2

THT epigraphs

Answer 2

biblical justification for oppression, exploration of forced surrogacy & distortion of religious texts to serve authoritarian rule
commodification of human life
exploitation of loopholes in morality to justify dystopian practices

Question 3

WOTW epigraph

Answer 3

exploration of human arrogance - assumption that earth exists solely for mankind’s benefit. questions challenge the idea of human supremacy. arrival of the martians disrupt humanity’s percieved dominance

Question 4

THT religious contexts

Answer 4

fundamentalist resurgence of puritanical religious strain in american society in the form of neo-conservative reaganism

Question 5

TWOTW religious context

Answer 5

Well’s early christianity appears in the form of revelatory visisons of new testament
later atheism in the form of god’s apathy to the fate of humanity

Question 6

THT socio-politics

Answer 6

atwood is supportive of feminism but critical of many second-wave strategies.
locates totalitarian ideologies in her depiction of malicious matriachs (aunts) & offred’s mother
historical record - - iranian theocracyetc.

Question 7

WOTW socio-politics

Answer 7

powerful critique of imperialism
brutal british colonisation of tasmania
draws on experiences of early years poverty
collapsing class distinctions and middle-class values of materialism

Question 8

WOTW ecocritical/environmental context

Answer 8

constant flux between forces of destruction - ecologically apocalyptic vision of nature struggling to survive against technological and scientific interference and management

Question 9

THT ecocritical /environmental context

Answer 9

feminist text aligns with american environmental movement beginning in 1950s. contrasts images of natural world with technological dominion over natural processes.