9.2.1

Literary Techniques - Quotes

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Metaphor, Simile and Paronomasia Quotations

The following literary techniques are seen in The Handmaid's Tale:

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Metaphor

  • Offred uses grotesque imagery to objectify the naked body of the Commander. This may show her disgust at the nature of the Ceremony:
    • "His tentacle, his delicate stalked slug's eye, which extrudes, expands, winces and shrivels back into himself."
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Paronomasia (a pun)

  • In the Historical Notes, the name of the University is Denay, Nunavit, a pun on "Deny none of it!"
  • Moira also makes a pun on the Biblical reference "There is a balm in Gilead", changing it to "There is a bomb in Gilead" in Chapter 34. She is attacking the beliefs of the theocracy through her language.
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Simile

  • Offred describes the brutality of the world in very prosaic, normal language. This may show how desensitised she is to it all:
    • "Helped onto the high stool as if she's being helped up the steps of a bus... the noose adjusted delicately around the neck, like a vestment."

Literary Techniques (Cont.)

The following literary techniques are seen in The Handmaid's Tale:

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Neologisms

  • Neologisms are made-up words. By creating these new words, Atwood shows how language holds meaning and ideological control over those who use it.
    • "Unwomen"
    • "Particicution"
    • "Compucheck"
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Polyptoton

  • Polyptoton is when words which are derived from the same lexical root are repeated.
  • Atwood uses this technique when Offred thinks about the power of language and its many different meanings:

    • "Night falls. Or has fallen. Why is it that night falls, instead of rising, like the dawn?"
    • "I wait. I compose myself. My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech."
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Chremamorphism

  • Chremamorphism is the opposite of personification; it is where a human is given the characteristics of an object/something inanimate.
  • Atwood uses it to show how objectified Offred feels in her role as a Handmaid.
    • "Buttered, I lie on my single bed, flat, like a piece of toast."

Jump to other topics

1Author Background

1.1Margaret Atwood

2Chapter Summaries

3Dedications & Epigraph

3.1Dedications & Epigraph

4Context

5Narrative Structure & Literary Techniques

6Themes & Imagery

7Characters

8Readings

8.1Readings of The Handmaid's Tale

9Recap: Main Quotes

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