Write An Essay On Handmaid's
Speculative Fiction
Discovery is at the heart of Speculative Fiction. Yet resistance is also crucial.
Speculative Fiction is a term, which categorises a number of sub- genres such as fantasy, science fiction, horror and dystopia. Each of these sub-genres investigates the classic question of “What if?” and uses the imagination as a tool to explore fictional realities.
At the heart of speculative fiction lies the essence of discovery to drive a unique plot separate from the reader’s everyday life, together with the key element of resistance, which is commonly initiated through the journey of one or a number of characters against the stories darker or controlling facet.
I will be using a selection of texts such as Peter Jackson’s film ‘The Lord Of The Rings’, ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Attwood, ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ by film maker Guillermo Del Toro and the first novel of the Harry Potter series ‘Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone’ as a basis …show more content…
of exploration to the verity of this formula within speculative fiction and the differing notions within the genre.
Peter Jackson’s rendition of J.R.R Tolkien’s novel ‘The Lord of the Rings’ uses specific film techniques to enhance the portrayal of the opposing natures of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ throughout the film.
For example, the film begins with the narration of the Rings story and an introduction to the world created by the filmmaker. The change from the shadowy scenery and chilling voice of Galadriel[1] recounting the journey of the ring is juxtaposed to the sudden introduction of The Shire and the character of Frodo as the naïve force of resistance.
Jackson uses film techniques such as dappled golden lighting and sweeping shots of the radiant green landscape to portray the pure, idealistic environment of The Shire untainted by the potential corruption brought upon by the ring and the inevitability that the two worlds will somehow collide when the scenes of each are cut so finely after one another and the audience reaches an understanding of the extent of difficulty toward resistance.
The immediate contrast of scenery, music and mood becomes that of Mordor where we can see that this realm is naturally fortified by jagged black mountains with the contrast against rivers of lava in which Lord Sauron[2], the antagonist, once dwelled, the home of the one ring and the ring bearers destination to its destruction.
To the viewer, the fantasy world of Middle Earth becomes credible through the factual explanation of its history, regions, inhabitants, their intertwining relationships and alliances and the individual, physical and personality characterisation of each race creating verisimilitude.
We are immediately drawn in to the unfurling discoveries of the struggle of Middle Earth against the corrupted power of Sauron and the flight to destroy ‘the ring of power’ in the naive hands of the unsuspecting, ‘diminutive race’ of hobbits. The film entails many of the generalised aspects attributed to speculative fiction and its sub-genres such as magic, mythical creatures, legends and a general medieval theme.
J.K Rowlings fantasy novel ‘Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone is another reflection of this structure. The story is an expression of the genre of fantasy/ ‘magic realism’ as it entails a creation of a parallel world of magic existing coextensively in secret along side the world of ‘Muggles’[3], the world of the
reader.
We are introduced to the magical world through the eyes of Harry, an unsuspecting young boy grown up into the world of Muggles and exposed to the coexisting society of magic when he is invited to attend a school of witchcraft and wizardry, ‘Hogwarts’. Within this world created by the author is the development of a unique currency, caste and parliamentary system and the means in which geographically the wizarding world lives secretly embedded amongst the oblivious Muggle population.
This is an illustration of the presence of discovery as the pivotal aspect of speculative fiction novels along with reliance upon reality as a basis of fact to pivot from, the characters force of resistance in the novel being the cause in which each books plot is propelled upon suspense.
The character of Lord Voldemort is established as the primary antagonist having murdered Harry’s parents in his quest to conquer the wizarding world and having unsuccessfully attempted to kill Harry as an infant we are fed the obvious perception that Harry is the ongoing force of resistance throughout the hepatology and theme of struggle against the corruption of the wizarding world against the lingering force of evil as Lord Voldemort and his followers ‘The death eaters’.
Guillermo Del Toro’s film ‘Pan’s labyrinth’ also explores an underworld of magic living in secret alongside the oppression of the characters former reality. The protagonist, Ophelia a young girl living as the step daughter of a cruel Falangist[4] during the Spanish civil war, escapes from the personal misery of the physical world into a supernatural sub-realm.
Using typical supernatural themes belonging to the fantasy genre such as magic and mythical creatures they are used as a means of escape and resistance from the bleak reality of the Ophelia’s literal circumstances. The theme of fantasy as an aspect of a world only visible to the protagonist sculpts an effective way in which the audience also gravitates to the co-existent element of fantasy, which is possibly only apart of a child’s imagination, rather than the violence of which the audience is aware was the reality of the Spanish civil war.
Margaret Attwood’s novel ‘The Handmaids Tale’ explores a darker, sociological fabrication of reality of the modern world through the eyes of a woman living subjugated under a dystopian state regime. Protagonist Offred, literally translated to ‘Of Fred’ being a chattel and concubine of a commander named Fred, narrates in first person the experience of living under the intense oppression of fertile women used as mere childbearing commodities and existing in feared silence of the intense totalitarian, patriarchal state of Gilead.
Attwood takes hold of the dystopian genre as a vehicle to explore social, political, gender and religious themes and critique them in terms of extremist, dystopian transformations. For example, the feature of power in terms of male dominance and the suppression of women is expressed as a literal interpretation of fundamentalist Christianity and used as a method of control and the means in which the dominant males may form a strictly right wing, theocratic state and disempower women completely.
However, the protagonist’s modest facet of resistance against complete oppression is gained secretly through small, personal victories. One instance of this is the small act of defiance against the regime when Offred hides a pat of butter she has taken from her dinner inside a shoe in her closet to use as moisturiser. This is representative of a handmaid’s personal resistance against the forced, subjective role of women, conditioned to forget any power or superficial comfort gained through maintaining ones physical appearance. Instead she goes out of her way to preserve her beauty and to simply uphold the comfort of personal rituals.
In conclusion, the differing aspects of speculative genre forms are definable according only to the circumstances of each individual text. However, each sub genre is generally related through certain commonalities and themes, Each of the summarised texts having in someway-displayed similar characteristics: an underlying structure revolving around the discovery and exploration of a fictional world extrapolated from the audience’s mundane reality; the suspense-filled journey of the protagonist/s who resist the power of darkness and disempowerment.
Through gravitating away from the restriction of realism the author or filmmaker is then able to hypothetically explore possibilities and pose questions from our known, consensus reality leaving the audience to contemplate and extrapolate from the idea’s drawn upon as a supply to the imagination.
Word count: 1292
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[1] A royal Elf of both the Noldor and the Teleri, referred to as ‘the Lady of Lórien’, ‘The Lady of the Galadhrim’, ‘Lady of Light’ or ‘The Lady of the Wood’. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galadriel [2] Sauron- Dark lord, forger of the ring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauron [3] A person who lacks any sort of magical ability and was not born into the magical world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muggle
[4] A Spanish member of General Franco's political party. wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Discovery is at the heart of Speculative Fiction. Yet resistance is also crucial.
Speculative Fiction is a term, which categorises a number of sub- genres such as fantasy, science fiction, horror and dystopia. Each of these sub-genres investigates the classic question of “What if?” and uses the imagination as a tool to explore fictional realities.
At the heart of speculative fiction lies the essence of discovery to drive a unique plot separate from the reader’s everyday life, together with the key element of resistance, which is commonly initiated through the journey of one or a number of characters against the stories darker or controlling facet.
I will be using a selection of texts such as Peter Jackson’s film ‘The Lord Of The Rings’, ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Attwood, ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ by film maker Guillermo Del Toro and the first novel of the Harry Potter series ‘Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone’ as a basis …show more content…
of exploration to the verity of this formula within speculative fiction and the differing notions within the genre.
Peter Jackson’s rendition of J.R.R Tolkien’s novel ‘The Lord of the Rings’ uses specific film techniques to enhance the portrayal of the opposing natures of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ throughout the film.
For example, the film begins with the narration of the Rings story and an introduction to the world created by the filmmaker. The change from the shadowy scenery and chilling voice of Galadriel[1] recounting the journey of the ring is juxtaposed to the sudden introduction of The Shire and the character of Frodo as the naïve force of resistance.
Jackson uses film techniques such as dappled golden lighting and sweeping shots of the radiant green landscape to portray the pure, idealistic environment of The Shire untainted by the potential corruption brought upon by the ring and the inevitability that the two worlds will somehow collide when the scenes of each are cut so finely after one another and the audience reaches an understanding of the extent of difficulty toward resistance.
The immediate contrast of scenery, music and mood becomes that of Mordor where we can see that this realm is naturally fortified by jagged black mountains with the contrast against rivers of lava in which Lord Sauron[2], the antagonist, once dwelled, the home of the one ring and the ring bearers destination to its destruction.
To the viewer, the fantasy world of Middle Earth becomes credible through the factual explanation of its history, regions, inhabitants, their intertwining relationships and alliances and the individual, physical and personality characterisation of each race creating verisimilitude.
We are immediately drawn in to the unfurling discoveries of the struggle of Middle Earth against the corrupted power of Sauron and the flight to destroy ‘the ring of power’ in the naive hands of the unsuspecting, ‘diminutive race’ of hobbits. The film entails many of the generalised aspects attributed to speculative fiction and its sub-genres such as magic, mythical creatures, legends and a general medieval theme.
J.K Rowlings fantasy novel ‘Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone is another reflection of this structure. The story is an expression of the genre of fantasy/ ‘magic realism’ as it entails a creation of a parallel world of magic existing coextensively in secret along side the world of ‘Muggles’[3], the world of the
reader.
We are introduced to the magical world through the eyes of Harry, an unsuspecting young boy grown up into the world of Muggles and exposed to the coexisting society of magic when he is invited to attend a school of witchcraft and wizardry, ‘Hogwarts’. Within this world created by the author is the development of a unique currency, caste and parliamentary system and the means in which geographically the wizarding world lives secretly embedded amongst the oblivious Muggle population.
This is an illustration of the presence of discovery as the pivotal aspect of speculative fiction novels along with reliance upon reality as a basis of fact to pivot from, the characters force of resistance in the novel being the cause in which each books plot is propelled upon suspense.
The character of Lord Voldemort is established as the primary antagonist having murdered Harry’s parents in his quest to conquer the wizarding world and having unsuccessfully attempted to kill Harry as an infant we are fed the obvious perception that Harry is the ongoing force of resistance throughout the hepatology and theme of struggle against the corruption of the wizarding world against the lingering force of evil as Lord Voldemort and his followers ‘The death eaters’.
Guillermo Del Toro’s film ‘Pan’s labyrinth’ also explores an underworld of magic living in secret alongside the oppression of the characters former reality. The protagonist, Ophelia a young girl living as the step daughter of a cruel Falangist[4] during the Spanish civil war, escapes from the personal misery of the physical world into a supernatural sub-realm.
Using typical supernatural themes belonging to the fantasy genre such as magic and mythical creatures they are used as a means of escape and resistance from the bleak reality of the Ophelia’s literal circumstances. The theme of fantasy as an aspect of a world only visible to the protagonist sculpts an effective way in which the audience also gravitates to the co-existent element of fantasy, which is possibly only apart of a child’s imagination, rather than the violence of which the audience is aware was the reality of the Spanish civil war.
Margaret Attwood’s novel ‘The Handmaids Tale’ explores a darker, sociological fabrication of reality of the modern world through the eyes of a woman living subjugated under a dystopian state regime. Protagonist Offred, literally translated to ‘Of Fred’ being a chattel and concubine of a commander named Fred, narrates in first person the experience of living under the intense oppression of fertile women used as mere childbearing commodities and existing in feared silence of the intense totalitarian, patriarchal state of Gilead.
Attwood takes hold of the dystopian genre as a vehicle to explore social, political, gender and religious themes and critique them in terms of extremist, dystopian transformations. For example, the feature of power in terms of male dominance and the suppression of women is expressed as a literal interpretation of fundamentalist Christianity and used as a method of control and the means in which the dominant males may form a strictly right wing, theocratic state and disempower women completely.
However, the protagonist’s modest facet of resistance against complete oppression is gained secretly through small, personal victories. One instance of this is the small act of defiance against the regime when Offred hides a pat of butter she has taken from her dinner inside a shoe in her closet to use as moisturiser. This is representative of a handmaid’s personal resistance against the forced, subjective role of women, conditioned to forget any power or superficial comfort gained through maintaining ones physical appearance. Instead she goes out of her way to preserve her beauty and to simply uphold the comfort of personal rituals.
In conclusion, the differing aspects of speculative genre forms are definable according only to the circumstances of each individual text. However, each sub genre is generally related through certain commonalities and themes, Each of the summarised texts having in someway-displayed similar characteristics: an underlying structure revolving around the discovery and exploration of a fictional world extrapolated from the audience’s mundane reality; the suspense-filled journey of the protagonist/s who resist the power of darkness and disempowerment.
Through gravitating away from the restriction of realism the author or filmmaker is then able to hypothetically explore possibilities and pose questions from our known, consensus reality leaving the audience to contemplate and extrapolate from the idea’s drawn upon as a supply to the imagination.
Word count: 1292
-----------------------
[1] A royal Elf of both the Noldor and the Teleri, referred to as ‘the Lady of Lórien’, ‘The Lady of the Galadhrim’, ‘Lady of Light’ or ‘The Lady of the Wood’. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galadriel [2] Sauron- Dark lord, forger of the ring http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauron [3] A person who lacks any sort of magical ability and was not born into the magical world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muggle
[4] A Spanish member of General Franco's political party. wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn