27
votes
Meaning of "the way they used to use up old women, in Russia, sweeping dirt" in "The Handmaid's Tale"
There was a perception in the West that elderly Russian women were frequently put to work sweeping the streets, presumably to supplement their meagre state pension. This view in encapsulated in a ...
- 15.6k
6
votes
Accepted
Meaning of "the way they used to use up old women, in Russia, sweeping dirt" in "The Handmaid's Tale"
I think there is a stereotype or literary trope (perhaps based in reality) of a Russian woman in a babushka sweeping up dust and dirt. Perhaps she is a widow from one of Russia's many wars, needing to ...
- 832
5
votes
Meaning of "one of the shapes money takes when it freezes" in "The Handmaid's Tale"
This is an extended metaphor in which money is compared to water. The narrator says that “money has trickled through this room for years and years”, meaning the wealthy and powerful men who have met ...
- 60.7k
3
votes
Meaning of "one of the shapes money takes when it freezes" in "The Handmaid's Tale"
As an extension to, rather than a disagreement with, Gareth Rees answer, it is an extended metaphor of money as a liquid substance. But beyond that, it's using an existing extended metaphor in finance,...
- 1,513
3
votes
In Margeret Atwood's "Hag-Seed," where is Caliban?
I think, just as you said, the book's very title is a reference to Caliban, suggesting that he should be central to the story. I agree. Caliban in the context of colonialism represents the undesired ...
- 31
1
vote
Why did Crake choose Jimmy to take care of the Crakers?
Warning: spoilers follow!
The first person to ask Jimmy to take care of the Crakers was Oryx, on the last night of her life:
“Jimmy, I want you to promise me something.”
“Sure, what?”
“If ...
- 74.4k
1
vote
Meaning in Margaret Atwood's "My mother dwindles"
The mother is "dwindling", receding from life, but still stubbornly living on.
This is clear from the first stanza of the poem:
My mother dwindles and dwindles
and lives and lives.
Her ...
- 74.4k
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