THT Lit Log #1

My artwork depicts a pigeon poking itself to death as a representation of a handmaid. This is based on writing from Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, as the main character, Offred, had given inspiration for this drawing in chapter thirteen.

During this section, Offred is speaking about the extensive free time she has now that she is serving her new role in society. She starts to draw comparisons between herself and animals, such as pigs being entertained with balls in which they roll with their snouts. She had learned about this in a Psychology class. However the author decides to include another strange animal fact about pigeons, as Offred remembers more from this very same class. Offred reminisces about this on page seventy, reciting: “And the one on the pigeons, trained to peck a button that made a grain of corn appear. Three groups of them: the first got one grain per peck, the second one grain every other peck, the third was random. When the man in charge cut off the grain, the first group gave up quite soon, the second group a little later. The third group never gave up. They’d peck themselves to death, rather than quit. Who knew what worked?” As a reader this can be recognized as a strange side tangent, but with closer inspection there can be many layers to interpret. This seems to be a reference to the obvious baby and reproduction issue that Offred’s society is dealing with, as the seeds represent the babies, slowly ceasing to be birthed on a frequent basis. However, why would this result in the pigeons killing themselves? This could be Offred seeing herself and the other handmaids as the pigeons, pecking for a brighter future however not knowing the attempts are purposeless. They could be simply killing themselves, which I attempted to show in my drawing.

Offred mentions this feeling of hopelessness many times. She wishes for a brighter future beyond her current situation. She likes to assure herself that there is an escape but still recognizes that she might not get that opportunity. Offred most clearly states these ideas on page one hundred thirty four, explaining, “I intend to get out of here. It can’t last forever. Others have thought such things, in bad times before this, and they were always right, they did get out one way or another, and it didn’t last forever. Although for them it may have lasted all the forever they had.” This quote represents Offred’s knowledge that her situation might be the end of her, that she might be stuck for the rest of “the forever” she has. Though this doesn’t crush her belief in a better life, she still keeps pressing this button of hope, even if it may not ever give her the symbol of a “seed” that she desires. When I was making my drawing this is what I had in mind, the symbolic connection between Offred, the handmaids, and the pigeons. Pecking themselves to death in her Psychology class.