For my capstone, I created a new database to be used by SLA students to help them with questions about colleges and majors they may be interested in. Through my database, they will be able to search for SLA alumni that match their interests and who have agreed to be contacted to answer questions. I used surveys and lots of outreach, and because of this, I was able to compile a list of alumni who are on standby for when an SLA student has a question for them about the college process or specific colleges. The result is a new resource for the college office that will be updated every year. After completing this capstone I learned that the SLA community is willing to help when called upon to help with the stressful college application process. I have also now gathered interesting information about what our SLA alumni do after graduation.

My artwork focuses on multiple quotes from the same scene of when all of the ward patients rise up against Big Nurse by watching TV instead of doing their chores. This scene was such an obviously pivotal moment for the entire group so it made sense to emphasize this moment. I also chose to focus on the perspective of my artwork because of the importance of Bromden’s perspective throughout the book. I drew the scene from the point of view of Bromden’s thoughts, “If somebody’d of come in and took a look…they’d of thought the whole bunch was crazy as loons.” (126) Therefore, the artwork is looking at the scene from behind, looking on as a spectator would. To achieve the proper representation of this quote I drew every person in the ward, including Big Nurse, wearing their “greens” (89), which were given only to the patients at the hospital. This represents the onlooker seeing everyone in the room as crazy, not just the patients.

The next element of my drawing focuses on the fog and how it reacts to Bromden’s and the ward mates’ new-found defiance of the system. I did this by taking some artistic liberties, I drew a pair of brooms sweeping up, sweeping the fog away from the ward patients. As you can see the brooms are being operated by two pairs of red hands, which are a reference to Bromden and his fellow patients awakening, which was brought about by McMurphy’s “red hand” (121). Along with the theme of the defiance of the system, I drew all of the characters in the book with their backs facing Big Nurse, representing the bottom of page 125, “we’re all sitting there lined up in front of that blanked out TV set…and she’s ranting and screaming behind us.” I represented the insurgence by also making the TV the focal point of the drawing, not the huge screaming Big Nurse. I think it perfectly describes their rejection of leadership and Big Nurse.

The third and final theme of my artwork is power in numbers. As you look at the artwork, Big Nurse seems to be the biggest scariest subject. However, I drew her so that even as she is so much bigger than an average person, she takes up the same amount, if not less, of space as the ward patients. This highlights moments in the book like the failure to achieve a majority for vote for the TV, “ ‘Forty patients, and only twenty voted. You must have a majority to change the ward policy. I’m afraid the vote is closed.’ ”(123) and the subsequent achievement of the majority “ ‘The Chief’s vote makes it twenty-one! And by God if that ain’t a majority I’ll eat my hat!’ ”(124). This emphasizes that Big Nurse can be defeated by the power of the people in the ward. Also pertaining to this quote I drew all of the people who are watching Tv raising their hands to represent the final vote that spurred their defiance.

My art piece represents multiple themes that are present in The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, religion, memory and individuality. In Gilead there is a popular chain of stores called Soul Scrolls, where you can pay to have your prayers read aloud by a machine, as many times as you want and pay for. “There are five different types of prayers: for health, wealth, a death, a birth, a sin.” (167). This commercialization of religion is exactly what Gilead represents, they even control what types of prayers people can make! Control is the reason I drew Offred is praying, even though she is not religious. Along those same lines, a halo floats above Offred head but half of it is broken off. The halo represents religion and its connection to the government. The right side of the halo (Gilead side) is still intact and shining showing how religion and state are in sync. The idea of control is why I decided to include the eye on the side of the machine, showing how the Eyes keep this control in check, always watching, even during sacred moment like prayer.

Memory is another integral part of The Handmaid’s Tale. This is why I chose to draw the old lingerie store that Offred remembers on the left side of her. Offred’s memory of the before times gets worse and worse throughout the book. Most of her memories are vivid in the beginning, she even can selectively think about the before times in her free time. “But the night is my time out. Where should I go? Somewhere good. Moira, sitting on the edge of my bed, legs crossed, ankle on knee, in her purple overalls, one dangly earring, the gold fingernail she wore to be eccentric, a cigarette between her stubby yellow-ended fingers.” (37). However towards the end of the book she talks about being erased as time passes, “Time has not stood still. It has washed over me, washed me away, as if I’m nothing more than a woman of sand, left by a careless child too near the water. I have been obliterated for her. I am only a shadow now…” (228). I portrayed this memory loss and the passing of time by drawing the world around Offred falling apart and crumbling down, giving her less and less of a foundation to stand on and stay strong with.

Isolation and individuality play a big role in the portrayal of Offred. Her description of how she prays shows this, “I pray where I am, sitting by the window, looking out through the curtain at the empty garden. I don’t even close my eyes. Out there or inside my head, it’s an equal darkness. Or light.” (194) I represented this quote by drawing Offred in the middle of everything, the only thing colored in, praying. Her individuality shows throughout the book but especially when she prays, where she only sits with her thoughts. In my drawing, she is also a lot smaller than all of the other buildings to show how individual her character is in the book. Without the three themes I highlighted in my piece the world of Gilead would not have come to life like it did in The Handmaid’s Tale.

GNARLS BARKLEY- WHOS GONNA SAVE MY SOUL

Listening to this song reminded me of how Offred thinks about Moira and her blind faith that she is alive. Who’s Gonna Save My Soul, was originally written as an expression of Gnarls Barkley’s reaction to James Brown dying months after he invited them to perform with him. CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse (the band’s two members) had put so much hope in James Brown that they were distraught and lost after he died. Offred and the other handmaids used Moira as an object of their fantasy and wonder to keep them going. On page 133, Offred explains, “Nevertheless Moira was our fantasy. We hugged her to us, she was with us in secret, a giggle;” Offred and her fellow handmaids blindly putting their hope into Moira makes me fear what will happen if she is revealed to have died. The line “I may be just a little selfish, All I have is the memory, Yet I never start to wonder, Was it possible you were hurting worse than me, Still my hunger turns to greed, ‘Cause what about what I need, An’ oh who’s gonna save my soul now.” reveals the song’s narrator using this person to fill their void of hope, no matter what situation they might be in. Offred describes this feeling too by saying that she and the handmaids were just starting to feel comfortable with no hope and nowhere to go but latching on to Moira’s story filled that emptiness.

WISH YOU WERE HERE - LEE FIELDS & THE EXPRESSIONS

When listening to Wish You Were Here, I immediately found a correlation between the emotions shown in The Handmaid’s Tale and this song. Lee Fields sings this song to convey a feeling of longing for someone who is no longer with him, especially playing on the theme of not taking something for granted. Offred’s storytelling relates to this heavily. An obvious connection between the two is the chorus and title of the song, Wish You Were Here. Offred frequently dreams about Luke, the before times, and when they were happy together and raising a child and wishing he was with her and holding her again. This goes so far for her to imagine Luke and her daughter as if they were with her. “From time to time I can see their faces, against the dark, flickering like the images of saints, in old foreign cathedrals, in the light of drafty candles…I can conjure them but they are mirages only, they don’t last.” (103-104). This feeling of deep longing and emptiness is also explained through the lyrics, “Miss you again, over again, Love will not die, Walkin’ the road, I see you at night, I know you’re right by my side.” These lyrics describe the exact feeling I think Offred is portraying through the quote I picked, missing someone so much everything you see reminds you of them and holding them with you in your heart.

RETTE MICH - NENA

The song Rette Mich by Nena is about the loneliness of being alone at night and the longing you have for someone to come “save you.” The song title itself translates to “Save Me.” On page 96, Offred is bored in her room and longs for the before times. “I want Luke here so badly. I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not;” Offred’s longing for Luke increases when she is lonely and bored. Similar to this, Nena sings, “Es wird Nacht, Und die Einsamkeit erwacht, Ruf mich an, komm her, sei bei mir, Rette mich.” This all roughly translates to “Night is coming, And loneliness awakens, Call me, Come here be with me, Save me.” This illustrates how Offred is feeling at the moment, even describing her need for Luke to hold her and comfort her.

IT’S A MAN’S WORLD - JAMES BROWN

It’s a Man’s World by James Brown is filled with themes and lines about men being the main providers for a family. There are also many mentions of women being important and essential to the family, however their importance seems to be only to support the man in his endeavors. This idea is reciprocated in The Handmaid’s Tale by the structure of Gilead, a male-dominated society that is religion based, specifically enforcing the idea that a woman’s only role is to bear children and help in the kitchen (be a “traditional wife”). One person who personifies this idea of women only being there to support men is Serena Joy. On page 45, referring to her, it says, “Her speeches were about the sanctity of the home, about the how women should stay home.” Similar to this James Brown sings, “You know that man makes money, to buy from other men, This is a man’s world, But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing, not one little thing, without a woman or a girl.” His lyrics explain a similar thing to Serena Joy’s speeches, women should stay home and men should essentially rule society.

BEDS ARE BURNING - MIDNIGHT OIL

This song, Beds Are Burning, by Midnight Oil is about the indigenous Australian people and liberating them from being treated as if they were worse. This song connects directly to The Handmaid’s Tale because of the oppression women are facing in Gilead. The chorus of the song is “How can we dance while the beds are burning, How can we sleep while the world is turning.” I imagine this is exactly how Offred feels about the wives and how they agree with the oppression of women. “The Commander’s Wife looks down at the baby as if it’s a bouquet of flowers: something she’s won, a tribute.” (126). This quote describes how Offred perceives the Wives as perpetrators of the system of Gilead.