Sunday, September 18, 2016
Handmaids Tale Comparison
Picture: http://www.wingyounghuie.com/p939060484/h19c1e353#h19c1e353
Author: Wing Young Huie
Place of Publication: 3730 Chicago Ave S, Studio B
Date of Publication: 1982
1.) Upon first examination of this photograph the viewer would see a group of people, of mixed genders and ethnicity, sitting on the sidewalk with multiple dogs. The expressions on the faces of these people are mixed. Some appear to be smiling, like the ones looking at the dogs, while others seem sad or are simply staring out into space. The clothes that these individuals are wearing seem to be tattered and well worn. There is also another group of people standing in the background facing the opposite direction. If we look at the bigger picture within the photo it would seem to show how these people are ignored by the rest of society. They are in their own group while there seems to be no one else near them except the dogs. This could show how they have been forgotten.
2.) Both Wing Huie and Margaret Atwood use structure to show the isolate the "others" group. In Handmaids Tale Atwood varies her structure at night portions of the text when Offred is alone. In this picture Huie captures this group of people together but separated from everyone else to show the isolation. However there is a contrast in the color approach to the two texts. Huie uses a black and white image to show the "others", possibly adding to the sense of being alone. Atwood, on the other hand, uses bright imagery and detail to describe the surroundings. This is likely because the setting is unknown to the reader, as it is in a dystopia, and has to be described in order to make sense.
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I agree with you, and I think Wing Young Huie is showing the differences in different types of people. One thing that stood out to me about the image you chose was how the man in the white shirt is looking at the people on the other side of the bench and sitting on the street. The fact that the man in the white shirt is turned around shows the contrast in the point of views of different social classes. Atwood and Huie both capture isolationism by creating characters who are "on the outside." I think the black and white of Huie's image could compare to the Night and the Day sections of Atwood's novel. The people all in black could represent a minority group who rely on each other and think of themselves as a family; the people in white could show the upper class who are alone because they do not rely on anyone. This is like Offred thinking about her old life and her family in the Night sections and Offred being isolated in the Red Center in the Day sections.
ReplyDeleteWhile I appreciate your examination of othering in #3, the big picture/little picture analysis is lacking- consider surface-level and also larger implications.
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