Sinbad the Sailor - Frankenstein IV

"The information I had obtained was of a nature rather to direct my endeavours so soon as I should point them towards the object of my search, than to exhibit that object already accomplished. I was like the Arabian who had been buried with the dead and found a passage to life, aided only by one glimmering and seemingly ineffectual light" (31).

"The Arabian who had been buried with the dead" is a reference to the Fourth voyage of Sinbad the Sailor in the Middle Eatern collection of folk tales The One Thousand and One Nights. On his fourth voyage, Sinbad finds himself on an island inhabited by a civilization of people whose tradition it is to bury the remaining spouse alive with the deceased partner. When Sinbad's wife falls ill and dies, Sinbad is lowered into the tomb along with her. Once in the tomb, Sinbad witnesses death and decay in all forms until he hears a stirring that he follows, only to find a way out of the tomb, to find the passage of life.

Shelley probably chooses the story of Sinbad because it is so similar to Frankenstein's voyages in the tomb, as he watches bodies decaying in his search for the spark of life. And similar to Sinbad, Frankenstein feels he has found a way out when he discovers that one secret that has been ever hidden from man.

http://www.wollamshram.ca/1001/Dixon/dixon01_12.htm

Mutability - Frankenstein III

"We rest; a dream has power to poison sleep.
We rise; one wand'ring thought pollutes the day.
We feel, conceive, or reason; laugh or weep,
Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away;
It is the same: for, be it joy or sorrow,
The path of its departure still is free.
Man's yesterday may ne'er be like his morrow;
Nought may endure but mutability!" (67).

Shelley interjects the last two stanzas of the poem Mutability by Percy Bysshe Shelley, the man Mary eloped with when she was almost seventeen. The poem seems to describe Victor's situation with perfect accuracy; he had dreams of his monster that made sleep terrifying; he would be perfectly happy until a sudden thought made him remember his creation; yet in the end, it matters not what Frankenstein feels, for he loses almost everything. All that remains is the ability to change.

Clerval - Frankenstein II

"Clerval! beloved friend! Even now it delights me to record your words, and to dwell on the praiseof which you are so eminently deserving. He was a being formed in the 'very poetry of nature'" (113).

When Shelley uses the "very poetry of nature" to describe Clerval, she is making an allusion to The Story of Rimini by Leigh Hunt. In the story, those words are used to describe the prince Paola who takes the place of his brother to wed Francesca. When Francesca is told that her betrothed will not be there to marry her, she is rather upset, but when Paola arrives and realizes her discomfort, he soon mends the scene. As Clerval is formed in the "very nature of poetry," he similarly realizes discomfort or unhappiness and works to mend it.

http://books.google.com/books?id=0xhcAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR8&lpg=PR8&dq=the+story+of+rimini+summary&source=bl&ots=SMuvlWrUKq&sig=SJNMr6RKMWjy96mYfuaj8YWVFF0&hl=en&ei=GHK4TpndEcjA2gWWqujMDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFwQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=Very%20poetry%20of%20nature&f=false

The Worth of Beauty - Frankenstein I

"They consulted their village priest, and the result was that Elizabeth Lavenza became the inmate of my parents' house -- my more than sister -- the beautiful and adored companion of all my occupations and my pleasures" (17).

Elizabeth's character is likely used by Shelley as a contrast to the monstrosity of Victor’s creation, used to explore the human regard for appearance through the way the two are treated. Elizabeth’s character is never truly discussed in terms other than her appearance; she appears beautiful, so therefore she must be good. The monster is generally assumed to be a similar case: he is ugly, therefore he is evil, while in reality the monster is of true and noble heart.

While exploring the morality of basing goodness on appearance, Shelley fails to give a character in her novel the opposite issues of the monster: a beautiful appearance with an evil heart. This may be because Shelley is never truly driving at this issue, she may merely be trying to get across that parenting matters; if one gets treated well, they will usually behave well. For instance, a large part of the reason Elizabeth ends up how she does is because of the people that take her in as a child. Victor’s monster, on the other hand, has at least as much, if not more, brain potential to become good and kind and wise, yet his appearance hinders all good relations to him. In this way, Shelley may be speaking out against institutions like insane asylums (also called lunatic asylums), which are now known for being places of social alienation. These institutions were generally thought of as being good, until depiction in popular culture, like Francisco de Goya's The Madhouse (painted between 1812 and 1814), told otherwise. Shelley's discussion of the morality of judging on appearances alone may have been influenced by this painting.

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/g/goya/7/711goya.html

Oranges and Lemons - 1984 X

"'Did you ever happen to hear an old rhyme that begins Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clements?' Again O'Brien nodded. With a sort of grave courtesy he completed the stanza:
'Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clements,
You owe me three farthings, say the bells of St. Martin's,
When will you pay me? say the bells of Old Bailey,
When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch'"(178).

The rhyme that Winston searches for all throughout the first half of the book is actually an old traditional song.... Perhaps the rhyme was chosen by Orwell because of its sinister connotations: it is believed that the rhyme was highly influenced by the public executions that took place at Newgate prison, which was located right beside Old Bailey, England's most important court. The bells of Old Bailey would ring before an execution, therefore asking the condemned criminals "When will you pay me?"

Ironic in many ways, Orwell chooses O'Brien to finally reveal the last line of the rhyme. In a prime example of doublethink, O'Brien, a full fledged member of the Party and the Thought Police, is the one who knows the entire rhyme, although he should have no knowledge of such a thing ever having existed. It seems Orwell uses this rhyme to symbolize how near Winston is to betrayal. Early in the novel Winston learns the first two lines from the owner of the junk shop, who is really a member of the thought police surveying Winston along with the rest. Then when Winston meets Julia he learns the third line and further loses himself to the thought police by being ever present in the room in the junk shop, that is complete with a hidden telescreen. Then when Winston finally meets his final "betrayer," O'Brien, the man to get the confession out of Winston as well as to fully earn his trust, he learns the last line.

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/oranges_and_lemons.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/LONold.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/LONnewgate.htm

Being Watched through Technology - 1984 IX

"The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely" (2).

The television was relatively new when Orwell was writing 1984; the first successful electronic television was demonstrated in 1927, but owning televisions in a home did not really start until the 40's, with wide scale broadcasting only coming into being right around the time Orwell was writing this novel. Therefore, it is highly probable that Orwell, along with others, were very speculative of the television and all its abilities. The early rumors surrounding the television are most likely where Orwell drew his inspiration for idea of the telescreen, essentially a TV that can never be shut off and that acts as a window through which the room and people in it can be watched and listened to.

http://www.nyu.edu/classes/stephens/History%20of%20Television%20page.htm

Vacant Memories - 1984 VIII

"For some reason they were nicknamed memory holes. When one knew that any document was due for destruction, or even when one saw a scrap of waste paper lying about, it was an automatic action to lift the flap of the nearest memory hole and drop it in, whereupon it would be whirled away on a current of warm air to the enormous furnaces which were hidden somewhere in the recesses of the building" (37-38).

The memory holes not only serve as a reminder of just how much the Party controls history, but Orwell also uses them as a reminder of the Party's absolute control over the minds of Party members. Any scrap piece of a memory, any information that suddenly became out of date because Oceania switched alliances in the war must be thrown down the metaphoric memory hole. The memory holes filling the workplace are yet another reminder that nothing in Oceania is concrete, and that a Party member must always be ready and willing to throw out out-of-date information.

The Power of Control - 1984 VII

"'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past'" (34).

The past seems an unalterable thing; yet in most forms of history, such as oral history, or the histories found in books, such as the Bible which has been "re-translated" at least once by a king who could rewrite it without fearing any consequence, truth has ultimately been lost. Orwell realizes, though, that there is still the truth that comes into being when one believes completely that an event has occurred; therefore he is able to successfully use this idea as one of the founding principles of his Utopia he creates in 1984. If everyone believes that the event happened in reality, than no one can say that it did not happen. The Party realizes that although the past is generally thought of as a factual thing, it is really a story riddled with bias and falsities, a story controlled by those who hold power over the present; thus, the controller of the present controls the past. More importantly, though, is how the Party uses this power; they use their ability to change the past in order to adjust events so that the Party is continuously correct. Although at first this seems like more than a slight waste of time, a perfect rule would not be possible without it. Because the Party is continuously correct, the people have no reason for discontent, which completely removes an extremely common reason for overthrow. In that way, the Party's control of the present gives them the control of the future.

Secret Sighs - 1984 VI

"A deep and as it were secret sigh went through the Department. A mighty deed, which could never be mentioned, had been achieved. It was now impossible for any human being to prove by documentary evidence that the war with Eurasia had ever happened" (183).

When the war against Eurasia suddenly becomes a war against Eastasia, an enormous forgery has to be committed. But in accordance with the wondrous properties of doublethink, once the forgery is committed no forgery has been committed. Orwell uses the event to show just how well the Party's system is developed: even the workers whose job it is to forge events into being cannot remember that they had done such a thing.

Stolen Hearts - 1984 V

"'It was only an 'opeless fancy
It passed like an Ipril dye
But a look an' a word an' the dreams they stirred
They 'ave stolen my 'eart awye'" (218).

The song written by the Party for the proles is ever reoccuring in Winston's story, as it tells his tale along with George Orwell. Orwell uses the song to describe Winston's hopeless fancy for the future to be like the past, and a desire to help make it turn out that way. But although he feels this fancy rather strongly, he never bothered to act on it until one day he gets a look from O'Brien during the Two Minutes Hate that cause dreams of joining the underground conspiracy group referred to as "the Brotherhood" in their supposed quest to overthrow the Party. Orwell put two meanings in the last line of the song. The first meaning is how Winston and others in his position would understand the song, if they realize that it is deeper than a simple song for the proles: the dreams and falsities that they wanted to believe as truth stole their hearts and, essentially, their souls. The second meaning of the last line is the view of one more sympathetic to Winston's cause: the "they" in the last line is referring to the Thought Police, and how they will steal your heart and soul once they know of the dreams in your heart. But as the purpose of the song was never outwardly broadcast as a warning, or a tale of a Party member gone astray, the proles take it to be a song of a lost love, and the Party members barely know of its existence.

Newtext - 1984 IV

"'It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words. Of course the great wastage is in the verbs and adjectives, but there are hundreds of nouns that can be got rid of as well'" (51).

In his creation of Newspeak, George Orwell seems to have partially prophesied the language of texting. Words like "Minitrue" (Ministry of Truth) or "duckspeak" (to quack like a duck), or even "stealed" (the new past tense of to steal) seem to have eerily foreshadowed the incorrect grammar and shortened words that have developed on their own today. Unlike texting lingo, though, Newspeak was created and made to become accepted into society in order to shrink the range of possible thoughts, rather than to shrink the time it takes to express any possible thought or emotion.

How the Top 'ats 'ave Gorn - 1984 III

"The old man brightened suddenly. 'Top 'ats!' he said. 'Funny you should mention 'em. The same thing came into my 'ead only yesterday. I donno why. I was jest thinking. I ain't seen a top 'at in years. Gorn right out, they 'ave'" (90).

Because Winston is obviously lacking in solid evidence to tell him that the past was better than his present, he felt the need to find someone who would remember the pre-revolutionary days enough to give him a rough sketch for him to form his view of then vs. now on. When considering how to do this, though, it is discovered that the reign of the Party is rather absolute: those who would have been able to tell him the differences have been "vaporized" by the Party; those living seem to not have the mental capacity or the care to have a grasp on the politics that existed in the past or the present. Orwell uses this encounter to reveal the characteristics of the proles, the people who are not involved with the Party and seem to have no grasp on the Party or its ideals. The proles simply think that it is the natural turn of things for popular trend to come and go, without ever realizing that their could be other reasons and motivations for things to happen the way they do. The proles are, in essence, unaware of the Party's existence. Once the truth of the situation is revealed, there seems to be nothing backing Winston's idea that hope lies in the proles; instead, it is as if the carpet has been pulled out from under Winston's hope.

An Object from the Past - 1984 II

"It was a heavy lump of glass, curved on one side, flat on the other, making almost a hemisphere. There was a peculiar softness, as of rainwater, in both the color and the texture of the glass. At the heart of it, magnified by the curved surface, there was a strange, pink, convoluted object that recalled a rose or a sea anemone" (95).

Orwell uses Winston's discovery of the thing with the "apparent uselessness" to show how the past begins to dawn on Winston: the past must have been better than the present (an idea as familiar to romantics as the idea that "the grass is always greener.." is to cows). But like the cows assumption that the grass on the other side of the fence is better, the assumption that the past is better than the present is developed from sight alone, from what is seen in the ancient paperweight. Orwell characterizes the paperweight in such a way that it becomes the symbol of Winston's hope for a better future.

Shattered Ideals - 1984 I

"Someone had picked up the glass paperweight from the table and smashed it to pieces on the hearthstone. The fragment of coral, a tiny crinkle of pink like a sugar rosebud from a cake, rolled across the mat. How small, thought Winston, how small it always was!" (223).

The paperweight was introduced as the symbol of Winston's hope almost the moment Winston had begun to develop that hope. Orwell continues to throw in brief mentions of the paperweight being present in the scene until the moment when it seems hope will grow into reality. But just as it seems the goal is about to be realized, the paperweight, along with Winston's dream, is smashed. Orwell then uses the metaphor of the coral being Winston's hope to reveal just how small the hope had been; yet in a desperate brain, such as Winston's, a little can appear to be a lot. Although the hope most likely should have appeared small to the audience, Orwell is telling the story through Winston's point of view, therefore blowing the hope out of proportion.

The Price of Prayer - HT X

"You pick the one you want, punch in the number, then punch in your own number so your account will be debited, and punch in the number of times you want the prayer repeated" (167).

Religion is traditionally a rather personal thing, with prayers being considered a direct way of communicating your wants and need to God. But in Atwood's utopia religion is a mandated way of life, with prayers no longer being said from the soul, but being said by a machine after the prayer is payed for. Although the entire book is centered around religion and the Bible, Atwood creates the religion in such a way that it is never focused on for any reason except understanding the political theology of the Eyes of God. Essentially, Atwood is removing all spirituality from Offred’s world. Atwood may do this to point out how organized or forced religion can actually cause people to turn away from spirituality, rather than become a firm believer; Atwood could also be addressing her concerns about religious fanaticism and the way a religion like that can ignore human rights.

The Five Prayers - HT IX

"There are five different prayers: for health, wealth, a death, a birth, a sin" (167).

Atwood's idea of ordering a prayer at Soul Scrolls was possibly inspired by Tibetan prayer flags, which are small flags purchased with prayers already written upon them. Even more interestingly, Tibetan prayer flags feature five colors, with each color representing a different element, which could, in turn, be related to the five prayers in Atwood's novel. For instance, yellow, which represents the earth and soil could become health; green, which represents vegetation and water could become wealth; red, which represents the sun and fire could become sin; and so forth. The flags are also said to release prayers when blown in the wind, with hardly any need of human intervention, similar to the machines praying with hardly any human intervention.

http://www.tibetanspirit.com/tibetan_prayer_flags.asp Copyright © 2001-2004.

Searching for What Was - HT VIII

"It is understood between us by now that it is never too late, but i go through the ritual politeness of asking. It makes me feel more in control, as if there is a choice, a decision that could be made one way or the other" (269).

In the Utopia Atwood creates in The Handmaid's Tale everyone seems to be in a constant search for safety, or normalcy, or a confidante, or someone to talk to. By starting the relationship between Offred and Nick, Atwood is perhaps trying to depict the fact that the futile search for love, albeit the physical kind, and the security that comes with that love will still be searched for despite the turmoil that may be present in the world.

Don't Let Down - HT VII

"Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" (52).

Evidently there is a widespread discontent, at least among handmaidens, concerning the new system. Atwood uses the Latin phrase "don't let the bastards grind you down" to voice the discontent of the handmaidens. But the phrase Offred finds in the cabinet is not a correct Latin phrase, nor even the more correct, but still mock-Latin, “illegitimi non carborundum;” Atwood may have used an incorrect, seemingly uneducated translation to show how quickly the impact of not being educated was taking hold of the handmaids.

And a similar un-education is taking place today: although it is a dog-Latin phrase, the saying has become well known because of usage in popular culture. For instance, one of Harvard College’s fight songs, Ten Thousand Men of Harvard, repeats “illegitimum non carborundum” three times in the first verse, and therefore its rough meaning came to be relatively well known. Thus, Atwood may have even been attempting to raise awareness of the low levels of education being received today.

http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hub/sounds/tenthou.shtml

Eve is Deceptive - HT VI

"And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved by childbearing" (221).

The Biblical story of Adam and Eve tells a tale of the woman, Eve, being deceived by Satan in the form of a serpent to eat the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge. And although Adam would like to think it was all Eve's fault, he was by no means forced to eat the fruit. Atwood uses this quote from 1 Timothy 2:14 out of context to point out just how biased the Bible can be, and how wrong its meaning can be made when taken out of context.

Fanatic Religions - HT V

"It was after the catastrophe, when they shot the president and machine-gunned the Congress and the army declared a state of emergency. They blamed it on the Islamic fanatics, at the time" (174).

The whole idea of a religious group taking control of the government seems a bit preposterous, whether they are the Eyes of God, or an Islamic group. But when truly considering the alibi Atwood creates, it no longer seems quite as far fetched. The history of fighting in the Middle East stretches back as far as history itself goes; always there has been conflict over who deserves what piece of land. Eventually the United Nations stepped in to attempt to bring some sort of peace over the area, but none was achieved. In fact, the religious fanatics, or just the public in general, usually end up hating the United States, or whatever country is attempting to "help" them, more than they had before they arrived. So when the government blames Islamic fanatics for what was happening, Atwood is really drawing on an idea that many would find a viable place to lay the blame of such an event.

http://www.mideastweb.org/timeline.htm

Creating an "it" - HT IV

"That is what you have to do before you kill, I thought. You have to create an it, where none was before" (192-193).

The entire philosophy of the Eyes of God relies on creating an "it." Atwood uses Offred's story to show how the handmaids have been made the "its" whose sole purpose in life is to repopulate the Republic of Gilead, and who can be gotten rid of extremely easily if they prove infertile. Atwood may also be speaking out about losing one’s personal identity and one’s human rights; all a person has is their own self and their right to choose. If one of these gets taken away, even the choice to die no longer exists (although it theoretically never does). Atwood is likely sending a message in her novel about the importance of human rights, and how hard life would become without them.

Remembering Consciouness - HT III

"Are they old enough to remember anything of the time before, playing basketball, in jeans and sneakers, riding their bicycles? Reading books, all by themselves?" (219)

The idea of any Utopian system of ruling is to try to make the subjects forget the past, because once the memories of the people are gone, only the present exists. In this quote, Atwood characterizes the past as a time of womens' liberation, with women doing things much the same as men. If the young wives remember those times, there is a chance of their daughters, and perhaps their sons, hearing of times past and becoming discontented enough to stage an overthrow to regain the rights of women to do such things as read.

The Composer of Self - HT II

"I wait. I compose myself. My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born" (66).

The demand made of the handmaids is one that is practically impossible to pull off. They have to change their entire way of being, until they become completely emotionless, as if they were made of a machine. In this quote, Atwood uses Offred's internal struggle to characterize the attempt that handmaids must all go through. What the Eyes of God do not realize in all this killing of emotion, is that no matter how hard one tries to push down and restrain it, at some point something will snap, and the results will be catastrophic.

Freedom From - HT I

"There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from" (24).

Before the days of the Eyes of God, freedom to reigned. Atwood is raising the question of whether "freedom from" is actually better than "freedom to," as the Eyes believe it to be. With "freedom to" a woman has the right to stand up for herself, to say no, to figure out a way to avoid that bad attention as well as the right to love. But with the "freedom from," women no longer have to worry about what will happen if they go out alone (although they never do under the new regime). Along with the "freedom from" the women have been forced to become emotional-less incubators, essentially getting raped once a month. In this quote, Atwood also throws in a slight hint that the men were a big part of the original problem, with their pursuit of women when it was not proper, and so the women gain a "freedom from" men; but in truth, the women end up having to sacrifice their bodies and minds for the job of bearing children for men they do not know or love.