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
Source that lets you know it possibly came up then?
ReplyDeleteSo why use it? Why use a "unclear" allusion? And why one that uses latin?
Original:
ReplyDelete"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. The phrase is said to have possibly originated during World War II, but no good evidence is around to back up that claim."