The smell is of our own flesh, an organic smell, sweat and a tinge of iron, from the blood on the sheet, and another smell, more animal, that's coming, it must be, from Janine: a smell of dens, of inhabited caves, the smell of the plaid blanket on the bed when the cat gave birth on it, once, before she was spayed. Smell of Matrix (123).
Matrix is an interesting word choice for Atwood to use in this particular context. As the New Oxford American Dictionary states, the term "matrix" can be "an environment or material in which something develops; a surrounding medium or structure" which would no doubt be the womb. It is interesting that alternating definitions include "a mass of fine-grained rock in which gems, crystals, or fossils are embedded," as well as (in Biology) "the substance between cells or in which structures are embedded." The first of these two allude to the fact that the womb is carrying precious elements, while the second takes a more scientific approach to the situation. Regardless, the term "matrix" used above could indefinitely refer to any of these definitions. In their current situation, Handmaids would easily believe the baby in their womb was a rare gem.
Stevenson, Angus. New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, August 2010
Nice discussion -- I like how you don't just present a definition -- you also present why it's important to consider those various definitions - check the format for citations
ReplyDeleteA much more direct interpretation from the origins of the word (middle English/Latin). Miriam Webster dictionary (online version): "In ancient Rome, a matrix was a female animal kept for breeding"
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