"Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" (52)
This quote, carved into Offred's room in the Commander's house, is Latin for "Don't let the bastards grind you down." Although the world in which Atwood has created has changed in an almost impossibly short amount of time, in less than a decade, one thing has stayed the same. Latin is a dead language; it is forever unchanging. Brought along for the ride, it is a piece that remains out of the old world; the way things used to be. And with the language comes the motto, used in both lifestyles to get people through their hard times. Although people have more freedom to before Gilead, they did not have as much freedom from, which brought forth many issues. For example, celebrities, such as Serena Joy, didn't have freedom from the press, from gossip and rumors. The phrase made Offred think about the previous Offred who'd hung herself, who'd let the bastards grind her down.
present tense; It feels like you have two interesting trains of thought here and still haven't quite connected them -- this idea of using Latin because it is unchanging -- and then this idea of freedom -- perhaps focus on just one of those? Why did Atwood use a Latin phrase? Why is it significant to choose a "dead" language?
ReplyDelete"Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" (52)
ReplyDeleteThis quote, carved into Offred's room in the Commander's house, is Latin for "Don't let the bastards grind you down." Although the world in which Atwood has created has changed in an almost impossibly short amount of time, in less than a decade, one thing has stayed the same. Latin is a dead language; it is forever unchanging. Brought along for the ride, it is a piece that remains out of the old world; the way things used to be. And with the language comes the motto, used in both lifestyles to get people through their hard times. Although people have more freedom to do things before Gilead, they do not have as much freedom to be exempt from things, which brings forth many issues. For example, celebrities, such as Serena Joy, do not have freedom from the press, gossip and rumors. The phrase makes Offred think about the previous Offred who has gone and hung herself, who let the bastards grind her down.
"Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" (52)
ReplyDeleteThis quote, carved into Offred's room in the Commander's house, is Latin for "Don't let the bastards grind you down." Although the world in which Atwood has created has changed in an almost impossibly short amount of time, in less than a decade, one thing has stayed the same. Latin is a dead language; it is forever unchanging. The significance of choosing something so unchanging is that through all the change around it, the meaning of the phrase will have no other translation. Brought along for the ride, it is a piece that remains out of the old world; the way things used to be. And with the language comes the motto, used in both lifestyles to get people through their hard times. Although people have more freedom to do things before Gilead, they do not have as much freedom to be exempt from things, which brings forth many issues. For example, celebrities, such as Serena Joy, do not have freedom from the press, gossip and rumors. The phrase makes Offred think about the previous Offred who has gone and hung herself, who let the bastards grind her down.