Handmaids Tale and Half Blood Blues

Lamont Oscar

Mr. Himsl

ENG 4U1

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Unjust Treatment

Everybody wants to be treated fairly and equally. In both Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Esi Edugyan’s Half-Blood Blues, the characters want that kind of treatment.  The characters show that injustice causes one to create conflict with others in their environment. Due to mistreatment, they let out their feelings by creating conflict with their loved ones. Additionally, acquaintances of the people being treated unjustly have issues with conflict as well. Overall, loved ones deal with a lot of issues created by others.

Friends, family, and close ones are involved in one way or another in conflict because of injustice. Unjust treatment allows them to discover how people that they have faith in are not as great as they are seen to be. In Handmaid’s Tale, Offred speaks to her best friend/ role model named Moira after finding her working at Jezebel’s, and thinks to herself, “She is frightening me now, because what I hear in her voice is indifference, a lack of volition” (Atwood, 288). In Half-Blood Blues, Sid says to his old group member Chip, “You murdered me. You flew me out here and you murdered me” (Edugyan, 60) after seeing what Chip had to say about him in the video tribute to Hieronymus Falk. Offred is best friends with Moira, but also sees her as her role model because of how strong willed and how determined she is to whatever she is doing. Due to the unjust treatment from the society, Moira is forced to change her ways and conform to the society, which proves to Offred that she is not as strong as Offred thinks she is. Offred questioning Moira’s strength shows conflict between the two friends because Offred is wondering what kind of a friend she is if she does not embrace the same morals she did before. In Sid’s case, Chip makes some cruel comments about him in the video shown at the ceremony. Those comments were in the video because the director Kurt Caspars edited them in the video without the knowledge of Chip. Caspars unfairness towards Chip creates conflict between Sid and Chip, two friends that were very close in the past. In both examples, mistreatment from someone within both societies create conflict between close friends. Additionally, injustice leads to mental accusations between people in relationships. For instance, after Offred loses her job at the library, she says to herself, “…already he’s starting to patronize me” (Atwood, 207). In the other novel, Sid sees Heiro give Delilah a cat, then contemplates with himself, “Hell. I ain’t able to figure it, what it (is) between those two. He so young” (Edugyan, 125). The society began by forcing all woman to stop working, including Offred. Her lack of choice and freedom disturbs her state of mind and causes her to become more paranoid. Luke’s constant reminder to her that he will carry the family causes her to mentally conflict if things are changing in her family. Those thoughts cause conflict within her caused by her husband, but started by the society. If Gilead did not stop all women from working, then those thoughts of conflict would not be there. In Half-Blood Blues, Sid’s thoughts arise from the lack of attention he receives from his lover, Delilah. This creates jealousy within him and causes different conflicts between the couple on other occasions, such as accusing her of not being loyal to her. For both Sid and Offred, accusations arise because of how they are treated in the past. Furthermore, the society’s treatment influences close ones to conflict with one another. When Serena Joy discovers what Offred has been doing with the commander, she asks her in distaste, “How could you be so vulgar?” (Atwood, 331) Heiro also argues with Sid about going out past curfew, and Sid replies, “This ain’t no kind of hour, kid. You ain’t yourself” (Edugyan, 7). The society’s treatment towards Offred causes her to disobey the rules by sneaking around with the Commander. If the society did not treat her so badly, there would be no need for her to be sneaking around, and to have any conflict with the Commander’s wife. For Heiro, the society’s curfew prevents Heiro from getting what he wants. The curfew causes Heiro to argue with Sid because he is trying to look out for his friend and tries to prevent him from going outside where he can get arrested. Both society’s strict rules cause both characters to do something they are not supposed to, and create conflict with relatively close people in the process.