India Humphreys

Compare the ways in which Blake and Atwood explore the theme of
conflict.
Within Atwoods The Handmaids Tale and Blakes Songs of Innocence and
Experience, the theme of conflict is portrayed subtly but significantly, giving
the reader insight into psychological, social and physical issues central to the
texts. This essay seeks to identify these issues in the extracts from The
Handmaids Tale and The Angel, The Schoolboy and London from Blakes
Songs; both authors using language to convey how conflict has impacted
upon society and culture.
A prominent parallel between both texts is the conflict within a hierarchy;
namely attitudes towards the aristocracy and proletariat. In Blakes London,
the described soldiers sigh Runs in blood down Palace walls where the use
of enjambement emphasises this poignant line. The use of the verb down
has connotations of descending, evoking strong and emotive imagery of the
consequences of bloodshed and war, creating pathos within the reader for the
cruel reality of a soldiers duty. It may be inferred that Palace is a metonymy
for the British monarchy; specifying that this bloodshed is indeed in the name
of the King and here, Blake satirises the monarchy as an authority figure:
instead of remembering the dead as a motif of respect, it is a glorification of
the soldier only as a sacrifice for his country. Moral conflict is thus displayed in
the relationship of authority figures with its subjects, for denotations of
hapless reveal that the soldier is simply unlucky; a juxtaposition of the pride
stereotypically found in soldiers, moreover suggesting that this soldiers life
was taken for granted and exploited, rather than valued, by his authorities.
Despite being subtle, Blake presents a degree of moral conflict between these
two classes: the treatment of the ruled by their rulers infers a corrupt,
fraudulent power, seeking profit rather than honour.
This moral conflict is furthermore seen in The Schoolboy. The narrator uses
the rhetorical question How can the bird that is born for joy / Sit in a cage and
sing? and in this, the child may be questioning his dictation by, presumably,
his school; similar to London where Blake questions the morals of the
aristocracy regarding their subjects. This extract, alternatively, may be
allegorical of a child being restrained creatively by an education system,
instead, subject to being watched and contained by cage-like schooling and
possessive authorities. Through comparing children to birds, imagery of which
infers freedom and liberty, Blake emphasises the need to maintain the
innocence of children rather than enforce indoctrination through education.
Similarly, within The Handmaids Tale, the Red Centre in which Offred and
other Handmaids are trained in their reproductive duty, is a symbol for the
removal of independent thought, replaced with the religious conventions of the
Gileadean regime. Both authors, therefore, display the conflict between
enforced conventions and personal liberty: both the schoolboy and Offred
strive to retain individualism in either memories of freedom, despite their
superiors desiring total conformity to educational principles.
The superiors of the Gileadean regime of whom Offred strives to dissent
against are omnipresent throughout the text: their lack of title, instead only

India Humphreys
their ominous black cars, make their presence more foreboding and reflect the
instability of Atwoods society. Due to this unidentifiable authority, Atwood also
presents conflict between the lower authorities: the Aunts and Commanders.
Within the extract of Jezebels, the Commander is accused of showing me
off, to them where the preposition to connotes that Offred has become a true
possession of the Commander; his to display and reveal, but further
symbolising that before this scene, Offred has never belonged to him: the
antonyms of to being from. It subtly infers that despite the Commanders
superior status as a male, Offred is the possession of the Commanders wife
given Offreds status as Serenas womb. Conflict moreover, is seen in the
roles of women: regardless of the patriarchy that Atwoods society proclaims,
the role of the Wives is equally significant as their husbands. Similarly, within
Jezebels, Offred meets an Aunt, too having fled from the Regime, but
satirically uses the declarative No nonsense here where the elliptical syntax
creates a humorous effect, adding to the sense of liberation Offred feels both
physically and mentally. The use of ellipsis also creates a tone penetrated with
false fear: even though in Jezebels, both women are dissenting, the Aunt and
her cattleprod still maintain authority; the fact that the Aunt is guarding the
washrooms is a motif of her retained influence over past Handmaids and
loose women. Furthermore, Gilead itself is seen as conflicting: even though it
proclaims patriarchy and the superiority of man, the dominance of its female
subjects questions the true leadership of such a Regime and its intensity.
This conflict is similarly seen in Blakes The Angel. The use of sibilance in the
third stanza in tearsfearsthousand shields and spears creates a bitter
register; the AABB rhyme scheme establishes a contrast between the first two
lines, perhaps mirroring the narrators change in mind-set due to her lost
lover. The semantic field of war conceivably suggests the effect of her lost
love but significantly, antithesis with the description of the angel being mild.
Conflict is therefore seen in the role of man and woman: against convention,
the female role seeks to intimidate the male with her shields and spears
rather than conform to his demands and in this, Blake (as a Romantic poet)
may be inspiring and dreaming of the days of female liberation rather than the
oppression of Eighteenth Century society. This draws parallels to Atwood in
how she presents the society in which women unconventionally have an
important stature in controlling fertility and procreation.