Art and Protest - The Handmaid's Talr

Through this trimester, we studied that many people use art to defend a point of view or denounce injustices but also to testify against repressive conditions they live in or they assisted. They use their creativity in giving rise to fictional characters, music or images in order to make the readers or the spectators react. Sometimes, what the artist produces is not explicit enough, people don’t see it as an activist work and don’t see the deep message behind it. But as soon as the work is explicit enough, people can start reacting with or against the artist and create a movement of contestation. In today’s society, the way words are employed is very important and has consequences.

Artists, as Margaret Atwood, achieved to show through the art of writing, the symbolistic power of language.

How art shows that language is a symbol of power ?

Introduction of THT

Introduction of the image by D. Thompson

Introduction of the article from Book Seller versus Best Seller written by John Macbeath Watkins

I. In a repressive society : a tool of oppression

It is known that in totalitarian regime such as Nazi germany or North Korea that language played and plays an important role in the leading of the population. The power remains to the highest people in the hierarchy. They have the control on everything happening and they rewrite the story as they want to. Knowing that no one can contradict them, they do whatever they want and people just follow them without asking any question. As we can see in this drawing made by D. Thompson, this official is blacking out words on a balloon speech. The choice of the red background shows that the balloon speech has been made in a context of violence. The balloon speech can be the population speaking facts. We can see that the officer has a club in his right hand and that he is blacking out the balloon speech with his left hand. It shows that, as i said earlier, people of power detains the ultimate right to rewrite the story and change people’s sayings. They are uncontestable because they can put in prison or molest those who are not agree with what they say or the situation.

Same in this excerpt from chapter 13 from THT in which the future Handmaids are assisting to a session of testifying and one of her, Janine, confesses that she had been raped when she was younger and suddenly the Aunt, so their supervisor appeals everyone against her confession. She repeats multiple times “It’s her fault” and the other girls follow her. They all contest Janine’s story and put the blame on her. At this point, it is said in the text line … that the following week she approved that it was her fault. Here again, people like the Aunt who maintains power keep rewrite story to convince them of another

Despite all the speeches in order to brainwash the population, art is also used to lead the people who are more sceptical. Government uses propaganda, paintings, nationalist songs

II. To resist to the society : a tool of freedom

Just as well there are people who fight against this type of oppression. They can fight in different ways but very limited ones

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