#6- Handmaid's Tale

"But on one bag there's blood, which has seeped through the white cloth, where the mouth must have been. It makes another mouth, a small red one, like the mouths painted with thick brushes by kindergarten children. A child's idea of a smile. This smile of blood is what fixes the attention, finally. These are not snowmen after all" (32).

Children are used to symbolize innocence. Frequently, the motives behind their actions will not be perceived in the same way by another audience. Therefore, Atwood's phrase "a child's idea of a smile" suggests that the smile may be a mark that to one party is a smile but to another is not. To true believers of the society, the hangings are necessary and good. The believers even make sure that everyone can see the deaths by leaving the bodies on the Wall for a while. However, to non-believers such as Offred, the hangings are evil. This shows how actions can be perceived differently by contrasting people. In the preceding paragraph, Offred had said that these men looked like melting snowmen who were missing their eyes and carrot noses. However, this would mean that the men had never lived. The blood makes it clear that these men were alive at one time and that they are not mere decorations hanging on a wall.

Work Cited:
Photo Credit:
"Prologue." Weblog post.  The Diary of Truth.  April 2010. Blogger.com. 30 Aug. 2010 <http://thedarksilhouette.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html>.