Suicide

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  • Created by: Sienna110
  • Created on: 11-05-20 11:31
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  • Suicide
    • The Handmaid's Tale
      • 'They've removed anything you could tie a rope to'
        • Offred encounters the measures put in place to prevent the Handmaids from being able to kill themselves
        • Came into force after the previous Offred committed suicide, knowing she faced a public execution for having an affair with The Commander
        • Highlights to Offred the significance of power they are under. They don't even have the own free choice to live or die
        • Not only have they 'removed' any physical disruptions, but they have removed the tiniest part of choice they had.
      • 'There are a number of things I could do. I could set fire to the house, for instance.'
        • Offred's suicidal thoughts provoke her to list methods of ways she could kill herself
        • List ways such as hanging herself, throwing herself out the window, cutting herself
        • The casual listing of such horrific instances of death show the lack of choices Offred has left. She does not fear any of these hence why she can talk about doing them so easily, as it is the only option she believes will release her from Gilead.
    • All My Sons
      • 'I'm going out on a mission in a few minutes. They'll probably report me missing'
        • Larry insinuating his own suicide in the note he wrote to Ann.
        • Expresses his anger in the rest of the note for his fathers actions
        • Breaking moment in the play. The audience finally find out that Larry is in fact dead, and it is Joe Keller's fault that he is.
      • [A shot is heard in the house]
        • Final scene of the play, Joe Keller takes his own life as a way of accepting some responsibility.
        • An act of repentence
        • Even though the phrasing of the stage direction is simple, it holds a powerful message of the ramifications that followed Joe due to his actions
        • Joe Keller's death is significant as Miller shows his contempt for the idea of 'The American Dream'. Joe's suicide shows the crippling end that the capitalist idea will always result in - no matter how hard Joe tried to provide for his family, It would always come at a cost.

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