The Handmaid's Tale: Unique (Application)

Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale. pages 100-200

"Women can't add," he said jokingly.When I asked him what he meant, he said,"For them, one and one and one and one don't make four." "What do they make?" I said, expecting five or three. "Just one and one and one and one," he said. (Atwood 171)

The Commander is the character that states the quote above, while talking to with Offred. The quote is significant because it shows what the characters' beliefs are, regarding relationships. It shows that the Commander believes women, unlike men, find each man unique in such a way, that they cannot substitute them for another.

This quote was chosen because this same concept of uniqueness can be applied to "The Beacons" poem by Charles Baudelaire. In the poem, every artist is described in a very divergent way, and they are each depicted as separate units. The way this is done is through the use of various imagery and metaphors. For example, one artist's style of painting, Rembrandt's, is described in a very somber way. He is depicted in such a way, through phrases such as a "sad hospital full of murmurs." This imagery is drastically different from the imagery that is used to describe the other artists, which is why it makes the reader perceive Rembrandt's style as highly unique.

Not only are the artists described in a drastically different way literally, but they are also portrayed as different units visually. That is because in the poem, every paragraph pertains to a specific artist, and the description of their style. And two artists are never described within the same paragraph, because the author, Baudelaire, wants to create a sense of detachment, visually, through the separation of one artist per paragraph.