Recognition And Rejection Of Victimization In Some Novels Of Margaret Atwood:

Sahar Amal Kamal Soliman

Atwood’s protagonists suffer from varying forms of victimization andmust overcome it. In these novels, women are stripped of their identities,their inability to feel, their inability to connect with the others. They are also forbidden from reading, writing, and using the language. All these points are discussed in the following chapters. They are victimized by men at the beginning but at the end of each chapter they reject thevictimization process and have power.The thesis explores how recognition and rejection of victimization infeminist issues are reflected through the female protagonists of the threenovels, The Edible Woman, Surfacing, and The Handmaid’s Tale. Thefemale characters may be oppressed, but they are not portrayed aspowerless victims. They are often exposed to abundant suffering.Atwood has stated that these characters suffer because they imitate theexperiences of women in reality.In order to understand Atwood’s female characters, it is necessary toexamine certain ideas that can be seen in Atwood’s works, specificallyher thoughts on feminism, victimization and survival. Her works havebeen thoroughly studied and examined. Hélèn Cixous is a French feministwho proposes an imaginary utopia which is free of sex roles, otherness,and the law of the father. She made a distinction between good and badpower which can be applied to The Edible Woman, Surfacing, and TheHandmaid’s Tale.Feminist critics such as Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, and HélènCixous will be adopted to the study. They are chosen to achieve a fullcomprehension of the thematic and artistic value of the novels and howfar they succeed in reflecting Margaret Atwood’s views about recognitionand rejection of victimization.