The Handmaid's Tail

This book was a little hard for me to start. I was having a little trouble following the plot and keeping focus, but the more I read the more I was able to understand. I also found Margaret Atwood's writing style interesting.  She has very bold and strong statements. A small passage that I found interesting was: 

"But a chair, sunlight, flowers: these are not to be dismissed. I am alive, I live, I breathe, I put my hand out, unfolded, into the sunlight. Where I am is not a prison but a privilege, as Aunt Lydia said, who was in love with either/or."

This passage stuck out blatantly to me because of her use of very powerful verbs and strong visuals. I think this passage is great! I especially love when she says that "Where I am is not a prison but a privilege".  This statement has more of an impact because of the alliteration between prison and privilege. It is also a more powerful statement because those two words have completely different meanings, and very negative and positive connotations. 

In the beginning of this statement she states objects that people often take for granted. However the only object that doesn't really correlate to life is the chair. The other two (sunlight and flower) are both very related to survival on earth.  The sunlight is vital for the flower to grow, and for life to continue where a chair can just help someone when they need a break from life I guess.

I just love her use of vocabulary with words like love, privilege, prison, alive and live.  She creates nice visuals that provoke thought throughout the reading.