In both Atwood and Shelley’s narratives, there are resemblances in the methods used to end the narratives. Atwood ends her narrative in two ways: the handmaid, Of-Fred, leaving in a black van at night and also with fake historical notes set 150 years later. Shelley concludes her novel by tolerating the creature to run away on an ice block. Both authors also end on a sense of rebirth and biblical referencing.
In Atwood’s novel: the epigraph, opening chapter and the last sentence of the Handmaids narrative, there are biblical references. The inaugural epigraph is an extract of Jacob and Leah of Genesis 30:1-4 and the reference to “the angels” are both biblical references the first giving Gilead the motive and ability to perform its oppressive actions and the angles are usually fallen souls who have gone to heaven and work with god, although Gilead, in theory, state-rapes these women. The ending of The Handmaids Tale - "And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light.” connotes to lightness and darkness; this is ironic of biblical teaching as this theme is first seen in the bible in the first book of the old testament- genesis 1:1-4, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” the change from darkness to light is the same as the reference within The Handmaids Tale, possibly conveying an underlying idea of rebirth. This is the rebirth of her need and her position in society, but also could imply rebirth as in death and being reborn. The idea of separation is also prevalent within. God “separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” This could denote the separation of Of-Fred from the oppressive regime or contextually the separation from the norm with the 2nd wave feminism taking place at the time of the novel being published.
In Shelley’s Frankenstein, the idea of light and dark is also seen at the end. “The light of that conflagration will fade away; my ashes will be swept into the sea by the winds. My spirit will sleep in peace; or if it thinks, it will not surely think thus. Farewell. He sprung from the cabin-window, as he said this, upon the ice-raft which lay close to the vessel. He was soon borne away by the waves, and lost in darkness and distance.” The idea of being in a light and then fading away is a theme in the bible “John 3:19-21 - And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” This suggests that the creature’s actions were one of guilt and led him to darkness because he has come to terms with the traitorous sins in which he has committed. Furthermore Shelley’s epigraph, which originates from paradise lost has references to darkness as well “Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me Man, did I solicit thee, From darkness to promote me?" this proposes that he has come from clay and darkness and if interpreted with the ended, could be going back to darkness; dying or going to hell. The creature was never asked to be born, but was abandoned at ‘birth’ These lines were said by the Post-Lapsarian Adam to God before leaving Eden, in Paradise Lost. These lines when juxtaposed with the Prometheus myth in the context of Frankenstein’s story complete the theme of the novel. A further reference to light is the idea the Prometheus stole the fire (light) from the gods and gave it to man, in which he was eternally punished.
In Shelley’s gothic novel, the use of symbolism brings forcefully to the reader’s mind the parabolic nature of the tale. If we consider the novel’s sub-title, ‘the modern Prometheus’, we can see that Frankenstein’s tragic story is given still greater weight through the parallels that Shelley invokes with her mythological foundation. Prometheus, who created mankind, is punished by Zeus for stealing the fire of the gods and stopping a devastating flood. He is chained forever to a rock in the wilderness, his liver perpetually eaten out by a vulture. Likewise, rankenstein is destined forever to pursue his monster through the wilds of the earth, in which he does. However, Prometheus is eventually released by Hercules. Mary Shelley does not allow her creator to be released from his torture. Although Walton and his ship offer a way of escape, Frankenstein knows that if he does not continue pursuing the monster, he will become the pursued. Unlike the mythical titan, whose torture is physical, his ‘doppelganger’ faces continual psychological torment. Shelly does this to show that a journey of discovery that many scientists continue to take is dangerous and unreligious, and that they shall be punished for their work.
At the end of The Handmaid Tale, the author “shifts gears” so to say and assesses the story within the previous 350 pages as history. It was not to be expected that the historical context to be situated at the end. Professor Piexoto places the reader in a different setting where he goes into explanation of the tapes found in the army locker that were said to be of recordings during Republic of Gilead. By doing this, Piexoto somewhat authenticate Atwood’s story and causes the reader to believe it was non-fiction, instead of the speculative fiction we believe it to be. Piexoto’s notion to explain why the Republic of Gilead worked the way it did gives the tale somewhat of a reasoning. For example, when discussing polygamy, Piexoto correlates it with the Bible and how it occurred during the Old Testament. Such narrative choices are used to create a further sense of suspense at the same time as understanding as we still do not know definatly what happened to Offred but we know she either escaped or was captured.
In conclusion both authors manage to create mystery and suspense at the end of the novel and uses narrative to do so. The handmaids tale ends in a future time, while frankenstien ends about the same time it started, only the time of the narratives within changed. Furthermore both authors use first person narrative to make their story feel more personal and ‘touching’
thank you this was very helpful
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