The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood Essay Example
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood Essay Example

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (750 words)
  • Published: November 29, 2021
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Margaret Atwood is a sensitive, lyrical, and a poetic writer. However, she expresses a dark visionary aspect when examining life in an epic form, worried about where the path that the society travels will lead the species. Just like the 2003’s Oryx and Cake, The Year of the Flood wanders around, not joined together, until in the last third. Upon reading the work of Atwood, it is evident and very true to conclude that God’s race belong to him, and the chosen few will always rip the benefits of their tolerance to difficulties of life, that is, after others are wiped by the flood of immorality. Secondly, one must identify the initial effects or influences of technology, in which the people in the ghettos embrace without prior knowledge of the consequences the technology might bring forth. Finally, sexual o

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r moral uprightness is the only remedy to escape the effects of the ‘waterless-flood,’ which does not differentiate people by age, gender, spirituality, or the social status.

As stated earlier, one of the effects of ghettos or plebs is the apocalypse as well as the decay of morals brought about by technology. Toby, for example, is forced to seek refuge with a naturalist cult, with Christians who believe that God controls all the living things while man continue to destroy life through technology (Atwood P.35). At first, the twelve-year old Toby is brought up by her father and mother, before the mother dies when she attains an age fit to be in college. Upon her father’s death, she gets employed as a Secret-Burger. She, however, turns into a Gardener after an escape from the brutal Blanco who enslave

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all the girls working for him sexually. The Gardeners were Christians, among them, Zeb, Amanda, and Bernice (Nytimes.Com, N.p).

On the other hand, Ren remains stuck in what is referred to as the Sticky Zone, which is at the upscale Strip Skins as well as Trails. The area was marked with all sorts of sexual immorality under the umbrella of the increasing technology. The club had solar energy panels that provided electric power that refrigerated food. Ren, therefore, spent most of her time eating well while listening to natural sounds and exercising (Atwood P.66). She considered that very few people had died out of ‘waterless-flood’ and her salvation seemed unlikely, although her childhood friend, Amanda Payne, had survived the salvation (Atwood p.67). In essence, Ren worked at a bizarre sex spa, where women were outfitted to resemble birds and lizards. This meant that both men and women roamed around while fantasying themselves.

As a turn of events, Ren and Toby met as Gardeners when Ren reintegrated her old life, although with a lot of difficulties. Ren met Jimmy and fell in love with him, while Blanco still attempted to attack Toby. Break-ups and make-ups were evident across the society. Some, like Lucerne re-married, Ren quitted from Jimmy and re-united with Amanda through Toby, and Toby secures Blanco. This was the time that the “waterless-flood” wiped most of the population (Nytimes.Com, N.p). At that time of the year, Toby was still safe at the spa while Ren was also alone at the sticky zone. Only some few friends remained, including Amanda. They, therefore, looked food and safety together, and the main characters find themselves together. Toby moved with

Blanco, while Ren with Jimmy, and sort to rebuild the human race as per the intention of God.

Conclusion

Atwood’s work summarizes the effects of the life in the ghettos in a two way dimensions. One, there are those majority who are not despaired by the flood, whenever it attacks. It does not depend on the social status or age, but how an individual can resist pleasures that come along with the search for joy or satisfaction. The main characters, especially Toby and Ren, are good examples of people in the society who shows their strictness in observing their moral rights, amidst a lot of struggles and sufferings. Contrary, most of the characters, including their mothers, brothers, sisters, as well as the God’s people, the Gardeners, are stuck in the middle of insanity. When the flood hits, they are all wiped away, while the remaining few realizes the need for unity and God.

Work cited

  • Atwood, Margaret. The Year of the Flood. Toronto: The Vintage Canada, 1985 Print.
  • Nytimes.Com . "Book Review - 'The Year Of The Flood,' By Margaret Atwood - Review - Nytimes.web". N.p., 2016. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.

 

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