On The Writing Of Memory In The Work Of Margaret Atwood

Memory is one of several of the most dominant features of the human spirit,and therefore of human existence.Aware of the importance of memory to humanity,Atwood’s six full-length novels,Surfacing,The Lady Oracle,The Handmaid’s Tale,Cat’s Eye,The Blind Assassin and Testimony,each show the importance of memory on three different levels:individual,social and historical.Memory is an innate ability of the individual.Our minds are filled with laughter and pain about the past,and Atwood’s heroines are mostly bound by internal wounds that are difficult to heal.Through the workings of the Gilead State,Atwood shows us how a newly formed nation can shape a communal memory,a collective memory that is the spiritual food and bond of the masses.In the tide of historical development,people are small and individual memories are often overwhelmed,but when they become testimonies,they play an indispensable role in exposing the truth,and the memories of Offred,Sister Lydia and the two young women become a powerful tool in overthrowing a totalitarian state.Atwood’s memory writing proceeds along the following path: from "What?",through "How?" to "Why?".--Through subtle narrative strategies such as unreliable narratives,layered narratives,gothic renderings,and dual temporal juxtapositions,Atwood writes about the multiple contents of memory such as individual trauma,collective consciousness construction,and historical testimonies,thus showing the gradual process of women’s inner examination,self-reflection on their growth,and pursuit of life consciousness.The deeper content is analysed and the multiple meanings are revealed,reflecting that the meaning of memory is not only to help us resist forgetting,but also to enable us to better understand the present.Through her fascinating oral art and presentation,Atwood provides a beacon of light to the dark corridors of unconscious memory that have yet to be explored.Through the life of her own body,she breaks the shackles of the rhetoric of male influenced female portraits,emphasising the irreplaceable nature of women’s writing in history and the unparalleled cultural connotations,using precise brushstrokes to make the dusty pearl of memory shine again.