The narrative becomes key eyewitness testimony in the suffering of others.

Memories of a more personal nature, such as of Offred's ex-husband and child, also permeate the present and affect identity construction. Although neither Morrison nor Atwood create novels of nostalgia, memory and nostalgia do go hand-in-hand. "Nostalgia," notes Greene, "is a powerful impulse that is by no means gender specific," (295). Nostalgia provides the emotionally uplifting links between past and present and can be used to create possible futures. The feminist elements in both Beloved and The Handmaid's Tale do present a more pessimistic picture of female nostalgia than male. After all, patriarchal social, political, and economic institutions are the root causes of trauma in both novels. Slavery is a theme in common to both Beloved and The Handmaid's Tale. The institution of slavery is directly linked to female sexual, psychological, and physical subjugation. Rape and political oppression are...
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