The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - Book Discussion

Hello, welcome to the world record attempt for the amount of times I can say the words ‘Alex Thomas’ and ‘likewise’ in the same video, otherwise known as the latest in my series on Margaret Atwood's major works. Enjoy!
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
00:49 Plot Summary
07:02 Theme 1: Gender, Class and the narrator
09:24 Henry James' The Ambassadors and Buttons
10:29 Theme 2: Questioning the narrative
13:58 Summing up and concluding thoughts
Articles Referenced:
Hembrough, T., 2017. From an Obscured Gaze to a Seeing Eye? Iris as Victim, Villain, and Avenger in the Role of Writer-as-Assassin in Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin.
Ingersoll, E., 2003. Waiting for the end: closure in Margaret Atwood's" The blind assassin".
Parkin-Gounelas, R., 2004. " What isn't there" in Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin: The Psychoanalysis of Duplicity.
Reed, A., 2009. Disembodied Hands: Structural Duplicity in Atwood's The Blind Assassin.
Robinson, A., 2006. Alias Laura": Representations of the past in Margaret Atwood's" The Blind Assassin.
Staels, H., 2004. Atwood’s specular narrative: the blind assassin.
The Ambassadors Button Debate:
slate.com/news-and-politics/2...
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[@Story-sf2cl]

I think that the blind assassin constantly evolves. Initially, the rhetoric and setting is reminiscent of Laura’s character and experiences we later learn she did have. The beginning was also supposedly written by iris shortly after Laura’s death so it does begin as a sort of eulogy. Towards the middle there is dialogue that is more snarky, confident and reminiscent of Iris, it has transformed into a personal account. Maybe this is when iris and Alex began their affair or maybe iris doesn’t want her voice to completely fall off. Towards the end it interestingly turns to a voyueristic portrayal of Iris imaging alex imaging, what I assume is, her. I think that part of the novel was a grief processing moment, a tribute to her love for Alex and its reciprocity. At the very end, the book definitely returns to Laura and closes as an offering to her- maybe Iris felt guilty wishing or wondering if Alex loved her. Either way, this book was beautifully tumultuous and your analysis was excellent.

[@eddiecational]

Thank you for your thoughts, a very interesting way to look at the way the way Iris' storytelling potentially changes over the course of The Blind Assassin and definitely something to consider next time I reread!

[@marvinomarmenjivaralvarez2086]

I am glad you mentioned the picnic photo. It's such an important detail. Thanks for your review. This is one of my favorite books ever. Atwood is a genius.

[@niamhm4109]

BRILLIANT video

[@margute22]

my main takeaway is that im excited to read this book and also excited to never read the ambassadors

[@rationraw5017]

Really struck by the description of civil war in Spain in the book, don’t know why, when I first read about that, a bloodiness piece in a book, the story telling is female, the bloodiness isn’t. That brief description of bloodiness draws me back to that time of Spanish civil war, and her time.

[@nosemeocurreunnombredeusua2655]

What I wonder is...Were Iris and Alex truly in love? In the Blind Assassin book they seem to not be fully honest with their feelings. There are several instances were each character is frustrated or longing for something from the other without stating it clearly. This to me makes his death even more sorrowful. Even though real Iris seems to be far more practical minded than the girl depicted in the novel and she mentions their affair almost as a side note, just one of the pieces that helps to wrap it all together. Did she actually loved Thomas and if so, can we assume her LOVE was reciprocated? Was it truly her in the Blind Assassin or a version of her intentionally fabricated to resemble Laura?

[@frubby3959]

i have to present an analysis for this book for a school project...🫠🫠🫠 undoubtedly hard because I'm in a time crunch, but thank you for helping clear things up!