This photo is called Father and Sons from the collection Inside the Springs by Wing Young Huie. This photograph was taken in 2007 in The Springs, California. At first glance you see three latino men, all holding pictures of their loved ones in an apartment. When examining the picture deeper you notice a votive candle in front of a Mickey Mouse poster and a fold out chair with a lamp, without a lamp shade. Also, each man in in jeans, some with paint splatters. We also notice each man is looking in a different direction, what can be assumed as the father is looking towards the light, the son in the middle ground is looking into the camera, and the son in the background is looking to his father. The man in the middleground also is the only one slightly smiling, while the father and other son look grim or hopeless. Lastly, it can be seen that the son in the background holds no pictures, while the son in front of him has a baby picture and a picture of a couple on a beach.
Huie and Atwood both present the concept of "othering" in a variety of ways in The Handmaid's Tale and Father and Sons. In the photograph, one way they present "othering" is through setting. By including a fold out chair, bare lamp, and bare mattress the people presented in the photograph are starkly contrasting traditionally photographed "home" settings, making it look less permanent and like it is not really a home at all. The use of photographs within the picture add to this effect by showing that they are separated from their homes and families. A similar effect is achieved in The Handmaid's Tale when Offred refuses to call the room she sleeps in her bedroom. The effect of this in both works is an emphasized sense that the protagonists are lost and where you are affects how you are view, as I am viewing the people in the photograph, and how you view yourself, how Offred uses her lack of ownership of the room as control. Another way "othering" is presented in the photograph is through the positioning of the three men. The man in the back is presented as the "other" by being the only one without photographs, and therefore a family he is away from, by being behind the father and brother, and by looking to the father. These make the back son look separated and like he needs guidance. This is contrasting to The Handmaid's Tale in that Offred is united with the other handmaid's in that they all remember "before" and all are facing the same challenges. Overall, both works present distinct instances of "othering" with further define the separations within their societies.
I like how you talked about the setting of the picture. That's something that I hadn't though of but made perfect sense when you described it. I also liked how you connected it back to Offred's room and how she distances herself from the room, as if to say that she hasn't completely accepted the fact that she is a handmaid. Although, we then see a change in Offred's personality when she starts using phrases such as "my room" (Atwood 96) and "things are back to normal" (Atwood 282). Furthermore, I liked how you talked about "others" within the picture. We can also see this is the novel when Offred sees the new Ofglen as the "other" since she isn't part of Mayday nor is against Gilead. Overall, I loved your post. 10/10 would recommend.
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