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.
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!
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.
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.
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?
I dont think the girl in the blind assassin resembled laura at all. It was sooo Iris, her voice and her personality are very strong, in the way that they are distinct. I think her and alex loved each other, the fact that they never said it to each other only reflects their characters, not their feelings. Their feelings for each other were revealed cryptically, for alex theough the blind assassin stories that kind of paralleled their situation with the unexpected romance takeover and the fact that it was left unfinished. For Iris, we can see that she always keeps her thoughts bottled up and leaves things unsaid throughout her whole life, she acts like this towards each person in her life including her daughter, even when its most important for her to speak she self sabotages by not doing it. I mean the people in her life and her remaining family only find out major truths about her and the rest of the family only through her book post mortem left to sabrina.
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!
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.
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!
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.
BRILLIANT video
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.
my main takeaway is that im excited to read this book and also excited to never read the ambassadors
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?
I dont think the girl in the blind assassin resembled laura at all. It was sooo Iris, her voice and her personality are very strong, in the way that they are distinct. I think her and alex loved each other, the fact that they never said it to each other only reflects their characters, not their feelings. Their feelings for each other were revealed cryptically, for alex theough the blind assassin stories that kind of paralleled their situation with the unexpected romance takeover and the fact that it was left unfinished. For Iris, we can see that she always keeps her thoughts bottled up and leaves things unsaid throughout her whole life, she acts like this towards each person in her life including her daughter, even when its most important for her to speak she self sabotages by not doing it. I mean the people in her life and her remaining family only find out major truths about her and the rest of the family only through her book post mortem left to sabrina.
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!