Lessons - Video Installations > Lesson 7 (Atwood)

"Lesson 7 (Atwood)" uses the Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood as its source. Unlike the other works in this series of video projections, this one is a lesson for me and uses my handwriting instead of my children’s. It focuses on the point in the story when Offred finds “Nolite the bastardes carborundorum” scratched into the closet wall of the bedroom that is essentially her prison. The phrase is a mock-Latin aphorism, often translated as “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.” It has become a feminist rallying cry and is the chorus of one of my favorite U2 songs. It becomes a mantra for Offred during the rest of the novel.