Atwood and Huie's Othering

Huie, 2010

Wing Young Huie is a photographer based in Saint Paul, Minnesota.  In 2010, he created the University Avenue Project, which portrayed both the diversity on the streets of Saint Paul and the experience of becoming an American.  The image stood out to me strongly because the chalkboard's reading, "I feel like a fish swimming around in my thoughts" was a quote I felt like I can relate to in my life often times.  In addition to the boy holding the chalkboard, the picture is in black and white, the boy is looking straight, however away from the camera, and appears to be in a wheel-chair.  Also, the background of the image looks to be a messy setting, like an apartment.  

However, analyzing the image more in-depth, I can see that the boy's hair is hiding his eyes.  This would be done purposefully by the boy, since he would either choose to not get a haircut or choose to style his hair so that it would cover his eyes.  It can be inferred from this that the boy wants to silently communicate a message, since he is shielding his appearance, yet still holding the chalkboard.  This is similar to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, where the main character, Offred, is constantly attempting to show her own message, rather than society's.  However, due to oppression, she has to indirectly communicate her message.  To do this, Offred records her story.  Offred says that "if it's a story I'm telling, then I have control over the ending...but if it's a story, even in my head, I must be telling it to someone. You don't tell a story only to yourself. There's always someone else. Even when there is no one" (Atwood 39).  This revealed her intention of recording her life was so that someone else would hear her message.  Having control over the ending means that she is able to say her message, rather than someone hearing the societal message that Offred is likely against.  Therefore, both Huie and Atwood's pieces convey a silent message.  

Another aspect of the image that can be seen when analyzed more in depth is the purpose of the lack of color.  Huie chooses to publish this image in black and white, even though there are obvious areas where color would typically be, such as his face and hair.  This black and white photography is seen in all images of this particular gallery.  The purpose of the lack of color is to portray how the subject of the image, the boy, is similar to the people on the streets of Saint Paul. Huie wanted to highlight that although there is great diversity in the streets, all of the people of Saint Paul are the same.  The use of black and white photography leads the viewer to focus less on race and more on portrayed messages.  Then, in the individual messages is where the unique factors of each person come available.  For this boy, his unique factor is how he feels lost in his mind.  In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses the same technique of first unifying a group, then within the group identifying individualistic features.  Offred refers to herself as a "distorted shadow" (Atwood 19).  The metaphorical comparison of herself to a distorted shadow communicates how although she is similar to others, she is slightly different and individualistic.  A shadow is a reflection of another object, however a distorted shadow would be one that is a reflection of something, yet is changed or altered slightly from the original image.  In this context, Offred means that while she is a Handmaid, she isn't the same as the others.  Atwood uses Offred's awareness that she is in the class of Handmaids, yet she is unique to convey her characterization of a young woman vying for independence.  

The term "othering" is a feeling that an individual is different than someone, something, or a group.  Atwood and Huie both portray "othering" in their works through language. As discussed above, both authors use language through the communication of a silent message.  In Huie's photograph, the boy's body position faces him away from the camera so he cannot be seen and identified, however his message is placed directly infront of the camera.  In Atwood's novel, Offred reveals how she is silently telling her story as she goes through life, with secret recordings.  In both of these, the individuals portrayed feel they have something different, in this case a message, that casts them apart from the main group of society.  In Huie's image, the boy feels he is lost in his own mind and thoughts.  In Atwood's novel, Offred feels that she believes her thoughts and actions in day-to-day life are different than those around her, making them important to share for the next generation.  

Another way "othering" is displayed in both works is through both subjects feelings that their minds are overwhelmed with thoughts.  For the boy, he is "swimming in his thoughts", meaning that he is overwhelmed with something in his head.  Likely, these thoughts are something that to some degree he cannot communicate.  This lack of communication ability then leaves him feeling like he is different mentally than others.  This is similar to Offred, who mentions several times in the book that her mind is full of thoughts she cannot act out because of the limitations of Gilead.  For example, her mind is often overflowing with thoughts about Luke and wanting to be with Luke, however Gilead refrains her and Luke from being with eachother.  Both Atwood and Huie use language in their works to display how "othering" is present mentally.

Overall, both Huie's image and The Handmaid's Tale use the feeling of "othering" to portray how society has caused an oppression of communication.  For Huie, he shows how the subject of his image is overwhelmed with his thoughts that he cannot communicate, and therefore is silenced.  For Atwood, she shows how Offred is limited in her communication abilities because of the laws of Gilead, which leads to her mind being full of rebellious thought, that ends up overwhelming her.  However, both Atwood and Huie express through their work that although their subjects are part of a larger group, they express these individual traits that are solely unique to them, but can be applied to society.