The Messages in When She Woke

There are honestly a bunch of different thematic ideas and messages in When She Woke, and the story relates to a variety of different subjects that are being talked about in the news today. As a result, there's a plethora of things that I could talk about, so get ready, because I'm about to go over as many as I can. 

When She Woke touches on many important and relevant topics, and there are a variety of different ideas that you could choose to take away from the novel. That being said, I do think there are a few main ideas that Hillary Jordan is trying to highlight. One of the main focuses in the novel is on the oppressive society that Hannah lives in. When She Woke highlights the dangers of a government where the church and state has combined. It is a bit of a warning to the world about what it would be like if the two merged into an oppressive society. We do see in the novel that even though this society is very controlling, there are people who rebel against it. Hannah discovers the rebellion and ends up joining. This shows how with every oppressive society there will be people who are willing to stand up and fight for their own beliefs. Hannah also constantly does what she feels is right and follows her heart. She has always yearned for “something indefinably more”(14). She is very brave and shows how women can do more than live their lives for God or a man. Another big topic that this story focuses on is love and a human connection. People will do almost anything for love and this can be seen throughout the novel. Hannah and Aidan risk their peaceful lives to be with one another. Hannah’s friend Kayla shoots her stepfather for molesting her sister, and Becca endures Cole’s cruelty because “He’s the father of my children… and I still love him”(155).

I took in many of the main ideas from When She Woke, but I saw a few different messages as well. Hannah is an extremely brave woman with a strong character. She displays the strength that women can have beautifully, and she always follows heart and does what she thinks is right. She makes her own decisions and tries her best to make sure other people’s judgments do not affect her own. She explains to Aidan how “every point along the way I made my own choices, the choices that felt right for me, and that I prepared to life with the consequences. What I won’t live with ever again are shame and regret”(329). She even gives him Aidan for her own improved life. She lets go of her troubling past and is able to move forward. This is a very inspiring idea, not only for women, but anyone who is feeling trapped. Even though what Hannah did was not accepted, she managed to stand strong and create a happy ending for herself. She shows that as long as one does not give up and follows their heart, good things can happen. Another message from the novel that Hannah helps to create is that you should never settle for a life that is less than what you want. Hannah was always being told to change and be the opposite of what she was. She “was always getting into trouble for one thing or another: trying on lip gloss, doing forbidden searches on her port”(14)... People did not accept her in her own society so she left and found the right place for herself. This shows how finding people who support you is important, and that even if you seem to be alone, there are people who identify with you and what your feeling. No one should have to hide what they are really like or be ridiculed for their actions. People deserve to be treated better and given a chance to be understood.

Each of the different meanings is developed carefully throughout the novel. A few of the meanings you have to dig deeper for, while others are more easily spotted. These messages and deeper meanings are mainly developed through a variety of character’s actions. The character that is the most important, and helps to add to many different meanings in the book, is Hannah. Hannah is brave enough to be herself, follow heart, stick to her decisions, and create a new life for herself. Her friend Kayla describes her as “one of the strongest people I ever met in my life”(269). These actions help to show that women are strong, that it is okay to be different, and that believing in yourself is key. Also, the allusions and connections to The Scarlet Letter are very prominent and have a big impact on how the Hannah and the meanings are viewed. The connections between Hannah and Hester just emphasizes the idea that Hannah has done something that was considered wrong but is still managing to stay strong and move on. Another important idea that we see is the idea of people doing anything for a human connection. Throughout the novel different people sacrifice things for their loved ones and form relationships they did not know were possible. One example of this is Hannah having a relationship with Simone. Hannah never thought that she would have sexual relations with another woman, but she realizes that she “needed and wanted to touch as much as to be touched, and not just by any human being, by this one”(283). This shows how vital human connection is and that it can happen between people of any gender. Lastly, The idea of oppressive societies always containing citizens that will stand up against them is developed through a variety of character’s rebellions. These include Hannah’s smaller rebellions, such as the dresses that she designed and sewed late at night and then would go “hiding them under the virginal mounds of silk, lace and tulle”(13)... and bigger rebellions such as joining the actual rebellion itself.

Many of the ideas in When She Woke are very relevant to our world today. The first main topic that is talked about in the novel is feminism. In When She Woke women are supposed to always obey their husbands and follow the rules of males in general. In this society “a woman looked to her husband as the church looked to God”(46). They are all stereotypical women that stay at home, do chores, and serve their husbands. While this is not what many male and female relationships are like now, there are still some relationships that are like this. There are some people that believe women should be content to let males do all the work and that women should just stay at home cooking, cleaning, and caring for children. Some people think that women cannot handle the responsibility or pressure of jobs. An example of this would be the many people that think Hillary Clinton should not be president of the United States because she is a woman and could be too emotional or frail. The book fights against this belief by having Hannah be a strong independent woman who joins the rebellion. The rebellion is also shown in a positive light and is made up of feminists. All of the members “take the names of famous feminists. Susan B. Anthony. Simone de Beauvoir. Alice Paul”(232). This shows how the novel supports strong women. Another important topic that this novel touches on is abortion. In this novel it is illegal to have an abortion and the legality of abortions is something that people struggle with in our own society. There are many differing opinions on this topic ranging from people believing any abortion at any time for any reason is murder, to people saying that abortion at any time is totally fine. Others say that whether or not a person should be allowed to have an abortion depends on how they got pregnant. In When She Woke we hear Simone’s abortion story. Simone is describes how she got pregnant because she was raped. Three men gave her a drug that forced her to do whatever they said. She explains how “you want to combat them, you want to kick and scream for help, but instead you beg for more, because they tell you to beg”(278). This just shows how complicated and intense different situations are and to make one decision for all women would not be right. There are so many different sides to this argument, so I found it very interesting to read about what could possibly happen if abortion was illegal in this book. Lastly, When She Woke includes some talk about treatment of people who are different, and the extremist groups who act against them. People who have had abortions are treated terribly and are not respected in any way. No one listens to their stories or tries to understand their reasoning. The bottom line is that anyone who has had an abortion is a terrible murderer. In the world that Hannah lives in we can see that “hatred and violence were commonplace”(236). People interact cruelly with one another, and we even see the creation of extremist groups that are against them. In When She Woke there is a vigilante group called The Fist of Christ. This group is known “to be responsible for the deaths of dozens of Chromes and the beating and torture of hundreds more”(154). This relates to a mentality that we have in our world as well. Many Americans view people who are not exactly like us as bad. A perfect example of this is Muslims. People automatically assume that all Muslims are terrorists. We tend to lump a group of people together who are not all the same. An example of this is President Trump creating the travel ban to stop possible terrorists from entering the United States. He may be stopping some terrorists, but he is hurting many innocent people by doing so.

This book also develops thematic ideas that we have already seen in The Handmaid’s Tale. These books are very similar and definitely have messages that overlap. In The Handmaid’s Tale the need for a human connection was very important idea. Offred was trapped in a world where the handmaids had no real connections with anyone. They were not kept with their families, and they had no lovers. As a result, Offred would have done anything to have a real relationship with someone who really loves her. She ends up risking everything to be with a man named Nick. In When She Woke Hannah risks her life to be with Aidan. She could be in serious trouble for being with him, but the chance to see him and be with him outweighs the negatives. They sneak away and can only meet on rare occasions. Aidan even tells her that they will “never be able to love each other openly”(63) yet Hannah still continues to meet with him. Another big idea that was in The Handmaid’s Tale was the idea that rebellion will always exist in an oppressive society. Even though the society rules with a tight hand and the Eyes watching over everyone, there are still people who will fight for their rights. Even Offred is rebellious in her own way and does things such as going to see Nick and using butter to moisturize her skin. While Offred rebels more subtly, Hannah straight up joins the resistance and escapes to Canada, hoping that she will find “a different world, one with no melachroming, no disease, no violence or hate”(339). These women show how there will always be people in a society that will not accept the lives that the government is forcing upon them. The last big theme that The Handmaid’s Tale talks about is the need for power. The society in The Handmaid’s Tale only functions because of people’s need for power. The women are so important in this society that they could easily rebel if they were united, but they are divided by power. The wives have more power than the handmaids and they would never want to risk their being in control. The quote from The Handmaid’s Tale that goes “better never means better for everyone, it always means worse, for some” perfectly illustrates this idea. This can be seen in When She Woke as well. The church makes the rules and right away we can see the church must have fought hard for and received more power. This helps and improves the lives of all the people that follow this religion and are willing to follow the rules, but it makes the lives of all those who do not, much worse.

If you managed to read through all of my thoughts, congratulations! I know this post was really long, but I had a lot to say, so thanks for taking the time to read it. I'll talk to you all again next week.