Laura as Iris

1
Laura as Iriss doppelganger

• Blind Assassin

2
outline

• Usage of the term Double
• Definition of Doppelganger
• Iris vs. Laura
• Iriss reconstruction of the history in order to
  cure her haunting past

3
Double

• The double refers to a representation of the
  ego that can assume various forms (shadow,
  reflection, portrait, double, twin). Sigmund
  Freud quotes him at length in "The Uncanny"
  (1919). However, the idea of the doubling of
  consciousness is present in his first texts on
  hysteria (1893, 1895), and the unconscious itself
  is introduced by Freud as a second consciousness
  capable of producing dreams, parapraxes, and so
  on. The theme of the double is taken up by Freud
  and integrated in his concept of the uncanny.
  "The 'uncanny' is that form of terror that leads
  back to something long known to us, once very
  familiar" (1919), but has become terrifying
  because it corresponds to something repressed
  that has returned. "The double," Freud wrote
  citing Heinrich Heine, "has become an image of
  terror, just as, after the collapse of their
  religion, the gods turned into demons." (1910).

4
Double

• Doubles have sometimes been analysed in terms of
  their use in the contrasting of character type
  opposites. For female characters this often
  translates into fair maiden against femme fatale,
  madonna as against whore, or the virtuous lady
  against the dark and dangerous temptress.

5
Doppleganger

• Doppelganger
• The term doppelganger was first coined by Jean
  Paul Richter in Siebenkas (1796) in a footnote
  that stated, "so people who see themselves are
  called,"
• Further explained by Freud The term doppelganger
  is associated with a monstrous self, typically
  described in opposite terms, that continually
  haunts its alter-ego.

6
Iris vs Laura

• Rivalry Lilianna/ Reenie/Alex Thomas
• quest for the mothers/Reenies love
• Mother
• After Lauras birth my mother was more
  tired than usual. She lost altitude Her will
  faltered her days took on a quality of trudging.
  (84 bread day)
• I felt I was the victim of an injustice
  why was it always me who was supposed to be a
  good sister to Laura, instead of the other way
  around? Surely my mother loved Laura more than
  she loved me. (93 Bread day)

7
Iris vs. Laura

• Reenie
• Shouldnt we tell Reenie? I asked
  tentatively.
• She might not believe me, said Laura.
  You dont
• But Reenie did believe her, or she elected
  to believe her, and that was the end of Mr.
  Erskine. (165 Ovids Metamorphoses)
• I told myself. Laura could be suffering
  from delusions Reenie had ruled it out, however
  no matter what story Laura had told her, shed
  believed it
• Take care of yourself said Reenie. She
  didnt kiss me (Bettys luncheonette)
• Alex
• I wanted his attention. He was talking
  mostly to Laura (189 Loaf givers)

8
Iris VS. Laura

• Alex Tomas
• Tension among the sistersThe rivalry
  between the sisters over Alex must ultimately be
  understood as a deadly division of each within
  and against herself (p693, "What isn't there" in
  Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin The
  Psychoanalysis of Duplicity)
• He turned then, and at first I was not sure
  he could see me. I stretched out my hand, like a
  drowning person beseeching rescue. In that moment
  I had already committed treachery in my heart
  (321 Besotted)

9
Mirroring

• Photo
• The sisters had appeared as mirror images
  of each other on either side of Alex.
• (ALIAS LAURA REPRESENTATIONS OF THE PAST IN
  MARGARET ATWOOD'S THE BLIND ASSASSIN)
• Laura was my left hand, and I was hers. We wrote
  the book together. Its a left-handed book.
  Thats why one of us is always out of sight,
  whichever way you look at it. (The heap of rubble
  p513)
• She wore a yellow cotton dress of mine from the
  summer before, and the hat that went with it.
  Seeing her from behind gave me a peculiar
  sensation, as if I were watching myself .(The
  water Nixie p389)

10
Mirroring

• Within the narrative there is a frequent slippage
  between Iris and Laura as the possible she in the
  novel (ALIAS LAURA REPRESENTATIONS OF THE PAST
  IN MARGARET ATWOOD'S THE BLIND ASSASSIN)
• The ambiguous usage of She
• Pregnant she bids farewell to Alex Thomas
  (The top hat grill)
• I cant do anything. I cant sew, I cant
  type. There is another reason too, she thinks,
  but I cant tell him that. (361)
• She feels heavy and soiled, like a bag of
  unwashed laundry. But at the same time flat and
  without substance.
• She lies on her bed, sheets over or under
  depending on the time of day. (The tower)

11
Mirroring

• Romance relationship with Alex
• Iris 1935 in Toronto (Besotted)
• Laura 1934 in Port Ticonderoga
• Theyd first been spotted down by the soup
  kitchen then, later, sitting on a park bench
  on more than one park bench. (198 Hand tinting)

12
Haunting Nightmares

• Where is mine? said Laura in her five-year-olds
  voice. I look down at her, but then we were not
  children any longer. Laura had grown old, like
  me her eyes were little dried raisins. This is
  horrifying to me. (The men with his head on fire
  p380)
• I cant sleep, I told him. I dream too much
• Then if youre dreaming, you must be
  sleeping he said, intending a witticism
• You know what I mean I said sharply.
  Its not the same. The dreams wake me up. (the
  ashtray p372)
• By its light I could see that there was indeed a
  single plant left alive a glossy sort of bush,
  with one white flower Laura, I said. (Xanadu 329)

13
Male characters in Blind Assassin

• Repressive forces of masculine culture
• Mr. Erskine/Richard
• Mr. Erskine the role of femininity
• Richard
• Besotted Sexually abuse/ physically abuse
• Sacrifice For Chase family/ For Alex Thomas

14
Laura

• Laura the spiritual collaborator of Iris
• Iriss lost of self/ Lauras statement about
  their marriage like a sleepwalker (The
  Arcadian Court 237)
• Saint ly Woman/Sacrificed rape victim
• It was horrible, but I had to do it. I had
  to make sacrifice. I had to take the pain and
  suffering onto myself. Thats what I promise God.
  I knew if I did that, it would save Alex (487
  Diana Sweets)
• Bella Vista/madness and the idea of replacement
• The specialist the mental specialist
  said that Laura must be insanely jealous of you,
  said Winifred. Jealous of everything about you
  she wants to be living your life, she wants to be
  you, and this is the form its taken. (431
  Beautiful)

15
Iriss anxiety

• Should I have behaved differently? Should I be
  able to read Lauras mind? Should I have known
  what was going on?
• Not because of what Ive set down, but because
  of what Ive omitted. What isnt there has a
  presence, like the absence of light
• When youre young, you think everything you do is
  disposable. You move from now to now, crumpling
  time up in your hands, tossing it away You think
  you can get rid of things, and people, too
  leave them behind. You dont yet know about the
  habit they have, of coming back. Time in dream if
  frozen. You can never get away from here youve
  been. (396 The chestnut tree)

16
constructing the past

• Iriss attempt to make sense of her misperception
  of her sister(Iriss action of re-memory)
• She had become unknown to me, as unknown as the
  inside of your own glove is unknown when your
  hand is inside it. She was with me all the time,
  but I couldnt look at her. I could only feel the
  shape of her presence a hollow shape, filled
  with my own imagination (441 Bettys
  luncheonette)