Thursday, June 2, 2011

Background and Analysis on the Latin phrase, "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum."

Note: The phrase's translation is both necessary (to the fundamental literary analysis in the above pages and in the paragraph below) and improper ( as it contains one ounce of profanity). I apologize in advance for any discomfort the reader may experience as a result.
According to Notre Dame School's esteemed Latin teacher, the above phrase is grafitti Latin, a twist on an archaic and dead language, as well as a practice reserved for those who know Latin well. Strictly translating, it means "Don't let the bastards grind you down."  In reality, it is meant as a joke and not grammatically correct, much like slang in English. For the sake of elucidation, the Latin teacher compared it to another schoolboy Latin phrase "ubi sub ubi" which if directly translated means "where under where" but from a phonetic standpoint, intimates something else entirely. This phrase is notable in its transformative power, especially in its first carved appearance to Offred, who unaware of its meaning starts to recite it fervently as a prayer. Right before she shows it to the Commander, who had yet to divulge its meaning, it became something pitiful, almost sullied. After the Commander reveals its true, silly meaning, she realizes the sanctity that had connected her to the previous woman-occupant was a sham. The Commander tells Offred that the woman, who had heard it from the Commander himself, had not heeded her own advice, committing suicide as soon as Serena Lovejoy, the Commander's wife, found out about her husband's illegally extraneous associations with the soon-to-be-deceased. The secret phrase between women, that which Offred held dear, became sullied at the hand of man, but in Offred's case it was also redemptory; it became a message, a literal battlecry.

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