Oppression In The Handmaid's Tale

It reflects in the restrictions of language to only shows masculine as Offred tries to show her gratification to the Rita she says, “the Mathas are not supposed to fraternize with us” when the words should been “soronize” (18). After Offred lost her freedom by becoming a Handmaid, she realize being exposed to massive information and having the ability to read and write was power, which Atwood implicate that information and knowledge empower people. But the Gilead regime only allow men to be literate as compared to women As Offred walks the street with Ofglen, she points out the store that sells dresses for women “habits” in which “habits are hard to break” (34). [in fear that nothing has change in the future and history] As Gillam and Wood states, as long as we look at the media with a critical eye, people can decipher the purpose of large amount of images that appears in the media and decides at their own

Margaret Atwood's renowned science fiction novel, The Handmaid's Tale, was written in 1986 during the rise of the opposition to the feminist movement. Atwood, a Native American, was a vigorous supporter of this movement. The battle that existed between both sides of the women's rights issue inspired her to write this work. Because it was not clear just what the end result of the feminist movement would be, the author begins at the outset to prod her reader to consider where the story will end. Her purpose in writing this serious satire is to warn women of what the female gender stands to lose if the feminist movement were to fail. Atwood envisions a society of extreme changes in

   As the saying goes, 'history repeats itself.' If one of the goals of Margaret Atwood was to prove this particular point, she certainly succeeded in her novel A Handmaid's Tale. In her Note to the Reader, she writes, " The thing to remember is that there is nothing new about the society depicted in The Handmaiden's Tale except the time and place. All of the things I have written about ...have been done before, more than once..." (316). Atwood seems to choose only the most threatening, frightening, and atrocious events in history to parallel her book by--specifically the enslavement of African Americans in the United States. She traces the development of this institution, but from the

Despite the little dependence on women, they are still objectified and subjected to injustice because of their gender, regardless if they were a female in general or as a poor female. As something as simple as what a person is born with affects the respect that is given to them. Margaret Atwood formulates Offred’s personality much like any other handmaid in the community. Offred becomes familiar with the functionality and role of women in the community, therefore she adjusts herself in order to be up to par with the unethical standard. “I wait. I compose myself. My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born. (Atwood, 75). To be what is required of her, Offred must act unhuman because the expectations of females exceed the

In the republic of Gilead, there are many rules and restrictions within all levels of the community, wives, econowives, common men and handmaid’s included, which limit the goings-on of the people. These rules were all created by the men in charge, going by the name of ‘The sons of Jacob’ and are forcefully implemented by the angels, the male soldiers and ‘protectors’. The roles of those in charge all belong to a

Kelley martin Senior English Ms. Nelson 9 April 2018 Oppression in the Handmaid's Tale Many people don’t realize how much control the government has in society. They create rules and laws for people in high hopes that everyone will be the same. The Government in America's society is more laid back and not as strict as in the Handmaid's Tale. Because the Government has so much power to brainwash and oppress the society to forget their past lives, the handmaids are forced to be used as a fertility label which keeps them from gaining any authentic power over how they choose to live their lives.

Oppression is defined as “the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner” (Dictionary.com) and norm is defined as “a standard, model, or pattern.” (Dictionary.com) It is when the two are merged that it is a problem. Consequently this can be seen in the Handmaid’s Tale where the new laws of Gilead are oppressing women but they are taking it as if it is a norm and that it is the way that they are supposed to be treated. Much before they are sent to their placements the Handmaids are transitioning psychologically in to believing that what is being done is right, the Handmaids were basically being brainwashed.

Offred’s rebellions do not stop there, she goes on to have an affair with the Commander’s chauffeur, Nick. Both Nick and Offred go against the regime, Nick is not allowed to be able to have any connections with any women, lowly ranked men like him have no power. The anger caused by oppression evolves not only Offred but Nick to initiate in “risky, but assertive schemes that break the slavery syndrome,” of the life they are forced to live (Malak, 8). Constricting power but allowing the Handmaids to participate in events such as the Particicution, a special execution of men accused of crimes such as rape, in which Handmaids are allowed to kill the man or men with nothing but their hands. This gives them an opportunity to have an

In the “The Handmaid’s Tale” a dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood, Atwood explains the reasons for domination over women that can be applied to todays’ male domination over women. Atwood throughout commentary disguise the ways male are able to preserve their higher status over women which is by executing unnoticeably oppressive language towards females combined with the absence of inquires about that language. Atwood uses Offred, the main character to show her observation of the time before Gilead became an oppressive regime. Offred observation’s show that women were oppressed by men even before the regime took over as well as they are in today’s society. Atwood is showing throughout examples that men use manipulation of women to gain self-interest which in turn oppresses women. Gilead new oppressive norms towards women in Gilead society depicts that the society is able to oppress women by the believes that such practices are the norm. Atwood book demonstrates that one of the leading reasons for oppression and domination of women is the lack of questions of the intentions from the society.

Although handmaids were an integral part of society, their role was not looked as desirable by any means. Other women did not want to be in a handmaids position. Offred struggles with integrating and accepting the new laws and customs because she craves normality and power. Offred shares an unusual relationship with her commander. In most homes, the commander and handmaid have little to no interaction, except for their monthly attempt to conceive; Offred’s commander invites her to his chamber nightly, gifts her lotions and magazines, and makes her feel like her old self. She tells herself that she has power over the commander in these visits but she is being bought, and every item has a price, so she sets hers high: normality. As Offred becomes more accustomed to these visits, she craves more “power.” As Offred becomes more accustomed to these visits, she thinks about how she would like to steal something from her commanders chamber; when confronted by off maybe a pen but when asked to steal something of value, of information, she justifies her desire to steal and says its "....a small defiance of rule....like the candy I hoarded, as a

The government has stripped all of the power from the people as they don't listen to outside opinion. The irony of of Offred being fertile is interesting. Her power in life is the power of reproduction. She has power over Serena, The Commander's wife, because she is unable to perform adequately. The whole idea of having to have a replacement mother is interesting. The government wants a perfect country, but the very thing that requires the survival of generations, reproduction, requires the help of the lowest class. The abuse of power is best said through this quote. “There were marches, of course, a lot of women and some men. But they were smaller than you might have thought. I guess people were scared. And when it was known that the police, or the army, or whoever they were, would open fire almost as soon as any of the marches even started, the marches stopped” (Atwood 180). The people do not even know who is “protecting” them. The government is very closed minded. The power was gained by the murders of the government of the United States. Power gained by killing, the only way to take out the current government, would be to kill them. The people are against the government, killing, would bring the United States

In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood sets up the position of women in the society very different than how it is in our society; yet it could also be said that they’re similar. The usefulness of a woman depends on if they’re fertile, their names are taken away and are changed to a label, and their jobs are to service men. The women in Gilead are viewed as no more than physical objects, and the men use dehumanization to keep them in that position. The usefulness and the position of a woman in Gilead is mostly based on if they’re fertile or not.

Unlike Moira, Offred is desperate to conceive the Commanderís child in order to survive. Both women parallel many women in todayís society. On one hand, there are feminists who rebel against society no matter what it costs. On the other hand, there are women who are just trying to survive and find their place in a society in which they are second class citizens. In the novel, Offred is torn between smearing her face with butter to keep her complexion and hanging herself. In the same manner, she is caught between accepting the status of women under the new regime and following her own desires to gain knowledge and fall in love. Offred doesnít know whether to accept the circumstances and die inside, or to fulfill her own desires, set herself free like Moira has done. The contrast between Moira and Offred reveals Atwoodís attitude towards women and their sometimes self-destructive submission. Atwood shows the oppression of women through the extreme setting of the story, but she also allows the reader to see how women passively oppress themselves.

The Handmaid’s Tale tells the story of a future dystopia where individuals use power from their position in society to manipulate others. The Commander, a high-up in Gilead’s hierarchy, initiates a forbidden, though at first non-sexual, affair with his Handmaid and uses his power to direct the relationship to sex. While Handmaid Offred expresses her surprise at the affair’s seeming lack of sexuality, author Margaret Atwood uses nuanced figurative language to reveal the underlying sexual and manipulative nature of the Commander’s desires. Atwood compares positional and coercive power to warfare and animal confrontations and emphasizes reward power with sexualized language. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood uses figurative language to argue that in a society without sex, individuals will manipulate power they have to obtain it.

Additionally, at the time Atwood was writing the novel, the president of the United States was a republican named Ronald Reagan. His party were known for their conservative and religious beliefs overruling their actions and one aspect they were in favour of was taking away the legality of abortions within America. Once again, men were dictating the rights women have over their bodies, and there is no shortage of this discrimination in the novel. The Republic of Gilead was a strict, totalitarian regime that based its laws and customs around the Christian Bible. Roles were assigned where men had access to education and have influential positions whereas women were regarded as second-class citizens who should be subject to men. However, the creators of Gilead justified their regulations by claiming women were more protected in their society. During her time in the Red Centre, Offred and the rest of the Handmaids were shown sadistic, pornographic films to demonstrate how women were humiliated and abused in the old system and persuade them that they were better off under Gilead. Aunt Lydia further emphasised how women of Gilead should be grateful for such insurance by stating that rather than having ‘freedom to’ participate in the government, be educated, hold property or have a