The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

In addition to the important roles that women play in the regime, this setting also portrays the will and intelligence of women. Offred seeks knowledge as she meets with the Commander; she longs for touch and intimacy as she risks everything to spend her nights with Nick. Moira strives to leave the confines of the regime as she continuously found ways to escape. Even as she is recaptured, she chooses to stay at Jezebel’s to live. Although given death if no child is beared, Handmaids voluntarily “prayed for emptiness, so we would be worthy to be filled: with grace, with love, with self-denial, semen and babies” (194). Despite their role to bear children and given death if they failed to do so, essentially, Handmaids have a choice in whether they accept that death or survive by finding ways to get pregnant. These instances show that women are not merely simple creatures who are controlled by men because what they do is still a decision of their own. Nevertheless, all of the progress that women fought for is gone: their reproductive rights, economic rights, social rights. Women are not allowed to get abortions, and they are forced into bearing children for their Commanders. Women have no outside jobs; they merely complete chores for their household. They are given no social power; they are monitored for what they say and what they can do in public. Such strict confines of

When the Handmaids become pregnant things become very dangerous for them. The wives in the caste do not have the power that the Handmaids do and they see that as threatening. They become jealous at such a degree they begin to believe things about the Handmaids. They make the Handmaids out to be the least important and view them as disgusting and vile. They are seen by the wives as encroachers onto their territories, stealing their husbands and their possible pregnancies. They are seen by the Martha’s as despicable, that they chose life as a Handmaid. In their eyes the Handmaid wants to be a Handmaid. The Martha’s believe that a Handmaid loves their life, being able to lust around with other women’s husbands.

In a time when complacency is commonplace; A Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is an important read. The dangers of not paying attention to the occurrences of injustice are front and center throughout the entire story of a woman suddenly stuck in a world ruled by religious zealots. Offred, as she's known now, speaks of the small signs that everyone ignored, constantly looking the other way on any infractions that didn't personally affect them.

A form of mental oppression within The Handmaid’s Tale is showcased through the lack of individuality. The fact that in the first chapter, the characters are forbidden to use their real names let alone speaking them, leaving them with the only option which was “to lip-read… watching each other’s mouths. In this way [they] exchanged names from bed to bed (Part 1, Chapter 1, Page 14).” By conveying their names, they are able to hold on to and preserve what little individuality and identity they have left. Ultimately, it reveals how much power this new society has managed to gain and how much the main character clearly lacks within the situation. Moreover, the stative verb “exchanged” and the abstract noun “names” makes the action of telling each other their names come across like a business transaction. This actually highlights the way Gileadean society functions as woman are thought of as nothing but merchandise, objects, that can be sold or this case given away or exchanged to others in order to benefit the rest of society. Furthermore, the fact reflects the society that Atwood grew up in as women were generally thought of as just caregivers which would have significantly lowered self-esteem and brainwashed them into thinking that this is all that they can do; Offred begins to think this very

They commit adultery by having sex commander while they are married and it's against the rules. They are taken away handmaid's power to speak about the irrelevant portrayed women who have to obey rules and while also breaking them to

In a “A Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, readers see a world go from what it once used to be to total totalitarianism. In this now cruel world called Gilead, we see people stripped from their original identities, and no longer free. Furthermore, they are brainwashed to believe and abide by new regulations and rules, and the ones that rebel or no longer are of any use for the government end up dead. Besides the narrator who is now named “Offred” in this new society, her past friend “Moira” from the pre-totalitarian world, is a central figure of hope in the story. Moira becomes a rebel and fights to win back her freedom, but ultimately that thirst to outsmart the government, leads to her ultimate destruction.

The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a dehumanized society called the Republic of Gilead. The women are forbidden to have independence while the men are segregated by their particular skills. Offred is a Handmaid for the Commander and his wife. Once a month, Offred, like the other Handmaids, has to have sexual intercourse with her Commander in order to reproduce to help the declining population. As the novel, the Commander and Offred begin to meet secretly in his office, where they talk and he allows her to read magazines, which are forbidden. At the end of the book, through the secret police known as The Eyes of God, take Offred away.

It is not permitted to endure natural conversations between people, resulting in any exchange of words to be merely a scripted manifestation. By eliminating freedom of speech, the government in The Handmaid’s Tale is taking away a basic human necessity, which is human interaction and socialization. By providing the handmaid's with poor access to this basic need, they are becoming dehumanized by alternatively turning into robots. Instead of evolving to new conditions and growing as individuals, they are in reverse being taught to limit what they say and know, ultimately giving them a poor quality of life. As a result of following such strict ideals, the handmaids have become brainwashed by the standard conversations they perform daily. The mass hysteria causes them to lose their knowledge from the past and in turn become mindless followers. Consequently, they lose own identity and freedom of individuality. In addition to this, not everyone in the novel has their freedom of speech and use of language limited. Those above the handmaid’s on the social hierarchy such as the Aunts,

THE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN IN ATWOOD’S THE HANDMAID’S TALE AND THEIR WAYS OF RESISTING THE REGIME

The Handmaid's Tale is set in the early twentieth century in the futuristic Republic of Gilead, formerly the United States of America. The Republic has been founded by a Christian response to declining birthrates. The government rules using biblical teachings that have been distorted to justify the inhumane practices. In Gilead, women are categorized by their age, marital status and fertility. Men are categorised by their age. Women all have separate roles in society, and although these roles are different, they all share the same theme: Every woman is confined to the home and has a domestic duty. Marthas are cooks and housekeepers, and handmaids have one duty, which is to reproduce, growing and giving birth to babies to the childless

In Gilead Handmaids are seen as adulterous, harlots and are hated by everyone because of their role, “But the frown isn’t personal: it’s the red dress she disapproves of, and what it stands for.”(pg.19 ) they are especially hated by the wives of commanders.

The Handmaid’s Tale depicts exquisitely how lonely everyone is in the confines of their classifications. Offred is desperate to connect, but understands that a smile from the housekeeper who is called Martha would be too dangerous. When she arrives in her new house she seeks warmth from the new Wife, and is instead met with hostility ‘’Don’t call me Ma’am … You’re not a Martha.’’ (Atwood, Margaret. 17) The Commander’s Driver touches his shoe to hers, even though Offred is not sure if it is on purpose, she feels her ‘’shoe soften, blood flows into it, it grows warm, it becomes skin.’’ (Atwood, Margaret. 92) Even though all of these connections are illegal, and Offred is supposed to keep her eyes downcast, and her Handmaid’s uniform’s head wings blocks her line of sight ‘’they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen.’’ (Atwood, Margaret. 9)

The Handmaids tale by Margaret Atwood illustrates is what she self professes as a piece of ‘speculative fiction’, a dystopian society set in the future, in which the government has been replaced by a totalitarian leadership, ruling America through a biblical patriarchy based on fundamentalism. This theocratic structure causes the women in society to face severe oppression, forced to conform to the rules and obligations appointed to the roles of Wives, Daughters, Handmaids, Marthas, Aunts and Econowives. The role Atwood gives the reader a detailed insight into being the Handmaidens, whom are essentially concubines used for their fertility to carry the children of the commanders.

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.

The Handmaid’s Tale is a distillation of the real-world events that were happening before the book was published. In this novel, she talks about a handmaid living in the Gilead Republic, newly formed republic that is controlled by a theocratic dictatorship government. Theocratic dictatorship is a type of government in which laws are based on a particular religion. One leader, a dictator, rules the government, and there is neither power nor person above the leader. In the Gilead Republic, the system forces its citizens to obey its laws, and follow its agendas absolutely. Thus, the theocratic dictatorship changed the ordinary ways of life because it forced its people to live with in a patriarchal system