The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

Written by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel set in the near future where the United States is overthrown and a military dictatorship forms called the Republic of Gilead. Gilead is a society that reconsolidates power and creates a new hierarchical regime that limits women entirely of their rights. The rulers of this dystopia are centrally concerned with dominating their subjects through the control of their experiences, time, memory, and history. A woman called Offred narrates the story and works as a Handmaid for reproductive purposes only. In her storytelling, Offred describes flashbacks consisting of portions of her life before the revolution. These flashbacks are the only thing that keeps her going in this

Offred has a flashback about a documentary she watched on the Holocaust. In the documentary, a mistress of one of the Nazi guards was interviewed. The mistress tried to convince the interviewers that he was not a monster even though people said he was. Offred starts to question what she was thinking about at that time, since no one asked what her relationship with him was or if she loved him. As Offred reflects on the documentary, she also tells the reader that what she remembers is the made-up story told by the mistress – the covered up truth, the reality.

The literary masterpiece The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, is a story not unlike a cold fire; hope peeking through the miserable and meaningless world in which the protagonist gets trapped. The society depicts the discrimination towards femininity, blaming women for their low birth rate and taking away the right from the females to be educated ,forbidding them from reading or writing. These appear in Ethan Alter’s observations that:

In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, one discovers the dystopian society of the Republic of Gilead. This society was created in order to keep the birth rates from the continuous decline and deals with the problem by requiring women to have government-sanctioned sex. Women are only treated as if they are a pair of ovaries and the only purpose that they have is to keep the country populated . If a Handmaid is unable to reproduce, they are punished for their failures. “Having given birth successfully, the Handmaid can rest assured that she will not be sent the Colonies, where ‘unwomen’ clean up toxic dumps and radiation spills. ” (Miner 149). If a Handmaid is unable to do their duties, they are sent away, and there is a great chance they will not return. The sex they are giving to their Commander is in no way romantic, nor is there any real love involved. Offred, a Handmaid, remembers the life she once lived before becoming a Handmaid. The women who become Handmaid’s are given names that are not really their own. “My name isn’t Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses anymore because it’s forbidden. I tell myself it doesn’t matter, your name is like your telephone number, useful only to others; but what I tell myself is wrong, it does matter” (Atwood 84). The government has brainwashed these women into believing that they do not really matter and they have no real purpose. The government has taken away their names and given them the names of their Commander. In

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel recounting the life of Offred. Offred is a Handmaid in Gilead, a theocratic society in what used to be the United States, struggling to find either solace and acceptance of her new life or escape from the newly built society structured around religion, the oppression of women, and patriarchy. A Handmaid is a woman who has sexual intercourse with a commander for the sole purpose of providing a child for said commander and his wife. Atwood takes a jab at these ideas to create a novel criticizing our current world, as it relates to this “fictional” society, through Offred’s interactions with other males in the novel. Luke, the Commander, and Pieixoto. As well as, through how their modern society

However, even though she is aware of the efforts being made to change her thoughts and beliefs, Offred grows defensive of the regime after observing foreigners who do not conform to the societal expectations of Gilead. Offred describes her repulsion toward the tourists and notes how it ‘has taken so little time to change [her] mind’. This revelation by Offred alerts readers to the undetectable oppression they may be exposed to due to religious influence. The Handmaid’s Tale serves as a poignant warning to readers about the methods in which religious language enforced by those in power can manipulate and alter the thoughts of

The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is a dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood that contains many controversial ideas and themes relating to society. The novel takes place in the near future of a new society called the Republic of Gilead, not very long after the United States government was overthrown. Gilead follows the rules and policies made by the new religiously extremist rulers. The readers learn about Gilead through the narrator named Offred, who is a handmaid. The Handmaids in Gilead are women who had the job of reproducing with the Commanders of the different households they were assigned to.

In Gilead, all Handmaids are made to wear the same red uniform, white veil, use the same designated language- “Blessed by the fruit”- and go to work in pairs, shedding them of their own identity and alienating them. Giving the Handmaids no real alone time other than to sleep, they must even bathe with someone watching over them, and thus taking away their unique distinctiveness. Therefore when Offred finds herself alone and naked, she is subconsciously disconnected from the uniformed Handmaid role that she plays daily, and is reminded that she, herself, is an individual with her own body and convictions. This illustrates the fact

The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian fiction written by Margaret Atwood. It is set in the Republic of Gilead which has replaced the United States of America. The republic of Gilead is a totalitarian and religious state. The Handmaid's Tale is fundamentally about the issues of ideological fanaticism, historical elucidation, and in particular the objectification of women in society. Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead.

The book begins with no explanation of what time period it is, who is narrating, and what has happened to alter “normal” society. Instead, it is up to the reader to figure out and interpret as much as possible. Offred, a handmaid and the narrator of the story, never shares her real name and very little is known about her. The reader must gain insight into her life through the memories she describes from the time before Gilead, the dystopian society she now lives in. She had a husband, a daughter, a job, and free will, however now, women are forbidden from reading, writing, using money, or working. They are limited to the duties of their specific roles and must behave in a particular manner. Although there is a very obvious hierarchy of women,

In addition, Offred’s flashback to the Holocaust documentary can foreshadow women’s attitudes towards the men in power. Offred explains “how easy it is to invent a humanity, for anyone at all” (146) hinting that she will eventually humanize her oppressor, the Commander. Offred talks about how she “ought to feel hatred for [the] man … but it isn’t what [she does] feel.” (58) Here, Offred hints how people, no matter the situation, will always find a way to humanize the person in charge of an or their oppression. Thus, Offred’s evenings with the Commander allow her to see him as a new person making it harder for her to see him as the

Imagine, all of a sudden, being forced to begin a new life. The Handmaid’s Tale is a story about a reformed society based on an altered bible where there are specific social castes. The Handmaids are women who are fertile and have children with Commanders because the Commanders’ Wives are sterile or too old to have children. The novel follows a Handmaid named Offred and her life as a Handmaid. Offred frequently remembers her past life of her husband and daughter. Offred dislikes being a Handmaid, but it is better than the other choice of being sent to the hazardous Colonies. Offred develops several interesting relationships and learns of the secret society, Mayday. Offred, the Commander, and Nick are unorthodox characters in Margaret Atwood’s

She also thinks about her daughter and how she can’t see her anymore because authorities took her away from her. All she can do is think about this because she cannot write since it is forbidden. In chapter 8, the two women encounter econowives which are the wives of of poor men. Econowives do not like handmaids, so they are very rude to Offred.

Throughout the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, a major recurring theme is the loss of identity through the power of sex. Offred once lived in a society that praised sexual pleasure. On the other hand, Gilead is a society without the pleasure and only for the means of reproduction. Offred struggles with this transition because she remembers the times when she had possession of her own mind and body. She could love whoever she wished. Offred compares the loveless sex with the Commander “as one composes a speech… a made thing, not something born” (Atwood 66). Atwood’s rhetorical use of a simile exemplifies the loss of self-identity within the people of the society. Offred makes it clear that she must play a role, hide her thoughts and emotions, and be “made,” allowing her to be “composed” or

The Handmaid’s Tale is a woman's autobiographical narrative that challenges the absolute authority of dystopian government of the Republic of Gilead, making a particular kind of individual political statement. Through out the novel, there is a recurring theme of survival, and fighting to live. One of the major areas of debate among scholars of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is the question of Offred’s heroism. Is she a heroic rebel challenging the regime’s domination and oppression?