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The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

Decent Essays

Meanwhile, in The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood writes about the underlying social dynamics present within the dystopic Republic of Gilead, a procreation-based society that ultimately defines the worth of a woman by her sex and biological role in reproduction. In this way, women in the novel are dehumanized and objectified because it is evident that they are seen by society as more of “baby-making” machines than actual human beings. Thus, one can argue that identity becomes problematic in this sense because the worth of a woman in Gilead is solely determined by her biological identity and reproductive function.
In general, all women in Gilead are deemed inferior to men due to their sex and the socially constructed belief that males are …show more content…

This is exemplified when Offred, the main Handmaid in the novel, explains that each month she discovers she is not pregnant, she is distraught because it means she has “failed once again to fulfill the expectations of others, which have become [her] own” (Atwood 73). In explanation, Offred has internalized the societal dehumanization and objectification associated with her gender and ability to have children, and indeed begins to believe that she is of no value to either society or herself unless she fulfills the reproductive expectations imposed on her by society as a Handmaid. One can deduce that, for this reason, Offred and the other Handmaids become envious when they see a pregnant Handmaid because “she’s a flag on a hilltop, showing us what can still be done: we too can be saved” (Atwood 26). It is apparent that Offred and the other Handmaids believe their only way to be “saved” and seen as more of worthy human beings – rather than worthless objects – by other members of society is to bear a

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