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 is a part of a society that leaves her deprived of any warm human relationship, and only conforms to the rules set on her because she wants to survive. Having such a lack of freedom makes her crave human affection, and she copes with this by trying to escape reality, while at the same time avoiding the memories of the freedom she once had.

Throughout the novel, Offred switched between her life in Gilead and her life in California. Offred also talks about her mother who was a feminist and recount of the times that she would go to the rallies with her. Remembering these facts allows the reader to realize that Offred cannot forget her life before Gilead, even if she tried to. Finally, one day when Offred was

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.

Visualize a society controlled by a group of people, who lust having control of every aspect in a society. Making a place where only them has power and can decide of what they want. Creating rules to take over every habitant’s rights and destroying their identity, making them perfect slaves for their idealistic society. Think about a society where the most important individuals are the one who gets nothing but disrespect and neglect from the other citizens. Generally, these subjects are distained by the society, but this changes as soon as some very important and high-ranking personality needs them.

Throughout history, women have always struggled with maintaining a status equal to that of men in both the workforce as well as home life. Traditionally, women have been forced to be shut into the house performing grotesquely dull action such as constantly cooking, cleaning and caretaking while the man is out bringing home the money due to the female’s ability to reproduce readily. This outdated status of women, however, is taken to an extreme in The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood where the women are demoted as practically slaves to the system. While numerous pieces of literature have addressed slavery across the world in different lights, very few have explored the enslavement felt by women to men in the ages prior to present day. By

This character would display growth throughout their journey. Nonetheless, the author deviates from the nature of the main character, Offred, and the “journey” she takes. Unlike the traditional characteristics of characters within science fiction novels, Offred does not have any particular goal. She merely retells what her life is like and how unhappy she is with the oppressive regime of Gilead. Throughout the book, she thinks of ways to gain control over herself and escape, but never acts upon it.

In the novel “The Handmaid’s Tale”, written by Margaret Atwood, the author details a futuristic dystopia where women have been subjugated and dehumanized to serving the purpose of bearing children in order to equalize the disproportion in declining births due to the effects of the nuclear pollution. The authors in depth analysis conveys the notion of the atrocities women throughout history consistently find themselves enduring through with a male-dominated patriarchal system. Within the Republic of Gilead, women have been denounced as being seen as pure objects of reproduction not as actual beings. The agenda of Gilead has completely disrupted the order of society and refers back to a biblical order of existence. The creators of Gilead aspired to create a regime where women would no longer be

The novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, by Margaret Atwood, explores the role of women in a fictional patriarchal society. Women in the novel are seen as property of a man and they live under a strict set of enforced rules and guidelines that male society has deemed appropriate. These patriarchal beliefs are so entrenched in the society that many women either believe the ideals or have been subconsciously influenced by society. Most of the women in the novel were “products of society” with their personalities being heavily attributed into the culture that they were now immersed in. A major theme of “The Handmaid’s Tale”, by Margaret Atwood, is the skewed sense of freedom and power that the women have developed; seen in the value placed on children, the women’s interactions with one another, and the clear presence of suicide.

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

The Handmaid’s Tale is the story of a young woman living in a futuristic society in which women have no rights. Her only purpose on earth is to reproduce. Women are forbidden from having jobs, wearing provocative clothing, voting, or even reading. This insightful novel by Margaret Atwood supports feminism by giving a clear and terrifying example of what life has been, and could be like without the rights that we've become accustomed to. At first this novel seems nothing more then a fantasy, just a bad dream.

The Handmaid’s Tale explores gender and identity as well as domestic politics, which, in turn, ties into social protest. Atwood uses the example of a ‘Unwomen’, who were past protestors demonstrating against violent sexual attacks on women and calling for greater safety on the streets. This relays the knowledge that rebellions and protests have happened in the past and makes readers aware of the dilemma that moral freedom comes at a price. The real threat in The Handmaid’s Tale comes not from males but from the females. In other words, the male-dominated power structure that exists relies on females to regulate one another and enforce social standards within their society.

The narrator, Offred, is unquestionably the most noteworthy character in the novel where the reader experiences the world of the Gilead through her eyes. However, the reader is not given an in-depth understanding of what Offred truly is like, as her only description of herself is being “thirty-three years old”, “have brown hair” and “stand five seven without shoes”. Through Offred’s vague description of herself, as well as by mentioning that she has “trouble” remembering what she “look like”, suggests the idea of feminism in which Atwood tries to convey. This is evident through Offred’s depiction on the corruption of language and the non-linear construction of her narrative which evokes the restrictions placed on women, and thus, a perceptible clue which outlines the author’s concern to the rights and identity of women.

With the storytelling of her past and present experiences she is able to escape reality by letting out her internal angers and frustrations. She uses storytelling as an outlet of release and relief from how she is treated in Gilead. As Atwood states, "I'll pretend you can hear me. But it's no good, because I know you can't" (40). Even though she feels as though no one will be able to hear what she is saying about Gilead, she still continues on storytelling acting like she has an audience because she is able to express and cope with her feelings by it. She literally can’t share her stories while she is in Gilead, but she mentally prepares them. Just the thought and hope of one day being able to tell her story is enough for her to maintain sanity throughout Gilead. For example Hansot states from her article that “Offred’s reviewing of her past and present is moral and intellectual-exercise as well as an exercise in survival” (59). She has something of value to grasp hold to: a story. The possibility of sharing her stories to others and letting them know what she went through gives her a goal. Her goal gives her the will to survive. In the Historical Notes part

The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood in 1985. Dystopian novels often feature societal norms taken to dangerous extremes. Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale contains each and every feature of a typical dystopian novel, though she prefers to refer to it as social science-fiction. Ideological and social conditions taken to extremes enforced by authoritarian regimes, social trends isolated or exaggerated, and stability being secured through impossible ideals are all features highlighted in this novel. Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale using symbolism and characterization to convey the risk of the total objectification of women’s bodies, especially for governmental uses.