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The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

1101 Words5 Pages

Imagine a nation in which its government commands by a religion where women are separated into different titles and must conceive children for their commander. Their rights from before this regime, and anything deemed unholy by the government, are a thing of the past. This situation is the one represent in the Republic of Gilead, where the rules of society and its traditions are not taken lightly if broken. In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood shows that an oppressive government leads to the inevitable neglect and remiss of the rules through Offred’s characterization, irony, and flashbacks. Offred 's character development can show that her actions change . Over the course of the novel offred goes from an obedient handmaid to a careless, desperate rule breaker. In chapter 11 when a visit to the doctor finds offred faced with a decision to have a baby with the doctor or not she declares, “it is too dangerous… No. I can’t” ( Atwood 61). In this situation, Offred 's decision to not break the rules shows how scared she is of the consequences and how obedient the regime has made her. Also considering the benefits that come with having a baby in Gilead, it shows just how more cautious and by the rules she is. However towards the end of the book Offred 's actions change drastically and she ends up doing things that are definitely not allowed. In chapter 36 when Offred is offered lingerie by the commander her reaction is, “Yet there is an excitement in this thing, it

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