Analysis Of A Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

In A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, Offred is unable to effectively deal with her oppressed condition. Rather than fight the notions that people have of Handmaids, Offred starts to believe the things that everyone says about her. Offred emphasizes that she was given the choice of becoming a Handmaid; however, her only other options were death or getting shipped off to the Colonies, where she would eventually meet her death due to large amounts of radiation. The society of Gilead believes that the Handmaids choose to become property, but in actuality, the Handmaids simply resolve to live. Their government uses their own choice to live against them. They take these women away from their families, make them conform to the new society, and force them to become childbearing vessels. The oppression of women is transmitted in

Gilead oppresses its citizens by forcing them to wear a specific color so people can identify their social functions. “Everything except the wings around my face is red; the color of blood, which defines us”(8). Not only does the classification system strip the women of their identity, but it also shows a power structure within the Gilead society. Without individual identity it is much easier to stereotype groups because they can be easily manipulated into acting in similar manners, performing the same duties, and wearing the same colors. As the citizens of Gilead fall into their designated jobs and lose their individual identity, they internalize the repression they receive from other members of society. Offred feels the loss of her identity because she and the rest of the Handmaids are defined by the red outfits they are required to wear and by their healthy reproductive systems. Without their individual identity, the Handmaids are forced to obey the roles required of them simply because they don’t have any other identity to claim as their