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Analysis Of The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

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The norm of women being able to choose if they want children or not may seem to be a luxury in the United States. But, as the United States population begins to die out, will the leader of the country force fertile woman to have children even if that's not the lifestyle they choose? The Handmaid’s Tale was written in 1985 by Margaret Atwood as a demonstration of manipulating power and it’s domino effects on many aspects of life.
The Handmaid’s tale takes place in the Republic of Gilead. This Republic is based on a hierarchy of ranking, and at the very top are the Wives. The Wives are most likely married to a high ranked man. Serena Joy is the wife in Offred’s household. The Wife is expected to be able to have children, but if not they are assigned a Handmaid. …show more content…

Serena realizes that her husband’s sperm is not working to get Offred pregnant. Offred accepts the offer and sneaks to Nick's building. Wives will always be clothed in blue to signify their high status. Blue can also allude to being cold, which represents Serena’s attitude toward Offred. Next, on the hierarchy are the Aunts’. The Aunts’ are the ones that enforce the guidelines of Gilead. The Aunt must devote themselves to Gilead and must always follow the restrictions of the Republic. The main Aunt in charge is Aunt Lydia, she is the also the most horrific. The Aunts are dressed in brown. Brown is the color recognized as a neutral red. The color of the clothing is supposed to represent comfort and guidance that the aunts are supposed to provide to the Handmaids’. When the Aunts’ earn the respect from the Handmaids’ they enforce the rules of Gilead, the Handmaids’ become more obedient. Of course high ranking women in the new country do not manage their own homes, they are assigned Marthas’. Marthas’ are household servants. Which fall below the Aunts’. Marthas’ are in charge of cooking and

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(Atwood 187). Although Handmaids experience oppression by the Gilead regime, Atwood emphasizes the importance of unity and collaboration in the face of difficulties. The government of Gilead presents how hypocritical their society is toward women’s rights since the government uses a form of manipulation to make the Handmaid’s circumstances more tolerable. Additionally, Offred expresses how women do not have a right to their bodies because of the power others have over them as Offred states “I am abject” (Atwood 331). Offred expresses the removal of her individuality, autonomy, and basic human rights.

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Her dresses show the talents of the slaves and the clothing made from loose fabric, probably hand made. She has a pistol in the hand of the broomstick and a rifle in the other, showing the way some mammies may have protected themselves. Also symbolizing the Black Power era. They were also victims of rape and sex slaves to the masters. The portrait has altered meanings and I can insinuate that females in that age really had a struggle with life.

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For example, her use of the grey color to portray a boring life and repetitive routines. This was used several times when Elizabeth was in and going to the farmhouse. Because Elizabeth was always left at home to do the chores while her children were out for school. This had led Elizabeth to leave and look for a change in her life with Sylvie who she thinks as her only ally, as they were both females. Grey also portrayed the sadness of Elizabeth as she often wore grey clothes.

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However, it’s a known fact that the majority of enslaved women worked in the fields. In this novel, the enslaved women experiences mostly consisted of having to work in households as cooks, housekeepers; some as sexual slaves, and how some women became so used to the abuse that it was a norm. One of the experiences enslaved women happened to go through was having to work in households as cooks. While living in the Weylin household Dana meets various slaves including one whose name is Sarah. Sarah was a “stocky middle-aged woman” who not only struggled as an enslaved women but also as the cook of the Weylin household (Butler 72).

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In the novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood, the idea that women are to be submissive in a male-dominated society is expressed. While this may seem like an anti-feminist ideology, it is the opposite. Instead of shedding light on the uplifting of women, Atwood explores the idea of what would happen to women in a male-dominated world, and how we would be negatively affected. The first way women are made to be submissive to men in their society is through their clothing. Women wear extremely modest clothing, not even showing their faces to the men.

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Everything about the characters in The Handmaid’s Tale from their names to their clothes is used to symbolize their roles in the book and the handmaids aperal is no exception. The handmaids all wear the same clothes, a red, ankle length skirt, red gloves and a white bonnet. The red of the handmaids’ clothes is described by Offred as “the color of blood, which defines us” (Atwood 8). The color of blood defines the handmaids because menstrual bleeding symbolizes fertility, which is what the handmaids are used for, they are nothing more than babymakers. Their fertile bodies are not the only aspects of the handmaids that the clothing symbolizes.

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What would become of the world, if our current societal flaws, such as sexism, racism, and classism were ingrained and executed at a systematic level? This is exactly what The Handmaid’s Tale set out to explore. The novel, which claims to be speculative fiction, is set in the theocratic Republic of Gilead (formerly the USA), where birth rates are rapidly declining and women have been marginalized by the patriarchal regime, forbidden to read, write or love and valued only if they are able to procreate. They are separated into classes, including Wives, Marthas, Aunts, Unwomen, and Handmaids, distinguishable only by the color of their clothing. The Handmaids are renamed by combining ‘of’ and the name of the Commander that they have been assigned to, stripping them of any individuality.

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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 depicted 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 law through Offred’s characterization, irony, and flashbacks. Offred's character development can show that her attitude towards the law changes over the course of her experience in the Republic of Gilead.

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In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the Republic of Gilead actively represses women by forcing them into very narrowly defined, ultra-conservative gender roles. This totalitarian government strips women of all rights and protections, and imposes severe punishments for defiance. Pollution and disease had caused severe infertility in this society, drastically reducing birth rates. In an effort to reverse a drastic population decline, this thoroughly misogynistic and power-hungry regime, takes full control over the human reproductive process. Furthermore, the leadership uses various dehumanizing methods to achieve complete subservience of women to men.

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The Handmaid 's Tale Analysis Offred is faithful wife of Luke, and a mother of a child. After the formation of the Gilead, she is separated from her husband because her marriage is based on divorce. Women like her have only three choices, to become a handmaid, work at Jezebel, or to be sent to the Unwomen colonies. Eventually, she becomes a handmaid who bears children for the sterile couples. Offred gets assigned to a Commander named Frederick.

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This year is the 30th anniversary of the publication of Margaret Atwood 's dystopian classic, The Handmaid 's Tale. The novel is told from a first person account of a young woman, Offred. In an age of declining births, she is forced to become a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, the imagined future in the United States. The Handmaids are to provide children by the substitution of infertile women of a higher social status. Through the creation of different characteristics of female characters – ones who are submissive yet rebellious, and like to take advantage of their power - Margaret Atwood portray themes of love, theocracy, rebellion, and gender roles.

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In this written text, the emphasis will be on Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale and as well as the way Atwood portrays women and how it can be argued to show the oppression of women. The main purpose is to analyze the way women are treated throughout this book and depict why they are represented this way in the society in Gilead. Then, comparatively, observe the men’s domination over women and how they govern this society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are stripped of their rights, suffer many inequalities and are objectified, controlled by men and only valued for their reproductive qualities. The Gilead society is divided in multiple social group.

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“Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt power.”- William Gaddis. People take advantage of power when it is entrusted to them because of their own greed, which as a result lead to societal deterioration. In the story, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood, the higher-ups from Gilead abuse the power that is given to them, ruining the life of the citizens in the society. This was the cause for the need of higher birth rates and fixing conflicts in the world, but this was handled immorally.

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Furthermore, the author displays a dystopian society completely dominated by a totalitarian and theocratic state. The main subject of this novel is the role assigned to women, mainly represented by the handmaids. In Gilead, the made-up country where the novel takes place, women are completely subjected by the government, and especially by men, who clearly have a higher status than women. Moreover, women’s freedom is entirely restricted, as they cannot leave their house at their will, they are forbidden to hold properties or jobs, they cannot read or write, and they are treated as sexual slaves whose only purpose in life is to bear children for elite spouses. The other option is a miserable, short life at the Colonies (a type of concentration camp), and death.

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