Arguments For The Handmaid's Tale

“The Handmaid’s Tale” - Inappropriate or Informative?
The novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood caused uproar in many societies when first released, and it continues to do so today. Elements that were the cause of concern are prevalent in life today, such as abuse, self-worth, violence, reproductive rights, and so many more. Not long after people got a hold of the story, they began to argue that it was too much and must be banned. Doing so caused many more to read the novel, whether in an attempt to see what the controversy is about or to experience it before the potential ban. As time went on, the communities that were aware of the novel and the differing opinions surrounding it grew exponentially. Despite this, the story continued

In the article “Go Ahead and Ban My Book” she wrote as a response to the novel being banned, specifically by a high school in Madison County, Virginia, she admits to religion, one of the leading causes of controversy, being a focus by saying “The truth is that the inspiration for The Handmaid’s Tale is in part biblical… The novel sets an inward faith and core Christian values…against totalitarian control…mostly based on the earlier scriptures in the Bible” (Atwood). She goes on to explain how the concerns of it being sexually inappropriate are not reasonable “my book is much less sexually explicit than the Bible” and that it was not intended for teens in the first place “I did intend my book for adult readers, who would recognize totalitarianism when they saw it” (Atwood). Overall, there is a theme that she is not regretful about the things that she included in the story, and she feels as though it is not fair to challenge it based on the reasoning provided. There was a constant mindset that the criticism won’t occur without

This is one of the leading subjects that those who are challenging the book are bringing up to defend their side. As I was reading, there were very few instances where I found myself thinking that it was religiously offensive. I found that this is the case for other topics that are being used as evidence for the book being challenged as well. When reading a fictional book, especially if it is specifically utopian or dystopian, the reader must keep in mind that it is created for entertainment. When emotions are heightened, people are likely to get defensive in an attempt to cope with the overload of information and feelings. David W. Sisk wrote on this idea in "Dystopia." and laid out why this occurs. He states that “Dystopia walks a fine line between evoking the sensations of fear and inducing a sense of futility. A dystopia must arouse fear, but fails if it completely overwhelms the reader, leaving no room whatsoever for hope of amelioration” (Sisk). If nothing else, this accentuates that tough subjects from the real world being brought into stories can cause protest because of the overwhelming emotion and connection to