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Choice In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

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Personal choice represents that grasp on reality but how does one fully establish that? Choice greatly holds almost every person, even if it is not instantly recognized. The choice is represented through a lot of different moments in time, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the book recognizes the struggles to grasp society and one’s own personal choices, and ties in ideas of society not representing choice to each individual. In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the use of Offred’s storytelling and her past and present memories demonstrates the idea of being able to grasp onto one’s own perspective of the narrative, allows for a grasp of one’s own choice, and how the fight for women’s rights mirrors that want for personal choice. …show more content…

Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, the progression of Offred developing a sense of her own choice is slightly more apparent but is shown through the offerings of Gilead. Understanding the choices made by the handmaids and by Offred gives a perspective of how their oppressed freedom is conflicting with their own choices. “Yes, we are very happy,” I murmur. I have to say something else can I say?”(29). The quote symbolizes the fear from Offred and Ofglen about fighting to say the truth about their lives in Gilead, as Offred is struggling to rebel against the rules of Gilead. The interchangeable conflict between Offred and Gilead’s societal expectations is represented through her ideas of trying to establish personal choice but also looks back at the precedence of her personal autonomy before Gilead existed at points. This relates back to how the understatement of grasping onto personal choice is also being interpreted and grasped in different …show more content…

Modern society has represented a shift in societal upbringings and standards of equality when it comes to women and women’s rights. There is a set standard which is unequal to the rest of society as it represents a double standard that is mainly applicable to women and the power given to women.“Only this time the subject was women’s bodies, and this time the world had changed... Now it’s a means to further an agenda”(Friedman). This quote about the everchanging standards applied to women is always to further an agenda set by others that are not fully affected by them. This is represented throughout the theme of The Handmaid’s Tale which develops a theme around how women are fully oppressed and not given personal choice in Gilead, and how the women are stuck in a society without a say and are stuck in unequal double standards of

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