Corruption In The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale: A Cautionary Tale of the Corruption of Man Corruption isn’t just a critical characteristic of a ruling patriarchal regime, but an inherent flaw of human nature that rots a society to the core. In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood, the dystopian setting of Gilead oppresses and mistreats women, men dictate what a woman should wear, and do and whether they can own anything or not. Mankind is not perfect, it is greedy and selfish, the men of Gilead use force to take advantage of women and create the “ideal” society that treats women like objects using patriarchal power systems and religious fundamentalism to justify their actions. The dystopian setting of the story satirizes several different aspects

Women are consistently objectified and dehumanized throughout the entire novel and in the dystopian setting of Gilead women’s bodies are only valued for their reproductive functions. A woman's only value or thing she can produce in her entire life while in Gilead is a child. Offred says, "We [the handmaids,] are two-legged wombs, that's all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices" (157). Women are reduced to mere vessels for reproduction, stripped of their individuality and autonomy. Offred considers herself and the other handmaids to be two-legged wombs and ambulatory chalices; these metaphors compare their lives to objects only good for bearing children. The extremism of men in Gilead only allows women to give birth and wait for their husbands to come home while they are free to do as they please. Many men go to a nightclub that goes against everything that Gilead stands for. In Gilead, the handmaids have a uniform that must be worn at all times unless they are in the bath or sleeping. This uniform is a bright red dress letting everyone know what her duties are and what she is to Gilead. The handmaids are not allowed to wear anything of their own choice and they must wear a headpiece as well. Offred describes, “Everything except the wings around my face is red: the colour of blood, which defines us… The white wings too are prescribed issues; they are to keep us from seeing but also being seen” (8-9). The red of the uniform defines them as a baby maker that is all there is to do for a handmaid nothing more nothing less. She also speaks of the wings around her head preventing her from looking around and keeping her on the task of doing her job. This satirizes the absurdity of not even being able to look around and have your own thoughts and that the only thing women need to see is where they are walking and nothing more.