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Environmental Changes In The Handmaid's Tale

510 Words3 Pages

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is about a strange new world called the Republic of Gilead, which was once the United States of America. The Republic of Gilead was formed by an army that assassinated the President and the members of Congress. They suspended the Constitution. Laws were passed that didn’t allow women to have their own money or jobs. There was a shrinking in birth rates in Gilead because of the environment. The Republic of Gilead created Handmaids and they are placed in households of high ranked officials whose wives cannot bear children. The birth rates in the Republic of Gilead has sharply declined due to the chemical pollution in the air and water. The land is highly damaged because of the wars, especially the use of nuclear weapons. The humans are also damaged due to the land and the chemical pollution. Only one of the four babies born in the Republic of Gilead are able to survive and function properly. Some babies that are born …show more content…

The reasons for the decline of birth rates are not altogether clear to the world today. “Stillbirths, miscarriages, and genetic deformities were widespread and on the increase, and this trend has been linked to the various nuclear-plant accidents, shutdowns, and incidents of sabotage that characterized the period, as well as to leakages from chemical- and biological- warfare stockpiles and toxic-waste disposal sites.” (Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale 304). Readers are reminded of the historical tragedies that continue to affect many lives today. Some examples of the nuclear tragedies include the Fukushima Daiichi, 2011,Chernobyl, April 26, 1986, Three Mile Island, March 28, 1978, and Windscale, October 10, 1957. These tragedies have resulted in mass casualties, irreparable environmental damages and it has increased the risk of cancer and sterility. The outcome of environmental neglect are

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Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel which bases itself on the idea of recovering a society suffering from an alarmingly low birth rate. The women within the story have said to been rendered infertile. As a result, the fertile women are forced into becoming ‘Handmaids’ to bear children for the upper class. Within the newly established society, classes are segregated through distinct ranks and exploited through limiting circumstances and consequences. The theocratic nation also makes use of religion to manipulate the public and to justify their actions.

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Current Events In The Handmaid's Tale

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In The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, there are many moments that establish Gilead, the fictional world the novel is set in, as a corrupt society. Gilead is incredibly segregationist, with minorities and women specifically being targeted. It has an incredible lack of reproductive rights for women, and sexual shaming and blame are very prevalent. Margaret Atwood herself stated that she based The Handmaid's Tale only on events that have happened in the past, so aspects of the novel will always exist and can happen again (Atwood Emma Watson interviews). Like Atwood predicted, themes in this novel are still relevant in today's society.

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1462 Words | 6 Pages

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