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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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Abuse In The Handmaids Tale

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the President of the United States and all of Congress, the United States is shaken at the center. Wars take after, and demolition follows. Out of the lethal waste dumps rises the Republic of Gilead. The forces that be, in the place where there is Gilead bring back the abuse of ladies that is a sign of severe religions and their social orders. This abuse is supported by people with significant influence as a way to guarantee the survival of mankind and the conservation of the beliefs of Gilead.

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Who’s to Blame? (An analysis of who is to blame for the downfall of Macbeth in the play Macbeth) Macbeth, is a play written by the famous William Shakespeare. The story focuses on this character named Macbeth. It is considered a tragedy in the multitude of plays that have been written. Macbeth in conclusion of the play is labeled as a tyrant and very decisively, insane.

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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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Nature In The Handmaid's Tale

359 Words | 2 Pages

Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale, is full of references and examples of puritan and theocratic ideals, but one of the most interesting aspects of this novel is her use of nature. Puritans believed that divination and purity could be found in nature. Atwood uses nature to reflect the human nature of the characters in this work with flower and sky imagery. However in Chapter 13 Night, Atwood utilizes a storm to comment on nature during Offred and Nick's night rendezvous arranged by Serena Joy. As Offred step's outside heading to meet Nick, Atwood writes, "Now there's thunder, the storm's moving closer" (Atwood 260).

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783 Words | 4 Pages

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1462 Words | 6 Pages

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996 Words | 4 Pages

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889 Words | 4 Pages

Gilead is ruled by fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state, and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate. In the opening chapters, the handmaid’s lives are presented as just property of the state. The start of chapter one begins with The Handmaid 's Tale, The novelist Margaret Atwood presents the life of handmaids as protagonist who live in such fear and solitude. The first chapter begins with the narrator describing the old gymnasium as being peaceful such as ‘Powdering the dancers with a

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