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Essay On Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

893 Words4 Pages

Margaret Atwood wrote the Handmaid’s Tale shortly after the election of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain. This was during the time that televangelism was on the rise and many popular political movements in the West was fueled with religious conservatives. These conservatives used Christianity to frown on the “sexual revolution” of 1960s and 1970s. The term “religious right” referred to label “conservative Christian political factions that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies.” (Andersen) This heightened feminist fears as many of their traditional principles set the gains made by women back decades. The novel discloses what would happen if the rights of women were actually taken away. This is shown after a group of conservative religious extremists (The Republic of Gilead) takes power and uses it to make women powerless and subservient. Gilead is a society that is built on …show more content…

These toxic issues led to infertility (only within women), which is another fear that can be dated to the 80s. Women who still possessed the ability to reproduce are made as handmaids. Handmaids are looked down upon by the Wives, those no longer able to reproduce but are married to very wealthy and/or influential men. Handmaids are first brainwashed in a re-education facility known as the Red Center. They learn to forget their past identities “from the time before”, to know their place and duties, and understand that they have no real rights. Atwood also only includes events that has actually occurred sometime in the world’s history. The effect of this makes things very vivid and realistic for readers. This also shows how close mankind has come to a radical theonomic militaristic society like Gilead. Atwood provides a realistic insight towards the direction she believed the United States was headed during the rise of Christian political

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She is known as a vessel for reproduction having no control over her own body. This reflects her acknowledgement of the degrading and oppressive nature of her circumstances. In conclusion, the oppressive nature of Gilead results in women not being able to own properties, empower themselves, and control their

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Throughout the novel The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood portrays a world built upon the ideals of male leaders through the lens of a woman subject to the terrors that this world inflicts. In response to falling fertility rates and progressive ideologies, a group of powerful men are motivated to concoct a society based entirely upon their religious ideals to further both their reign over the female population and their success as leaders. Through the experience of a woman living at the expense of these ideas, Atwood communicates the negative consequences of idealism in the hands of a man, and the consequences of a religion-based idealistic world. Throughout the Handmaid's Tale, Atwood portrays a dystopian world by the name of Gilead, where

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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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1472 Words | 6 Pages

Atwood connects the political events to show how Gilead gained control and keeps their control by establishing fear into the women. Gilead stays in control by limiting speech to religious references, keeping the women from talking about the oppression they are suffering. Additionally, women are blamed for the social issues that were present in a pre-Gilead society such as rape, abortion and adultery. Women get the blame for the issues and men do not suffer consequences since it is in their nature to cheat. Atwood uses allusions to the Old Testament and historical events to satirize the oppression of women in political, religious and social

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The Handmaid’s Tale: Essay Drawing from an interview with Margaret Atwood, it examines the author's intentions and motivations in writing The Handmaid's Tale through exploring her perspectives on feminism, how this novel connects back to real world events, and the dangers of authoritarian governments. In the beginning of Atwood’s interview, she discusses her views on feminism and how she decided to create a balance between the modern day beliefs through storytelling. For example, she makes note of more conservative views through the inclusion of Handmaids and how they live more isolated lives, through staying at home. This is obviously seen multiple times throughout the novel as Offred is isolated from the rest of the household, is under complete

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588 Words | 3 Pages

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The entire Ceremony, while used as a form of reproduction, is a way to strip the Handmaids of their entire sense of self-worth and their humanity. Margaret Atwood also portrayed dehumanization and objectification outside of the

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In The Handmaid’s Tale, the novel critiques gender inequality and autocratic authority. The hierarchical class of men consists of Commanders, Angels, and Guardians. In particular, the Commanders are the highest-ranking social group in Gileadean society. The Commanders are represented as powerful men. They have leadership roles, autocratic governance, and are oppressors controlling the Gilead regime.

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She removes the thought that Gilead could never happen in the modern world from readers’ minds to create a more eye-opening and thoughtful reading experience. In fact, when asked if the world of Gilead was imminent, Atwood responds, “The United States is where it’s going to happen first.” Atwood then expands on the revolutionary nature of the birth of America, and how by forming itself from the ashes of a revolution overnight, the United States has become humanity’s testing ground. It is also not difficult to see some of Gilead’s ideals present in the current US administration, including a

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1620 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout history, women have often been subjected to prejudice and an inferior status to men. Due to sexist ideologies of men believing that women are not capable of controlling their own lives, women have often been reduced to the status of property. This concept is prominent in many pieces of literature to demonstrate the struggles women have to go through in a predominantly, male structured world. In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, the author illustrates a woman’s battle in an extreme society ruled by men to express the misogyny occurring in the time period when it was written, 1894. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia summarizes Atwood’s story as one that “depicts one woman’s chilling struggle to survive in a society ruled by misogynistic fascism, by which women are reduced to the condition of property.”

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1364 Words | 6 Pages

Aunt Lydia’s more relevant quote in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, is the two freedoms, who gives the reader an accurate insight of the Gilead society. This quote exposes the contrast between the freedom before and after the settlement of the Republic of Gilead, and the mentality of the brainwashed nation. It is well known that the Gileadean era is a dystopia, but the reader must study deeper into both societies –Gileadean and pre-Gileadean- to understand which one is really worse. Before the appearing of the Republic of Gilead, freedom was seen as a person’s desire, however, on the Gileadean era, freedom is a collective idea. On the current community, freedom is settled by laws based on moral and social values, but ignoring the

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889 Words | 4 Pages

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