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Examples Of Resistance In The Handmaids Tale

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ThroNoah Arbesfeld Professor Jani EL6540 May 13, 2024 Forms of Resistance in The Handmaid’s Tale In Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, the captive women in the repressive, patriarchal society of Gilead are stripped of their humanity in an attempt to remove a sense of agency and autonomy over their individual lives. In response, the women utilize small forms of resistance in order to regain the humanity that the government seeks to remove from the fertile women that are forced to repopulate the country against their will. Throughout the novel, the Handmaids, particularly the protagonists Offred, utilize various forms of resistance within the confines of their repression, regaining humanity while avoiding the violent consequences for …show more content…

Furthermore, Offred prioritizes her own well-being with the decision to steal butter as a substitute for lotion, an illicit act that grants her a momentary sense of humanity. In addition, Offred performs resistance through her willingness to play the game Scrabble, an act in defiance of the patriarchy as women are forbidden from reading in Gilead. Moreover, Offred makes the autonomous decision to engage in consensual sex, an act of resistance that allows her to regain agency over her body. Finally, the match that Offred keeps underneath her mattress symbolizes her agency, as she retains the ability to start a fire and keep the fantasy of burning down the Commander’s home, highlighting the importance of feeling in control as a form of resistance in the oppressive society. Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood depicts small acts of resistance as a method to undermine the ability for a patriarchal society to remove agency and autonomy from the women in captivity, allowing the women to regain their humanity by fighting back against the oppressive laws of

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