ipl-logo

Fear In The Handmaid's Tale

1021 Words5 Pages

Fear is defined as the emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. The emotion of fear is present in everyone's lives and we all have a variety of fears that are unique to us. However, in the book The Handmaid's Tale by Margret Atwood, the society the book takes place, Gilead, is structured in a way to create a fear into the people who reside there. The way this type of economy is shaped has multiple characteristics that lead it to believe that no change can be brought upon it to overcome any fear that it gives off. This literary text delves us into the setting of the book and begins to instate fear into us, the readers. Anything that could potentially restrict the basic freedoms of our current life, comes to life through this book and because of this, it relates to our fears on a more personal connection. The form of fear is derived from various scenarios in the book, including Offred's thoughts of her being infertile, being caught sneaking with the Commander, and being conformed to her new life, all of which add to the apprehension of the …show more content…

The social classes are organized in a way of like a hierarchy of authority. Each class, with their specific duties, serves a purpose to society where the handmaids are at the very bottom of the authority command line but yet serve the greatest of purposes. The handmaids are given set ways to act from their "training" they endure which includes being monitored by the Aunts class. The Aunts wore "Electric cattle prods slung on thongs from their leather belts," instigating the idea that they could use them if needed so (Atwood 4). This example portrays the fear between classes that the society creates and shows the reader the discipline levels that the lower class is put through in order to remain in

Show More
Related

The Handmaid's Tale Misconceptions Towards Women

1310 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, the protagonist Offred expresses how exposed beliefs and practices by the Gilead government affect the lives of Handmaids, relaying

Read More

How Does Frederick Douglass Use Fear In The Red Badge Of Courage

831 Words | 4 Pages

This essay is meant to demonstrate the types of fears featured in these compositions and how it affects the characters. Literary works like these illustrate how fear can have a powerful physical, psychological, and emotional grip on individuals. Fear can be a physically exhausting disadvantage for a human’s body. Too much fear

Read More

Oppression In The Handmaid's Tale

244 Words | 1 Pages

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the oppression of women was the absolute first thing that stood out. The exposing of handmaids inabilities The women that were not able to produce babies such as Offred were sent to this Nazi type regimes called the colonies. There were Guardians or “secret police” watching all of the Handmaids at all times. The Republic of Gilead did something called “Men’s Salvaging”, which occurred when either men, but mostly women got penalized from doing something forbidden and they got hung and killed. Women weren’t able leave their households unless they were going shopping for food.

Read More

Paranoia In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

1244 Words | 5 Pages

Once a week, the Handmaids’ escort themselves with the assistance of Aunt Helena and Aunt Lydia to the Domestic Science room. The sensation of comfortness in this area does not alter the probability of an unpeaceful awakening. The maids are forced to view explicit movies which have the description of “Unwoman” and are taught that a woman who acts in this manner wastes valuable time in her life. Offred reminisces on the sickening explanation for the pressure of sitting through a screening without the chance of leaving when she speaks out saying, “ They want us to hear the screams and grunts and shrieks of what is supposed to be either extreme pain or extreme pleasure or both at once, but they don't want us to hear what the Unwomen are saying” (Atwood 138). These horrifying sounds are being engraved into the womens’ brains which will manifest a new fear.

Read More

Isolation In The Handmaid's Tale

957 Words | 4 Pages

Atwood clearly emphasizes this point through the inclusion of Offred 's inner thoughts; which in turn, help to illuminate to the reader the process of this deterioration. Atwood also shows how the Republic of Gilead uses totalitarianism tactics, which parallel those used in North Korea, in order to remain in control. In The Handmaid’s tale, a dystopian novel, Margaret Atwood uses imagery and allusion throughout the novel to illustrate how the republic of Gilead uses techniques to deteriorate one 's mind in order to maintain their power. Throughout the dystopian country

Read More

Dehumanization In The Handmaid's Tale

783 Words | 4 Pages

The Handmaid’s are not only not allowed to touch the Commander during the process; they are not even allowed eye contact. This portrays the idea that the Handmaid’s are only there to provide sexual stimulation for the man, and is not allowed to take any sort of pleasure in the act. The Handmaid’s must remember, “For him …I am only a whim.” (Atwood 159). Another example of sexual dehumanization during the Ceremony is when Offred is “serviced” beforehand.

Read More

The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

696 Words | 3 Pages

When analyzing The Handmaid’s Tale, as a whole, these past and present comparisons add reinforcement to the idea of taking action about societal issues, such as feminism, freedom, and individuality The comparisons add a sort of fear into the reader’s minds. Atwood s revealing how everything we take for granted could be gone in a split second. The little bit of hope Offred still has comes from her longing and love for her daughter and her husband

Read More

Examples Of Rebellion In The Handmaid's Tale

711 Words | 3 Pages

Rebellion in The Handmaid’s Tale Imagine not being able to do what you used to do because some actions are forbidden in this new society. In the Handmaid's Tale, Gilead is a dystopian society where people are limited to certain actions. Throughout the story, Offred’s actions are rebellious because she has broken so many rules. Atwood demonstrates that restricted expression leads to rebellion by showing the Commanders and Offred’s affair developing throughout time and the actions of both characters.

Read More

Resilience In The Handmaid's Tale

1462 Words | 6 Pages

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any. " - Alice Walker Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale, explores a dystopian world where women are subjugated and forced into reproductive servitude. The novel is set in the Republic of Gilead, a theocratic society formed after a coup d'état in the United States. Atwood's work is heavily influenced by her own experiences as a feminist and her observations of historical and contemporary systems of oppression. The novel's themes of resilience and determination in the face of oppression are particularly relevant to contemporary society, where oppressive systems continue to exist.

Read More

Imagery In The Handmaid's Tale

836 Words | 4 Pages

In face of severe situation, people often feel relief when they think of happier, simpler times in order to alleviate the severity. In the fiction novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, a theocracy government controls every aspect of life in order to produce the best result of its plans. At the beginning of chapter 12, Offred takes a required, but luxurious bath because she can take off the burdensome wings and veils. While she bathes, Offred remembers her daughter from the past and a time with her family. Atwood compares Offred’s past and present through imagery, tone, similes, and symbolism combined with parallel structure to highlight the vulnerability of women to their surroundings.

Read More

Theme Of Fear In Handmaid's Tale

1888 Words | 8 Pages

The Fear Itself "Fear is a powerful stimulant" (Atwood 268). The novel Handmaid 's Tale is a story that takes place in a dystopian society where in order to increase the fertility rate women who are able to have children are distributed across the country and are encouraged to have babies from the Commanders. Like most of the dystopian novels, the focus of the story is how people are oppressed in the name of fear. Fear is used as a controlling mechanism to keep people in check and stop them from rising up. In the book, fear is too strong of a feeling that it creates the base of most of the emotions and actions.

Read More

Motifs In The Handmaid's Tale

1107 Words | 5 Pages

Further in the novel, we see Offred’s moral traits become even more compromised by her surroundings. When a black van with an eye painted on it drives by her, Offred’s fears that “there must have been microphones, they’ve heard us after all” (Bronte 169). Living in Gilead has taught her to fear her opinions of the society; those before her who rebelled all ended dead. When the police drag a man to the car and brutalize him, Offred’s first feeling is relief and says “What I feel is relief. It wasn’t me.”

Read More

Rebellion In The Handmaid's Tale

801 Words | 4 Pages

There are two ways people will react to when their freedom is taken away. They will either accept it or rebel against it, which is what a lot of the female characters in Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale accomplished. Shown through Offred’s repetition of certain events, Moira’s tone of being a fighter, and Serena Joy’s desperation, the reader can see that lack of freedom leads to rebellion. Offred, the novel’s narrator, now lives in a world where women are powerless. She has had her freedom taken away, and at times follows the rules, but ends up rebelling in many powerful ways.

Read More

Criticism In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

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

Read More

Theme Of Freedom In The Handmaid's Tale

777 Words | 4 Pages

Margaret Atwood wrote about a fear that lives with many, not having any freedom. Offred is one of the thousands of people who have had their freedom taken from them. Her life revolves around keeping others content and doing what she is told, but she begins to get bored and curious. When this occurs, Offred begins to break the rules due to temptation which helps her realize everyone is doing so. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, demonstrates that a lack of freedom leads to a breaking of rules.

Read More

More about Fear In The Handmaid's Tale

Related Topics

Open Document