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Gender Equality In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

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In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood allows and almost disturbs the readers to question if they are truly satisfied with their lives and the society they are living in, and conveys to the readers that our society needs change and improvement. People nowadays believe that gender equality is necessary since the topic is so often discussed. The fact that people believe in this shows how much progress our world has made. However, it is so easy for us to forget the real reason behind this general statement; Why do we truly need gender equality? This question is the background to Atwood’s main message and her opinion on women’s oppression. As Atwood builds the main character, Offred, to represent our contemporary world, she especially focuses …show more content…

Besides this message, the author also strongly proves that society’s oppression and inflexible mindset is the main factor that limits people in improving and thus leaving them with only one resource of happiness, the past. Now, this argument all ties back to the question in the beginning of this essay, “Why does our world truly need any equality?” People have to realize that the fight for gender equality is the biggest revolution that has been occurring for so many generations, as people cannot even trace back to the beginning of this fight. However, the reason behind this ridiculous length of the revolution is people’s misuse of memories and history. Instead of referring back to memories for happiness or satisfaction, people should move forward and improve their present lives in order to be satisfied. Instead of simply memorizing historical facts for meaningless reasons, people should learn from the past and not make the same mistakes our ancestors made. Therefore, it is time for modern people to have an open mindset for each and every unique human beings, and leave the conservative past behind, as past is past. If our current world, which is so developed, is mainly established by white males, think about how much better our world could be with every single person’s potential and uniqueness. This is why the world is desperately in need of

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“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum,” a phrase in the novel meaning, “don’t let the bastards grind you down”. This phrase found in the closet pushes Offred to fight against the oppression within the society of Gilead. Margaret Atwood's, The Handmaid's Tale, narrated through the protagonist, Offred, a Handmaid who serves the purpose of reproducing, lets the reader know that handmaids are not allowed to have any verbal interaction with men or have the ability to read. The novel reveals how a patriarchal society leads to the oppression of women throughout the character of Offred, hierarchy, and symbolism. Atwood reveals oppression through the role that Offred portrays in the novel, which shows how a patriarchal society leads to oppression

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In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood demonstrates a quizzical protagonist, Offred, in a dystopian, totalitarian society where fertile women are only a mere vessel for child birth. Every month during Offred’s menstrual cycle her Commander, Fred, and his wife Serena Joy perform detached intercourse while Serena holds Offred’s hands. The handmaids of the Republic of Gilead are not allowed to use their mind for knowledge nor take part in formal society. They are but the vacuous-minded property to their Commanders and their infertile wives. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred discloses the day to day moments and her commicalOffred had once lived in a world where she was her own person with a job and a home with a family of her own but now she lives under unfortunate circumstances that disable her from being a true, soulful human.

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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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