ipl-logo

Gender Inequality And Family Structures In The Handmaid's Tale

991 Words4 Pages

m

Gender Inequality and Family Structures in The Handmaid’s Tale

The theme of gender inequality in The Handmaid’s Tale allows the novel to convey social commentary on how patriarchy affects family structures. Ultimately, Atwood uses the novel to inform the reader about the rise of gender inequality. The rise of conservatism in the U.S. motivated authors to write social commentary in the form of novels, as shown by Atwood. Margaret Atwood uses parallels between reality and the novel, characters with similarities to the nuclear family, and symbolism that would later become influential in popular culture to convey her commentary. Religious fundamentalism inspired Atwood, as stated in The Gale Database’s overview of The Handmaid’s Tale’s historical …show more content…

The conservative rhetoric popular with U.S. politicians in the 1980s mirrors the leaders in the novel. Throughout the novel, allusions are made to the political climate of the west, and Gale Database observes that “Offred worries that she will be sent to the Colonies if she does not produce a child. Undesirables are sent to certain Colonies to clean up toxic waste from some untold disaster (Gale).” Atwood’s experience with the Cold War in the United States shapes how Gilead, the dystopic government in the novel, is portrayed. Throughout the novel, Atwood draws parallels between actual western society and the fictional society to give her view on gender inequality. Atwood’s efforts to bridge the reader’s mind from the novel to their own life to deepen their understanding is shown with the legacy The Handmaid’s Tale left, with a significant example being, “The handmaid protest costume embodies the complex interplay between Utopia and dystopia that has been unfolding in recent years (Birkin).” The social commentary prominent within the novel allowed for movements based on the handmaid's symbolism. As expressed, responses to political happenings such as The Cold War and the rise of fundamentalism in the west allowed for the further development of feminist themes within the

Show More
Related
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
1517 Words | 7 Pages

“The Handmaid’s Tale’s” thought provoking narrative challenges readers to think about uncomfortable truths with regards to power, gender, and societal control. The novel’s ability to spark critical thinking and generate discussions on these important topics makes it an essential read. This can be seen through the line, “Better never means better for everyone… it always means worse, for some” (Atwood, 244). The Commander says this when he is trying to justify the creation of Gilead to Offred. The line encourages readers to think critically about how Gilead is structured and provides a segway for readers to consider the issues in our world that cannot be solved without causing harm to some people.

Read More
1562 Words | 7 Pages

From my personal research, the events in the novel were influenced by negative situations that involved the American society prior to the 1980’s. These negative aspects of Gilead’s religious society in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ were drawn from similar issues facing the American public prior to the 1980’ s. These issues were based on religious concepts that were thought to greatly improve the American population's standard of living. The main ideas that influenced the creation of certain events and

Read More
457 Words | 2 Pages

After the overthrow of the American government, a new strictly patriarchal nation arises. The “New America,” is known confidently known as Gilead (GUY-Lead). The name itself, exemplifies just how dominant the male influence is in the new society. Women in this age have no voice (literal and figurative) and are bound to the titles given to them by men. In Gilead, women are property, and they are reminded as such with their names: Ofwarren, Ofglen, Offred, etc.

Read More
746 Words | 3 Pages

What would become of the world, if our current societal flaws, such as sexism, racism, and classism were ingrained and executed at a systematic level? This is exactly what The Handmaid’s Tale set out to explore. The novel, which claims to be speculative fiction, is set in the theocratic Republic of Gilead (formerly the USA), where birth rates are rapidly declining and women have been marginalized by the patriarchal regime, forbidden to read, write or love and valued only if they are able to procreate. They are separated into classes, including Wives, Marthas, Aunts, Unwomen, and Handmaids, distinguishable only by the color of their clothing. The Handmaids are renamed by combining ‘of’ and the name of the Commander that they have been assigned to, stripping them of any individuality.

Read More
2035 Words | 9 Pages

Works of literature often portray ideas relating to Marxist theory, this is why in a dystopian society, class distinctions dominate the social climate, using Marxist ideologies as a tool to define the lives of the narrator and those around her. In Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, ideologies from Marxist theory dominate the society in which Offred, the narrator, lives in, evidenced by the strict class systems and limited interaction between them. In writing the novel, Atwood makes a point to create a world that could exist using technology and ideas already accessible in today’s society, meaning the events that take place in The Handmaid’s Tale could happen in present day. Offred lives in a reality where class distinctions dominate society, and women, especially fertile women. These women are displaced downwards, although there are those women who attempt to resist the grip of society.

Read More
1058 Words | 5 Pages

Fairy tales have been told for centuries and have been used to portray the conflict of sexual politics over time. Little Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast are both examples of fairy tales with this focus. Making use of this conflict in The Handmaid 's Tale, Margaret Atwood has used certain elements of fairy tale genre to have the opposite effect of the stereotypical ‘happy ever after’ as the novel plays in a dystopian world. More specifically, the author has borrowed elements of fairy tales to develop the theme of shifting power in The Handmaid’s Tale.

Read More
1634 Words | 7 Pages

However, in the late 21st century, this is the future and society of Gilead. This is the world in which Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, takes setting in. The novel is told in a first person account by Offred, a Handmaid. Through her, the reader learns about the rules and regulations a Handmaid of Gileadean society must obey. The reader learns about how different women are classified into sects and that each has a permanent role in society.

Read More
783 Words | 4 Pages

“No woman can call herself free who does not control her own body”. When Margaret Sanger spoke these words, she was expressing her belief on a woman’s right to have an abortion. This quote, however, speaks to the fact that women are oppressed on more than just abortions. In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Atwood portrays the dehumanization of sexuality through both the characters and events within the novel, therefore proving that women will always be considered less than men will. Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1939.

Read More
1251 Words | 6 Pages

The Handmaid 's Tale is one of Margaret Atwood most famous novels written during the spring of 1984, when the Berlin wall was still standing. Atwood creates a dystopia, which mostly consists of gender gap and oppression. The Handmaid 's Tale effectively portrays the United States as the modern-day totalitarian society of Gilead, which was illustrated as perfect by using the book of Genesis. Although the authors ideas are inherently and completely fictional, several concepts throughout his book have common links to the past and present society which the author herself calls a speculative fiction. The author uses a totalitarian system which includes aspects of Soviet system, to describe, deprivation, repression and terror with the use of

Read More
1035 Words | 5 Pages

This year is the 30th anniversary of the publication of Margaret Atwood 's dystopian classic, The Handmaid 's Tale. The novel is told from a first person account of a young woman, Offred. In an age of declining births, she is forced to become a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, the imagined future in the United States. The Handmaids are to provide children by the substitution of infertile women of a higher social status. Through the creation of different characteristics of female characters – ones who are submissive yet rebellious, and like to take advantage of their power - Margaret Atwood portray themes of love, theocracy, rebellion, and gender roles.

Read More
1122 Words | 5 Pages

She never describes men as overtly more powerful than women and never includes how men have changed things, only women. Her sex life is completely regiment by Serena, giving her no room for intimacy without a witness. Atwood uses Serena’s intrusion to show “an early example of Atwood’s emphasis upon the body” in her novels about women to add a focus “with women’s position within power structures that seek to contain them” (Davies 61). This concern is exemplified in Serena’s imposition of an underground relationship on Offred. Atwood’s point in creating such an unusual dynamic of sexual control is a comment on women’s traditional role in society and how demeaning it is.

Read More
1304 Words | 6 Pages

The Handmaid’s Tale Essay-How does Atwood’s portrayal of women compare to modern conceptions of women? “I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it’s shameful or immodest but because I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely” (Atwood pg.82). This is a quote that the narrator and main character of the book (Offred) says as two other women give her her bath. How hard does a woman’s life have to be that she wouldn’t even want to look at her body.

Read More
833 Words | 4 Pages

Jasmine Gonzalez Garnham English 12B-2 24 March 2023 Argumentative essay The Handmaid's Tale, a literary masterpiece by Margaret Atwood, has made significant progress in contemporary literature. This is a powerful piece of literature that raises the plight of women as an issue worthy of debate. As the world progresses, students should be exposed to themes that reflect current social issues, and this is precisely what the Handmaid's Tale offers. The Handmaid's Tale is needed for students to understand or learn more about women's mistreatment and gender equality.

Read More
988 Words | 4 Pages

In the 1980s, United States was experiencing the rise of conservatism. Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, conservative religious groups were gaining popularity. In response to the social and political landscape, Canadian author Margaret Atwood published a fictional novel The Handmaid’s Tale in 1986; a genre of dystopian novels. The storyline projects an imaginary futuristic world where society lives under oppression and illusion of a utopian society maintained through totalitarian control. Dystopian novels often focus on current social government trends and show an exaggeration of what happens if the trends are taken too far.

Read More

More about Gender Inequality And Family Structures In The Handmaid's Tale

Related Topics

Open Document