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Gender Inequality And Family Structures In The Handmaid's Tale

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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

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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

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“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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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