ipl-logo

How Is Margaret Atwood Dehumanize In The Handmaid's Tale

1994 Words8 Pages

The Handmaid’s Tale: A Cautionary Tale for the Modern Age

The Handmaid’s Tale by Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood explores the Republic of Gilead, a dystopian country - previously known as the United States - in which pollution and nuclear accidents cause widespread infertility (Stillman and Johnson, 70). Right-wing fundamentalists rule Gilead, misusing the Bible to justify the systematic raping and weakening of women's reproductive rights by misinterpreting the Bible’s passages (Stillman and Johnson 71). In this essay, I will explore how certain individuals are dehumanized in the dystopian society of The Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood 8-363), as well as make connections to current events in contemporary cultures (Hodkin).
In Gilead's totalitarian society, women are only valued for their reproductive potential or forced to work for the state if infertile (Zarrinjooee and Kalantarian 68). The …show more content…

The novel’s themes reflect the reality of our times, including the use of religion to justify limiting women’s rights, maintaining male hegemony, and controlling women’s bodies (Zarrinjooee and Kalantarian 66-71). The parallel between Gilead and the current conservative religious cultures - for example Hungary - highlights the significance of the novel’s dystopian aspects for contemporary readers (“Hungary Government Proposes Constitutional Amendment Mandating Christian Gender Roles.”). The strict gender norms, dress codes, and lack of autonomy for women in Gilead illustrate the dehumanization of women, while the emphasis on their reproductive potential perpetuates their exploitation (Atwood 8-363). Overall, The Handmaid’s Tale serves as a warning and a lesson on what not to become as a society and encourages readers to take action against injustice and oppression (Rine

Show More
Related
763 Words | 4 Pages

The

Read More
1317 Words | 6 Pages

The Handmaid’s Tale: Essay Drawing from an interview with Margaret Atwood, it examines the author's intentions and motivations in writing The Handmaid's Tale through exploring her perspectives on feminism, how this novel connects back to real world events, and the dangers of authoritarian governments. In the beginning of Atwood’s interview, she discusses her views on feminism and how she decided to create a balance between the modern day beliefs through storytelling. For example, she makes note of more conservative views through the inclusion of Handmaids and how they live more isolated lives, through staying at home. This is obviously seen multiple times throughout the novel as Offred is isolated from the rest of the household, is under complete

Read More
918 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood portrays a world built upon the ideals of male leaders through the lens of a woman subject to the terrors that this world inflicts. In response to falling fertility rates and progressive ideologies, a group of powerful men are motivated to concoct a society based entirely upon their religious ideals to further both their reign over the female population and their success as leaders. Through the experience of a woman living at the expense of these ideas, Atwood communicates the negative consequences of idealism in the hands of a man, and the consequences of a religion-based idealistic world. Throughout the Handmaid's Tale, Atwood portrays a dystopian world by the name of Gilead, where

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
883 Words | 4 Pages

The Handmaid's Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, displays the totalitarian and dystopian society of Gilead in which women are stripped of their rights and identities as it all takes place in Cambridge Massachusetts. The novel is set in the mind of Offred, a handmaid whose sole purpose is to birth children for the commanders, the elites of Gilead. Gilead is structured into a long, complex societal pyramid as the commanders reign above while the handmaids linger towards the bottom. Religion is central to the story as it helps shape and hold Gilead together, but not in a way you might think. As mentioned previously, the commanders hold the power within Gilead as their manipulation of biblical faith empowers them over the handmaids as the power

Read More
750 Words | 3 Pages

Gilead is a patriarchal society where only men have access to education, can hold property, jobs or any political positions. Whereas women are treated as subhumans, they are forbidden from taking care of themselves, read or write and they must submit to the authority of men. Moreover, there are skilled soldiers referred to as “angels”, symbolizing ‘helpers’ and a messenger of God. They are seen as ‘goodness’ who are supposed to comfort and help the ones in trouble. In contrast, this is seen as rather ironic as the women in Gilead are unable to make choices for themselves and live their lives which is considered wrong.

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
685 Words | 3 Pages

She then said that “Universities now drop women’s studies programs, claiming they have achieved their goals.” (75) This ties into her thesis on how Atwood’s novel is more relevant today than it was during the time period it was written in, since Western society has changed after the world has seen the Taliban and 9/11. I feel I can agree with her article as women oppression and misogyny still existed around the 1980s, but people did not realize this (which goes back to the universities dropping women’s studies courses) and assumed The Handmaid’s Tale is a pure fiction, when in reality many of the book’s concepts can be seen in the Middle East with the Taliban, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. In their ideal world, women are not allowed to learn, read, or write and are used as sex slaves and baby-making machines.

Read More
981 Words | 4 Pages

Some of these methods include destroying identity through classification, objectification, and indoctrination. Most women of Gilead are sufficiently repressed that they seem to accept their assigned roles, at least outwardly resigned to their fate. Atwood uses gender roles in The Handmaid’s Tale to show the lengths to which misogynistic totalitarian governments will go, to protect their dictatorships. The Republic of Gilead is a hierarchical society which requires complete submission of women to men. By taking away women’s paid jobs, confiscating their property, draining their bank accounts, and giving them no recourse, the male leadership leaves women in a fully dependent and subservient position.

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
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
996 Words | 4 Pages

In this written text, the emphasis will be on Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale and as well as the way Atwood portrays women and how it can be argued to show the oppression of women. The main purpose is to analyze the way women are treated throughout this book and depict why they are represented this way in the society in Gilead. Then, comparatively, observe the men’s domination over women and how they govern this society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are stripped of their rights, suffer many inequalities and are objectified, controlled by men and only valued for their reproductive qualities. The Gilead society is divided in multiple social group.

Read More
1822 Words | 8 Pages

In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid's Tale, humanity is portrayed as a cyclically flawed being. Through the use of extended metaphors, allusions, and flashback descriptions of the past, the world created is meant to reflect reality and the shifts in societies as they occur. However, Atwood’s ultimate purpose is to not only show that nations and cultures collapse and rise in the place of their ancestors, but that this constant push and pull is created by man’s own inability to change. The depicted, pre-Gilead world shows possible flaws in the generally left-trending political avenues of society, and represents the current world as a whole.

Read More
988 Words | 4 Pages

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the novel critiques gender inequality and autocratic authority. The hierarchical class of men consists of Commanders, Angels, and Guardians. In particular, the Commanders are the highest-ranking social group in Gileadean society. The Commanders are represented as powerful men. They have leadership roles, autocratic governance, and are oppressors controlling the Gilead regime.

Read More
1472 Words | 6 Pages

Atwood connects the political events to show how Gilead gained control and keeps their control by establishing fear into the women. Gilead stays in control by limiting speech to religious references, keeping the women from talking about the oppression they are suffering. Additionally, women are blamed for the social issues that were present in a pre-Gilead society such as rape, abortion and adultery. Women get the blame for the issues and men do not suffer consequences since it is in their nature to cheat. Atwood uses allusions to the Old Testament and historical events to satirize the oppression of women in political, religious and social

Read More

More about How Is Margaret Atwood Dehumanize In The Handmaid's Tale

Related Topics

Open Document