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Language And Power In The Handmaid's Tale

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Recommended: Verbal language in the handmaids tale

The relationship between language and power within The Handmaids Tale will be used over the course of the novel to further convert and condition the society of Gilead to follow it’s theocratic ideologies through fear and intimidation. Furthermore, protagonist Offred will continue to reflect on and argue the beliefs of the new United States throughout the text in attempts to hold onto the world she knew before; not allowing the republic to take control of who she is now and erase who she was. This malicious regime, intimidates this former egalitarian society into following inhuman practices and regulations through the introduction of social institutions such as “The Eye” and “The Guardians” (Atwood, 17,20). The guardians, seen as the hands of God, are the …show more content…

As the novel portrays these groups of individuals as direct communication and action from God, the repetition of the phrase “under his eye” provides as a constant reminder of the forceful regime Gilead is, the supposed regime put in place to protect them, and yet it is what fears them most (Atwood, 49). Offred, the protagonist of the novel, uses that she is subjected to fear and grounds herself in small victories that can remain her own. These small victories can be seen through the handmaids use of the pronouns “You” and “Mine” where she grounds herself in knowledge of the past, and hopes of a new future. Attaching a name attaches you to the world of fact which is risker; more hazardous (Atwood, 44,54). The word you can be used to address a thousand, or it can be used to address one. Offred uses words like these to remind herself that she is ok, not alone, and not in any immediate danger, in hopes that the crowd being addressed can hear her call for

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The dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, is about a new Christian theocracy that took over the government in the United States by creating a new society named the Republic of Gilead. This new society was created due to a nuclear fertility crisis, and their main goal is to heavily control women’s reproductive freedoms in order to increase the population. The protagonist, Offred, is a handmaid whose main role in society is to breed healthy children. In order to maintain control over the women in Gilead, the society uses acts of cruelty and violence to force the women to conform into their respective roles. In the dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood presents sexual violence, the removal of knowledge, and public hangings in order

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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

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As Fredrik Pettersson stated in his criticism, “[Offred] might not have any real belief in the theocratic values, but they affect her life and actions nonetheless. ”(8) Even though Offred may disagree with the values of Gilead, she is too fearful to actively oppose the society, and has internalized some of Gilead’s views. When Offred sees the black van coming towards her, Nick tells her that “it’s Mayday” and to “trust” him. Offred is suspicious, “but snatch[es] at it, this offer.

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Conflict can be described as the struggle between two opposing forces, whether the forces being person vs person, person vs self or person vs society. Good examples of conflict can be found in almost any book. Margaret Atwood’s novel, the Handmaid’s Tale is a source of all three types of conflicts. The Handmaid’s Tale is about a society where females are given specific duties and are restricted from reading, writing, talking to others and looking at themselves in mirrors. The protagonist, Offred whom is also the narrator in the novel faces conflicts with herself, with other people, and the society that she lives in.

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