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Offred In The Handmaid's Tale

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The Handmaid’s Tale thoroughly projects fertile women as vital social agent. Without these women life would cease to exist. Thus, Handmaids are forced into training centers or feared into moving to the colonies. Scholar Hogsette claims, “The Republic of Gilead defines the Handmaids solely in terms of the condition of their ovaries, commodifying them as objectified livestock with the sole purpose of repopulating North America” (Hogsette). Hogsette further reveals the purpose of these women who are in condition to conceive a child, they are viewed solely for the reproduction capabilities. Handmaids are denied the basic right of birthing, they are forced into believing conceiving a child is their only purpose, as Hogsette states, “ Women become …show more content…

Women are oppressed into sex with no feelings. Atwood reveals the feelings of Handmaids, specifically Offred, towards their Commanders, “ I ought to feel hatred for this man. I know I ought to feel it, but it isn’t what I do feel. What I feel is more complicated than that. I don’t know what to call it. It isn’t love” (58). Offred reveals that she does not feel any love for her Commander, although she is supposed to hate the man she is forced to have sexual interccourse with, she knows its not not hate or love. The wives of the Commanders are present during the time of the sexual intercrouse, the humiliation the Handmaids are put through further reveal how women are oppressed in Gilead; however, the Handmaids are not the only women who suffer through this awkward moment, the wives must deal with other women having sex with their husbands. The narrator awaits for a letter that seems to be crucial to her as that message is what essentially keeps her …show more content…

She claims that he will be understanding, he will understand why she has sex with other men. Offred maintains her sanity through this hope, revealing the government's strategy to keep control; tear families apart. Offred recalls the times with her daughter and any object that reminds her of her beloved daughter is enough to make her emotional, “... her stuffed rabbit, mangy with age and love. I know all the details. They are sentimental details but I can’t help that. I can’t think about the rabbit too much though, I can’t start to cry, here on the Chinese rug” (84). Not only is Offred stripped away from her lover and husband, she is separated from her daughter. The regime is able to control families, by removing the daughter from her side, she is now able to focus on her role in society; reproduction. Tearing families apart is yet another mechanism of the regime to oppress

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(Atwood 187). Although Handmaids experience oppression by the Gilead regime, Atwood emphasizes the importance of unity and collaboration in the face of difficulties. The government of Gilead presents how hypocritical their society is toward women’s rights since the government uses a form of manipulation to make the Handmaid’s circumstances more tolerable. Additionally, Offred expresses how women do not have a right to their bodies because of the power others have over them as Offred states “I am abject” (Atwood 331). Offred expresses the removal of her individuality, autonomy, and basic human rights.

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Offred is a woman who has lived and was married before Gilead “in an age of readily available pornography, prostitution, and violence against women” (Plot Overview). She was captured and separated from her husband and child while trying to flee the country to Canada. Afterwards she was brought to the commander’s house in order to serve him as a handmaid. At the beginning, the girls were taken to the “Red Center” where they were instructed on how to become handmaids.

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In the novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, by Margaret Atwood, the story follows the protagonist, named Offred is an handmaid, the duty that was granted upon her were to act as an birthing vessel for Wives, who were not capable of giving birth or that have babies born with a deformity. ; in chapter one, Offred explains the time she had to spend in the makeover gymnasium, with other women, who are in the same predicament as she is. Offred goes further to explain how their daily life had been like, the women were forbidden from talking with each others, and they watched over by Aunt Elizabeth and Aunt Sara, the women were given two walks around the former football field, surrounded by an chain-linked fence that was topped with barbed wire, to prevent

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Do you think if women were able to read in Handmaid’s Tale, they would oppose their role of just being seen as birth reproduction? 4. What comparisons can we make with birth reproduction in handmaids tail and in today's society?

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Some are in olden-days lingerie, shortie nightgowns, baby-doll pajamas, the occasional see-through negligee,” (235). Not only were the Commanders allowed to look at these women, but they were allowed to copulate with them as well. Resultantly, however, the caste was too comfortable with its sexual freedom, and many Commanders began affairs with their Handmaids similar to that which Frederick Waterford had: “The Commander and I have an arrangement. It’s not the first such arrangement in history, though the shape it’s taken is not the usual one,” (154). Consequently, the Commanders grew too comfortable in their positions; not only had Frederick’s wife learned of his sins with Offred at Jezebel’s for at least the second time, but the Commander was usurped by the other, more hardline Sons of Jacob, due to his overly lax attitude and affair with Offred: “Like most early Gilead Commanders who were later purged, he considered his position to be above attack,” (310).

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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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“You wanted a women 's culture. Well, now there is one. It isn’t what you meant, but it exists. Be thankful for small mercies.” (Atwood 124) Offred is looking back on her past life to a story her mother once told her.

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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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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.

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The Handmaid’s are not only not allowed to touch the Commander during the process; they are not even allowed eye contact. This portrays the idea that the Handmaid’s are only there to provide sexual stimulation for the man, and is not allowed to take any sort of pleasure in the act. The Handmaid’s must remember, “For him …I am only a whim.” (Atwood 159). Another example of sexual dehumanization during the Ceremony is when Offred is “serviced” beforehand.

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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.

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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.

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Furthermore, the author displays a dystopian society completely dominated by a totalitarian and theocratic state. The main subject of this novel is the role assigned to women, mainly represented by the handmaids. In Gilead, the made-up country where the novel takes place, women are completely subjected by the government, and especially by men, who clearly have a higher status than women. Moreover, women’s freedom is entirely restricted, as they cannot leave their house at their will, they are forbidden to hold properties or jobs, they cannot read or write, and they are treated as sexual slaves whose only purpose in life is to bear children for elite spouses. The other option is a miserable, short life at the Colonies (a type of concentration camp), and death.

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The subjugation of women is evident in the Gilead system as each Commander is given a handmaid whose name is “Of” the Commander’s name. Handmaids have no identity of their own and are similar to sex slaves at the mercy of

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