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Oppression And Rebellion In The Handmaid's Tale

2306 Words10 Pages

Fife High School

“The Handmaid’s Tale”
Margaret Atwood’s unique interpretation of Oppression and Rebellion

Brooke Mittelstaedt
Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Period 5
Mr. Giddings
19 May 2023

The Republic of Gilead, which was previously a democratic system, is depicted in Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" as having evolved into a totalitarian state. Due to the declining birth rate, the fundamentalist government that rules the new order of "Gilead" treats women like property and uses them to produce more human beings. The hierarchy calls these women “handmaids” to justify their so-called Biblical beliefs. Societal change creates themes that deal with fertility, gender inequality, gender …show more content…

‘He’s been with us a long time. He’s loyal. I could fix it with him’” (Atwood 205). Serena dangled the prize of a picture of Offred’s daughter for the price of bearing Nick’s child. Offred would never have imagined this exchange for her daughter back to have caused her and Nick having blossomed into a full-fledged affair. She is awakened and in love with Nick. Eventually, she ends up pregnant with Nick’s baby. Serena and Offred opt to tell the Commander that the baby is his. Offred needed her to start a relationship with Nick. Offred was able to survive in this culture because of interpersonal relationships. Given her feelings of gratitude for Nick, Offred believes she can trust him. She says it's "impossible to think that anyone whom I feel such gratitude could betray me." (Atwood 270). Offred has the emotional connection she needs to survive because of her faith in him. She is relying solely on herself to determine where her safety …show more content…

In order to discover more about Gilead and the system, Offred decides to put her life in danger for the knowledge. She craves knowledge. The worst thing for her is that she doesn’t know the actual truth. Since one cannot count any resistance without knowledge of an alternative, keeping people ignorant is a crucial tool for the administration. Resistance is founded on a cause, which is based on an accepted truth in and of itself. Since the majority of the characters don’t know Gilead, they are unable to defy this law and must instead follow it. If Offred is aware of the system and has the ability to passively employ this power, she will be able to fight and plan her own demonstration against Gilead. Understanding evidently switches the roles in society, causing Offred to gain greater control over the Commander. Since the new world Gilead’s inception, Offred had no other choice but to rebel against the oppressive government in order to take her rights back, ultimately concluding that people’s actions are a direct reflection of the conditions they are under and knowledge is the tool that builds the desire to

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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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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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One of the key components of speculative fiction often revolves around the silencing of voices, particularly of oppressed and marginalised people. Consequently, oral history, as evidenced by Offred’s narrative, becomes the most prominent way in which people’s voices can be heard and the questionable practices of dystopian society exposed. The Handmaid’s Tale effectively explores how the repressive environment in which the handmaids find themselves offers them little freedom, stripping them of identity and, with no means to record their testimony in writing, compromising the veracity of their experiences. While all members of Gileadean society suffer from a lack of freedom, the handmaids are the ones whose lives are most significantly restricted.

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