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Paranoia In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

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Paranoia: The feeling of being threatened, even though there could be little to no evidence to prove it. This is likely to attack a person in a stressful situation, when they are at their most vulnerable point in life. In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the minds of Gilead have been reconstructed into living in a new reality that is filled with the constant fear of no escape. To maintain a ruthless dictatorship within the regime, the fear tactics applied are controlling the reproduction of babies, frightening the Handmaids into submission and adding small miseries into the Handmaids’ lives disguised as modest rules.

The reproduction of babies is a prosperous time for most women. However in this era, it is an ultimatum rather than …show more content…

Offred, being a Handmaid herself, is desperate to have a child because of the fear instilled of not surviving without this act of service. During her monthly check-up with her doctor, Offred states her troubling options when she expresses in her mind, “Give me children, or else I die.” (Atwood 68). Infusing the horror of ceasing to exist ensures that Offred and the other Handmaids will understand that they can not go against the regime and must have a child with their Commander if it is possible with their fertility. Relatively, the doctors of Gilead are suffering with torment because of a life-changing choice they could make for the wellness of their patients. In this dystopian future, there is no option for having an abortion after conceiving a child. The Handmaids must follow through with their pregnancy, even with unbearable complications. Offred describes the disastrous result that occurs when a doctor goes against the regime orders to perform an abortion, as she reveals, “Each has a placard hung around his neck to show why he has been …show more content…

Once a week, the Handmaids’ escort themselves with the assistance of Aunt Helena and Aunt Lydia to the Domestic Science room. The sensation of comfortness in this area does not alter the probability of an unpeaceful awakening. The maids are forced to view explicit movies which have the description of “Unwoman” and are taught that a woman who acts in this manner wastes valuable time in her life. Offred reminisces on the sickening explanation for the pressure of sitting through a screening without the chance of leaving when she speaks out saying, “ They want us to hear the screams and grunts and shrieks of what is supposed to be either extreme pain or extreme pleasure or both at once, but they don't want us to hear what the Unwomen are saying” (Atwood 138). These horrifying sounds are being engraved into the womens’ brains which will manifest a new fear. The resurfacing images appearing whenever they have the desire of being an “Unwoman” is the result of having to follow the regime’s bitter orders. In addition, an extreme guideline is given to the Handmaids which restricts their freedom of speech with each other. The women are dictated to not speak to one another which forms a frightening perspective in their eyes of what could be the regime’s true goal for them. Since the maids are all roommates, Offred reflects on the

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