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The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

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The award-winning novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood depicts the malversation of a totalitarian society. Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is a speculative fiction, reflecting the possibility of modern society's flaws. However, Atwood successfully conveys a sense of hope through the characters', Offred and Moira, acts of rebellion. The Handmaid's Tale make a clear point that society like Gilead will cease to exist. The totalitarian society will be overthrown, expressing that an extremist society will not be able to remain. From a feminist reader's perspective, this is optimistic as the society dominated by men collapses, overthrowing the patriarchal world. Although the society cripples, the protagonists live and gains individuality. …show more content…

Despite this, there are some character in the novel who proposes a sense of optimism by toppling the norms of a dystopian narrative. The protagonist, Offred, is being forced to get impregnated by stranger. Despite this, Offred soon discovers her abilities to seduce and manipulate men. This offers readers a ray of optimism and hope for a better ending for the women in Gilead. Women's fertility is highly valuable in Gilead as they are facing a crisis in human population. Hence, not all men were given the privilege of having a handmaid. Using this as her advantage, Offred's simple acts like raising her 'head a little' can make a man blush and 'turns

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In many ways, history can solely reinvent itself. Women's representation in modern times has shown development ever since, but there are still elements that contribute to societal misconceptions toward women. Margaret Atwood, the best-selling author of The Handmaid’s Tale, expresses the evolution and the possible fates to which women are subject. Through The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood portrays a representation of current anti-feminist viewpoints by reflecting current perspectives of pro-life stances, as well as recurring oppressions against women's economic growth and rights.

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The Handmaid’s Tale. Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them, vol. 5. Civil Rights Movements to Future Times (1960-2000), Gale, 1997, pp.

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The handmaid’s tale is a book written by Margert Atwood. The story is narrated by the narrator’s protagonists. The narrator informs about the life in Gilead in which the commanders get a handmaid to breed for them since their wife’s cant breed and the society of Gilead needs reproduction. not only that, but there are different commanders and not every commander has a handmaid because some of them have wives that can breed children and have children of their own. There is different dress code for women in Gilead because the handmaids wear red, the wives of the commander wear blue, Martha’s wear green.

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Rationale For Part 4, we studied The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood. In this written task, I have decided to write a blog, from the view point of a tourist who is a character within the book. I discuss about how Gilead seems so perfect but actually isn’t. My primary source will be the current situation of Gilead and Moira.

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643 Words | 3 Pages

The Commander and the Aunts claim that women are better protected in Gilead, where they are treated with respect and kept safe from violence. However, while Gilead claims to suppress sexual violence, it actually institutionalizes it. An example is Jezebel’s, the club that provides the Commanders with prostitutes to service the male elite. Another example is the Ceremony that compels Handmaids to have sex with their Commanders. Foster suggests, “...sex can be pleasure, sacrifice, submission, rebellion, resignation, supplication, domination, enlightenment, the whole works” (158).

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858 Words | 4 Pages

Picture your whole world is turned around into a dehumanizing and corrupt disaster. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a dystopian story narrated by Offred, a handmaid who had her life and her rights ripped away from her. The story is set in Gilead, a city with a totalitarian government that took over the United States to restore and control their citizens for reproduction purposes. Everything was constructed on fertility and health, Handmaids were selected based on how fertile they were. They would be assigned to a Commander and his wife, to produce children through ceremonies.

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725 Words | 3 Pages

Through her narrative, Atwood encourages readers to reflect on the power dynamics present in their own lives and take action towards creating a more just and equitable society. “But we are very far from that moment,” she continued. “Right now, it is both the best of times and the worst of times for women. We have not seen such blatant pushback against women for a very long

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(83). But when the Gilead was made and she was forced to stay home “She stays in her home, but it does not seem to agree with her.” (84). Serena Joy who was once a star and active speaker fell to the oppression towards female in the time of the Gilead. Her personality changed as well, one would think she is a loyal to her husband but offered Offred to have sex with Nick.

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Rebellion; the action or process of resisting authority, control, or convention. The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood is a novel. The novel takes place in Gilead a dystopian society. Everyone in Gilead has an important role to play within the society, however, it seems as if none of the characters seem content with their role, due to the restrictions they face. In the novel, the lack of freedom leads to rebellion as shown by the characterization, interior dialogue, flashbacks, and foreshadowing.

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She tells the story as it happens, and shows us the travels of her mind through asides, flashbacks, and digressions. Offred is intelligent, perceptive, and kind. She possesses enough faults to make her human, but not so many that she becomes an unsympathetic figure. She also possesses a dark sense of humor. Like most of the women in Gilead, she is an ordinary woman placed in an extraordinary situation.

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Handmaids are fertile women who are to be impregnated by the Commander or Angel they are assigned to.

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"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any. " - Alice Walker Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale, explores a dystopian world where women are subjugated and forced into reproductive servitude. The novel is set in the Republic of Gilead, a theocratic society formed after a coup d'état in the United States. Atwood's work is heavily influenced by her own experiences as a feminist and her observations of historical and contemporary systems of oppression. The novel's themes of resilience and determination in the face of oppression are particularly relevant to contemporary society, where oppressive systems continue to exist.

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cultural constructs of femininity, identity, and the extent of government control. The story explores the affects social and political trends have on society. The Handmaid’s Tale evaluates gender roles and the subjugation of women. Atwood’s use of aphorisms, symbolism, and allusions urges readers to examine the juxtaposition of cruelty and vulnerability in femininity.

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1101 Words | 5 Pages

Also considering the benefits that come with having a baby in Gilead, it shows just how more cautious and by the rules she is. However towards the end of the book Offred 's actions change drastically and she ends up doing things that are definitely not allowed. In chapter 36 when Offred is offered lingerie by the commander her reaction is, “Yet there is an excitement in this thing, it

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988 Words | 4 Pages

In the 1980s, United States was experiencing the rise of conservatism. Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, conservative religious groups were gaining popularity. In response to the social and political landscape, Canadian author Margaret Atwood published a fictional novel The Handmaid’s Tale in 1986; a genre of dystopian novels. The storyline projects an imaginary futuristic world where society lives under oppression and illusion of a utopian society maintained through totalitarian control. Dystopian novels often focus on current social government trends and show an exaggeration of what happens if the trends are taken too far.

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