Research Paper on The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, creates a dystopia of the near future in which a conventional fundamentalist group rules what is left of the United States, which has now become “Gilead.” The Republic of Gilead has subdued women and reduced Handmaids like Offred, the main character, to sexual slavery. Offred yearns for happiness and freedom, and discovers herself struggling against the totalitarian boundaries of her civilization. The Republic of Gilead is a totalitarian state formed by a religious cult centered on ideas of bigotry and inequality, especially in relation to gender.
In Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, one of the many social issues explored was the rebellious actions of humans when their independence, freedom, and nature is taken away and controlled. In the theocratic government of Gilead fights to keep sex and sexuality apart by destroying pornography and sexual clothing, killing gays, lesbians, and abortion doctors, and force the society to participate in sexual rituals under the impression that they are supported by the Bible. This control causes a nation-wide fear of giving into human impulses and expressing freedom of speech, however due to the rebelliousness of human nature, this control and fear doesn’t hold. Atwood portrays this through symbols, simile, and humor.
With that said, because they are inferior to the rich and powerful individuals, some freedoms are taken away such as beauty products. The wives do not want to associate with the handmaid’s and they are definitely not allowed to look attractive. This creates this sense of inferiority complexes towards the wives and their husbands because the men can do whatever they want. The wives may be fearful that their husbands will not be loyal because women can manipulate them using sex. So that freedom is taken away from the Handmaid’s and they are only important for the insides of their bodies and they shouldn’t have to worry about what they look like on the outside because that doesn’t matter.
Before the time of the handmaid, Offred was married, and she had a child, then it was all taken away and she was forced into a system of based on reproduction. Assessed by the government, women were assigned to categories based on their ability to bear
“Nobody dies from lack of sex. It’s lack of love we die frome.” Offred recognizes this reality in The Handmaid's Tale, written by Margaret Atwood. It is in human nature to need compassion and connections with other people. In The Handmaid's Tale a new society referred to as Gilead is formed where many unreasonable restrictions are added, including restrictions on the boundaries of relationships.
“Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt power.”- William Gaddis. People take advantage of power when it is entrusted to them because of their own greed, which as a result lead to societal deterioration. In the story, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood, the higher-ups from Gilead abuse the power that is given to them, ruining the life of the citizens in the society. This was the cause for the need of higher birth rates and fixing conflicts in the world, but this was handled immorally.
Just as Hillary Jordan’ main protagonist Hannah has been put into boxes her whole life, literature tends to think in boxes as well. Novels are put in different genre boxes and the characters are, through their character traits, in boxes as well. This thesis has three boxes as well, in this case called chapters. Within each chapter it will be tried to break these boxes open and discuss why not everything can be put in just one box and why society should start to think outside the box.
For instance these Upper class men, commanders, use handmaids to reproduce because their “wives” can no longer reproduce. In Gilead, women are only faulty and so if they cannot become fertile or produce a viable child then they get shipped off even though the men could
In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the Republic of Gilead actively represses women by forcing them into very narrowly defined, ultra-conservative gender roles. This totalitarian government strips women of all rights and protections, and imposes severe punishments for defiance. Pollution and disease had caused severe infertility in this society, drastically reducing birth rates. In an effort to reverse a drastic population decline, this thoroughly misogynistic and power-hungry regime, takes full control over the human reproductive process. Furthermore, the leadership uses various dehumanizing methods to achieve complete subservience of women to men.
Imagine living in a world where roles are given, freedom is taken, and you must abide to the rules unjust to everyone. Would you fight back, or reluctantly follow these oppressive rules? Offred is an independent and emotional woman who is forced into labor. In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, women are forced into certain labor based on their fertility and status in this new society. Both men and women have become oppressed for the sake of the country.
Aunt Lydia’s more relevant quote in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, is the two freedoms, who gives the reader an accurate insight of the Gilead society. This quote exposes the contrast between the freedom before and after the settlement of the Republic of Gilead, and the mentality of the brainwashed nation. It is well known that the Gileadean era is a dystopia, but the reader must study deeper into both societies –Gileadean and pre-Gileadean- to understand which one is really worse. Before the appearing of the Republic of Gilead, freedom was seen as a person’s desire, however, on the Gileadean era, freedom is a collective idea. On the current community, freedom is settled by laws based on moral and social values, but ignoring the
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.
The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood in 1985. She is well-known for being a poet, novelist, inventor, essayist, and an environmental activist. She 's a feminist this is important because in her novels she often portrays the female characters being oppressed and rebelling against stronger males. Attwood is very interested in environmentalist issues and one of her main themes for her novels, particularly ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ include men interfering nature. The Handmaid’s Tale is about a totalitarian society set in Gilead which used to be apart of the United States.
Not only is abortion not safe, but it is not holy either. When the Bible talks about a pregnant woman, it says “with child.” It never says, “with fetus.” "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations" (Jer. 1.5). In this, God is saying that he knew Jeremiah before he was born (Melton, James 1).
Imagine a nation in which its government commands by a religion where women are separated into different titles and must conceive children for their commander. Their rights from before this regime, and anything deemed unholy by the government, are a thing of the past. This situation is the one represent in the Republic of Gilead, where the rules of society and its traditions are not taken lightly if broken. In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood shows that an oppressive government leads to the inevitable neglect and remiss of the rules through Offred’s characterization, irony, and flashbacks. Offred 's character development can show that her actions change .
