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The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

770 Words4 Pages

Kyra Wright
Ms. Milliner
EES21QH05
October 19,2016

Novel Based Essay

“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood is a novel that displays the life of women in Gilead . This novel shows how women of Gilead have no freedom. Atwood’s use of language symbolizes power . In Gilead women are not treated fair . The women are categorized by roles . Each of these roles wear a specific color . The government in which they live under does not allow the women to read and their vocabulary is stripped of words like freedom which probably gives them hope . The power that is symbolized by the author's language is how Gilead has so much control over the women's lives . …show more content…

They are not given any freedom and have to follow very strict rules . They are only allowed to wear red clothing . They were taught to own their fate and roles by the aunts . The aunts have power over the handmaids . The strictly believe in the gilead ways . In the novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood , implies , “I lifted bag inside, as she’d no doubt intended, and close the door. I didn't say anything to her. Aunt Lydia said it was best not to speak unless they asked you a direct question”(14). The aunts have the power over the handmaids . They teach them so that they can be better

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In the Handmaid’s Tale culture is seen through the handmaid’s religious actions, status, and norms. Having to learn different rights as a human can be difficult and these women have to adapt to the certain norms of being a handmaid. They have to get use to wearing the same outfit every day and sleeping in a bed that’s not theirs. Offred explains how everything she has to wear is red (1998:8) She doesn’t get to pick what color she wants to wear each day. They are being forced to wear long skirts with wings around their head in order to prevent them from being seen or from looking at things they are restricted from.

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In the book “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, the story takes place in the future. The book focuses on Offred’s life, whom is a Handmaid. It is described that a Handmaid’s duty is to reproduce. However, sexual interactions are strictly controlled. In the first half of the book, Offred gives the reader information about the Gilead world she is currently living in.

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In Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, the author introduces a dystopian future in which a second American Civil War has broken out due to declining birth rates and environmental disasters. Resulting in the rise of the Republic of Gilead, that enforces rigid social roles and enslaves the few remaining fertile women. In an effort to educate and warn those who listen to her story, the narrator tells of her experiences and thoughts during a time when she was deprived of all freedoms. Atwood conveys the theme, status defines worth within this totalitarian regime; this message is shown through the significance of the title, point of view, and symbolism throughout the novel.

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Throughout the show, handmaids are killed or sent away if they break the rules provided by higher

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In her book, The Handmaids Tale, Margaret Atwood depicts a dystopian future where the United States collapses and a new country, Gilead is established in its place by a Christian fundamentalist group. The hallmark of this story is the gross mistreatment of women in the society. Women in Gilead are seen as inferior to men. Due to effects of environmental pollution, the majority of the women are infertile. The few women who are fertile are taken away from their families.

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Handmaid’s whom are the fertile women in the Gilead society, are stripped from all freedom and rights, banned from knowing any form of literature and have to be submissive to men, allowing their bodies to be sexually used to produce children. In contrast, women who are not fertile such as Wives have their freedom taken away too as they are confined to doing assigned jobs around the house. In contrast, the Aunts and the Commanders are shown to have the highest rankings in the Gileadean society. They are powerful figures, with privileges such as the Aunts being allowed to read and write and the Commanders being permitted to get married and have a handmaid's assigned to

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