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The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

829 Words4 Pages

The world was once said to be a man’s world, and women’s only true purpose was to please and reproduce. In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Atwood writes about a dystopian society where religious extremist overthrow the United States government and turn it into theocratic dictatorship. The new government suspense the Constitution along with freezing women’s bank account and stripping them of their rights. Although this seems very far fetched, modern society is walking a steady path down that road. Modern United States and the Republic of Gilead, although being different, have a few things in common. In the Republic of Gilead, women were divided into fertile and non-fertile. The handmaid’s only role was to serve as a surrogate …show more content…

She admits to this when she is at the Center with the rest of the handmaids- to-be. After admitting to her very traumatic experience, she is shamed and blamed for the rape. The Aunts make the rest of the handmaids chant “her fault” while they ask who lead the men on. The Aunts are put in charge of teaching a handmaid how to be a handmaid, and how it is such an honor to be chosen as a handmaid. In the United States, rape culture is presented as something so normal, and claims are made saying that women “ask for it”. In Ohio, two high school boys raped an unconscious girl and posted the video of it online. After they were arrested, the media victimized the boys by saying these “star athletes’ futures were ruined.” The rape victim received numerous death threats because she wanted justice for herself. Another case, Brock Turner was a Stanford University student was “convicted on three counts of felony sexual assault for raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster” but was only sentenced to six months of prison. The judge believed that too much jail time would “a severe impact on Turner and his future.” He didn’t even get a slap on the wrist because he was a free man after serving three months of his six month sentence. The victims were once again accused of being the reason why they got

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The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

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Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale depicts a dystopian world in which women are denied their rights and forced to have children for the wealthy. Notwithstanding being distributed in 1985, the book is as yet applicable to secondary school seniors today since it resolves issues, for example, ladies' privileges, government control, and the risks of radicalism. This book is a must-read for high school seniors because it warns about the dangers of taking democracy for granted and losing sight of fundamental values. The significance of women's rights is one of the book's most important values. Women are treated as property and stripped of their rights in Gilead, and they are made to have children against their will.

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Throughout history, oppressive regimes have existed to expand the power of a few at the cost of many. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale tells the tale of Offred, a handmaid in the oppressive Republic of Gilead. Gilead strictly controls the actions of its people, especially its women, to expand the power of the men in control and combat falling birth rates. Their control consists of literal force and the use of psychology. Krickel, a psychologist, uses repression as a way to explain implicit biases.

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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.

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