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The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

570 Words3 Pages

In the beginning of the novel The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, Atwood immediately captures our attention by focusing on women’s freedom and humanity being taken away, especially that of the protagonist Offred. In the novel, Offred narrates the story of her life in part of the country that used to be the United States, but now it is called Gilead, a country that denies the freedom of individuals, especially women. The regime is a nightmarish reality where the women are forced into specific roles: The Handmaids, who have to conceive and carry the commanders’ children and wear a uniform that consists a red dress with white bonnet; the Wives, married to the commanders, are infertile and wear blue dresses to show their status; the Marthas, older women who serve as domestic servants in green attire; the aunts train the Handmaids for their role; and the Econowives who have a lower status, and do everything for themselves, but still have Offred’s (Of Fred) name signifies her role as a Handmaid, showing she belongs to a commander named Fred. …show more content…

Offred and the other Handmaids fight for their freedom in any way they can throughout the book. For instance, the regime had tried stopping people from having inner thoughts, but Offred still managed to keep her memories alive, by always trying to remember what life used to be without this regime. Part of that is remembering her real name and identity. Atwood shows how much names have a part in identity, which is a type of freedom an individual can have, something that helps a person relate to their history, where they come from, how others see them, and who they

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