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The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

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Recommended: Discuss the right to freedom of expression

One’s sense of self is often defined by his/her freedom to do, act, or speak how they please. Without the basic civil liberties that we, being Americans, take for granted in the present day such as the freedom of expression, the freedom of speech, and the freedom of protection, we would not be the self-respecting, unique individuals that many are today, but rather a mass of indistinguishable American citizens. In America, and democracies with similar ideologies, the freedoms granted to each citizen allow the diversification of each individual person. However, in some countries with a harsher, civil-liberty-abusing government, it may be difficult for people to find their sense of self with the absence of their freedoms. The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, details the lives of women within one of …show more content…

While the men, for the most part, live easily in that they can enjoy the freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution, they are trapped in a mental sense, as they have no form of real communication or relationship with anyone other than business cohorts. Women, however, are both physically as well as mentally trapped. Specifically, the section of women known as the Handmaids are not only stuck working in submission for a household of people they did not choose, but they are also physically confined to the house, as well as the daily silent excursions to the town center. Handmaids are women reserved for repopulating the diminished population of the Republic of Gilead. Because they are the only reproducing class of women within the republic, they are more oppressed than all other citizens, as the government would like to protect the women as vessels for carrying the future of the Republic. Through the eyes of Offred, Atwood is able to highlight how entrapment can lead to a greatly diminished sense of self and loss of

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1310 Words | 6 Pages

(Atwood 187). Although Handmaids experience oppression by the Gilead regime, Atwood emphasizes the importance of unity and collaboration in the face of difficulties. The government of Gilead presents how hypocritical their society is toward women’s rights since the government uses a form of manipulation to make the Handmaid’s circumstances more tolerable. Additionally, Offred expresses how women do not have a right to their bodies because of the power others have over them as Offred states “I am abject” (Atwood 331). Offred expresses the removal of her individuality, autonomy, and basic human rights.

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162 Words | 1 Pages

The one issue that I see with the Federalist Papers that are affecting the United States today are the Checks and Balances. James Madison explains and defends the system. The delegates tried to make sure that they could limit the power of the three branch of government. To make sure that no branch became to powerful than the other.

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1670 Words | 7 Pages

The Innocent and The Evil Categories are everywhere, within schools and novels. Society tends to have the imagery of innocent and harmful people, those who suffer and who benefit. “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood and “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak both show prime examples of innocent and harmful people. In these novels, two adjectives are shown throughout in different ways by three key points: overpowerment of a government, loss of individualism, and young love.

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145 Words | 1 Pages

From the website, I found some recommended community that talk about the "fertilization ritual" to eye-catching ways, and almost they excited to let people see what is “the uterus with two legs” in The Handmaid’s Tale. Also, my attention for author’s claim that this fictional society is not an invention, but a theocracy society and a totalitarian that was there and is still there in the world (Atwood 316). Even, the uterus is against the Margaret Atwood’s original intension, the reader wants to discover how female explores her power through their body, and restructure of her body by narration. But, the female body such as an inescapable theme still existed, through some biologically and physically reasons, the female was deprived of some

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285 Words | 2 Pages

Margaret Atwood began writing one of her most famous novels, The Handmaid’s Tale in the Spring of 1984 while she was living in West Berlin. The Berlin Wall was still in place at this time. As she visited several countries, she experienced firsthand the wary feelings of being spied on, the oblique ways of conveying information, changes of subject in conversation, as well as constant fear and paranoia. These emotions she felt at this time had an impact on Atwood as she continued to struggle in her writing of this novel. Atwood was born in 1939, so she was conscious of what was going on in World War II.

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1656 Words | 7 Pages

Every day, someone was spilling and stealing Mrs. Wasti’s milk saved for making yoghurt. But the thief did not steal or spill anything else. Mrs. Wasti, the only human being living in her house, shut the door, windows and holes to protect her milk, but nothing helped. Meanwhile, rabbit-sized rats and pesky mice began to chew her grains and clothes and make noise all night, depriving her of sleep. Mrs. Wasti was exasperated and frightened.

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1185 Words | 5 Pages

The Handmaid’s Tale: How Realistic it is There is a feeling of relief after watching a horror movie because the viewer understands that what they just watched was not real. It could not occur in the real world. While reading The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the reader is not left with that relief. Atwood has a way of writing which makes the reader believe in everything that is happening during the novel and its ability to happen in real life.

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678 Words | 3 Pages

In the Handmaid 's Tale power is used to control the women and sort them into certain gender roles. Each women in the society of Gilead is assigned a certain job that is stereotypical of a woman 's job such as cooking, sex, and reproduction. These women are the lowest class in Gilead and have no control. The men have superior power of the women but the women such as Ofgeln and Offred gain control in power in their lives. Men have an upper hand in the control of these women.

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206 Words | 1 Pages

In The Handmaid’s Tale, human reproduction seems to be the driving force behind the totalitarian regime put in place by the government. This importance placed upon reproduction is due to a large decline in fertility, due to a number of environmental factors. The Republic of Gilead also seems to be a patriarchal society. Men are seen as superior, and they have more freedoms than women. Men are not seen as part of the reproduction problem.

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1364 Words | 6 Pages

(Atwood, 194). In the end all the methods used to protect women only reinforced the discrimination, and Handmaids are depicted as baby machines. All this class struggle leads to one answer, in this society freedom is all about what you are forced to achieve to serve the nation. Individuals do not settle their objectives, but the government that force them to accomplish them because they are morally correct. Women are expected to do their job, their “uses”, since it is for the wealth of the

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996 Words | 4 Pages

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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1462 Words | 6 Pages

Through the character of Offred and the other handmaids, the novel portrays a society that seeks to control women's bodies, minds, and voices. However, the characters' unwavering determination and perseverance in the face of this oppression inspire readers to resist and fight for a better future. The relevance of the novel to modern society lies in its exploration of the political, economic, and social factors that give rise to totalitarianism and oppression. By examining these structures and systems, the novel offers insights into the root causes of these issues and invites readers to think critically about the world around

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1141 Words | 5 Pages

In this frightening society, women are not allowed to speak freely, therefore, the handmaids learn how to lip-read, and to whisper at one another while they are at the Red Center (where handmaids are trained for their mission), as their only way to communicate with another person, and to maintain even a minimum of human contact in a society that has amputated their ability to feel as a normal human being. Even though this is pure fiction, sadly some common threads between Gilead and our society can be found. For instance, in some South Asian countries, women’s rights are non-existent, they are treated

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1101 Words | 5 Pages

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 .

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988 Words | 4 Pages

The subjugation of women is evident in the Gilead system as each Commander is given a handmaid whose name is “Of” the Commander’s name. Handmaids have no identity of their own and are similar to sex slaves at the mercy of

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