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The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

567 Words3 Pages

The Handmaid's Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, is a story narrated through Offred’s eyes. She often expresses herself in rage, guilt, resilience, and hope. Through the lens of feminine critique, her story may include themes of power, reproduction, and resistance. Power structure is a prominent theme in the novel. With the construction of Gilead, women were deprived of their basic rights. They had no choice but to be controlled by men. Male figures are the literal embodiment of this structure. Commanders, especially, are the heads of authority, the enforcers, rule-makers. (gender roles) They maintain this power through symbols like handmaid's gowns, and their names being stemmed from commanders. Deception plays a significant role in this …show more content…

This may establish a sense of morality within the handmaids in fear of the Eyes, which causes betrayal. Reportings of wrongdoings are rewarded, creating a recurring cycle of perilous and false environment. Trust is dangerous in Gilead. In the red center, handmaids are forced to watch ( ) films on the Unwomen: ‘They want us to hear the screams and grunts and shrieks of what is supposed to be either extreme pain or extreme pleasure or both at once, but they don’t want us to hear what the Unwomen are saying’ (119). This forces the handmaids to be thankful for having a say in picking their role in society. They had a choice between bearing their womb, or being forced to the colonies and being met with unimaginable pain and death. Bible scriptures are also used to carry on this theme. Only commanders are allowed to read from the Bible during ceremonies. They are sharing their interpretations to the women in the household, upholding these mistaken beliefs: ‘Give me children or else I die.Behold my maid Bilbab. She shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her’ (88). This

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