Patrick Henry was a political leader during the American Revolution, who was educated from home. He gave a speech on March 23, 1775 at the Virginia Convention that has became a great part of history. Henry’s speech was considered to have started the American Revolution. His speech caused the House members to fight for their freedom; he showed them reasons why they shouldn’t want peace, but freedom. He took charge and gave a speech that went down in history.
Research Paper on The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, creates a dystopia of the near future in which a conventional fundamentalist group rules what is left of the United States, which has now become “Gilead.” The Republic of Gilead has subdued women and reduced Handmaids like Offred, the main character, to sexual slavery. Offred yearns for happiness and freedom, and discovers herself struggling against the totalitarian boundaries of her civilization. The Republic of Gilead is a totalitarian state formed by a religious cult centered on ideas of bigotry and inequality, especially in relation to gender.
In Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, one of the many social issues explored was the rebellious actions of humans when their independence, freedom, and nature is taken away and controlled. In the theocratic government of Gilead fights to keep sex and sexuality apart by destroying pornography and sexual clothing, killing gays, lesbians, and abortion doctors, and force the society to participate in sexual rituals under the impression that they are supported by the Bible. This control causes a nation-wide fear of giving into human impulses and expressing freedom of speech, however due to the rebelliousness of human nature, this control and fear doesn’t hold. Atwood portrays this through symbols, simile, and humor.
Throughout the book Offred constantly imagines if Gilead were just a dream or what luxuries the people she previously cared about may be living in their new society. She states “I feel drugged. I consider this: maybe they’re drugging me. Maybe the life I think I’m living is a paranoid illusion. Not a hope.
Margaret Atwood, author of A Handmaid’s Tale, wrote “Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some,”(Atwood 211), showing that nothing can be perfect for everyone. A Handmaid’s Tale tells of Offred’s life before the Republic of Gilead takes over the United States and shows her place in the aftermath of the theocratic takeover. Although Offred is finally released from her position as a Handmaid by Nick, it is unclear if she survived the journey to Canada at the end. Accoring to Merriam-Webster, a utopia is “an imaginary place in which the government, laws, and social conditions are perfect” (“Utopia.”).
Margaret Atwood’s novel, "The Handmaid’s Tale," illuminates the transformative power of storytelling in navigating oppression and preserving personal identity amid societal disruption. Through Offred's narrative, Atwood explores language as a means of reclaiming autonomy and resisting authoritarianism, the enduring influence of memory in preserving individuality, and the pervasive dangers of religious fundamentalism in shaping societal norms. Offred’s private reflections, recollections of a lost past, and covert communications with fellow handmaids also serve as poignant examples of how storytelling ignites resilience and collective resistance in the face of oppressive regimes. Indeed, Atwood’s critique serves as both a cautionary tale against
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood depicts the future dystopian society, Gilead. There, the few remaining fertile women, called handmaids, are enslaved to a life of procreation to combat the dangerously low birth rates. The theme of oppression and rebellion is prevalent throughout the novel, and is best illustrated by Confutatis from Mozart’s Requiem. In his final hour as he composes Confutatis, Mozart begs God for mercy to be called one of the blessed to enter heaven. The compelling lyrics of Confutatis accompanied by intense orchestration parallel the lives of the Handmaids, who desperately seek to escape the oppressive world they are imprisoned in.
Religion is a major theme in The Handmaid’s Tale. Gilead is a theocracy, so there are tons of biblical references found all throughout Gilead, such as the women’s roles. Marthas are based on a New Testament kitchen worker, and the dominance of men over women refer to Adam and Eve. Religion is one of the things that keep the Gileadean society under control. The theocracy is rigid, some could say corrupt.
In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the Republic of Gilead actively represses women by forcing them into very narrowly defined, ultra-conservative gender roles. This totalitarian government strips women of all rights and protections, and imposes severe punishments for defiance. Pollution and disease had caused severe infertility in this society, drastically reducing birth rates. In an effort to reverse a drastic population decline, this thoroughly misogynistic and power-hungry regime, takes full control over the human reproductive process. Furthermore, the leadership uses various dehumanizing methods to achieve complete subservience of women to men.
Throughout history, women have often been subjected to prejudice and an inferior status to men. Due to sexist ideologies of men believing that women are not capable of controlling their own lives, women have often been reduced to the status of property. This concept is prominent in many pieces of literature to demonstrate the struggles women have to go through in a predominantly, male structured world. In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, the author illustrates a woman’s battle in an extreme society ruled by men to express the misogyny occurring in the time period when it was written, 1894. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia summarizes Atwood’s story as one that “depicts one woman’s chilling struggle to survive in a society ruled by misogynistic fascism, by which women are reduced to the condition of property.”
Aunt Lydia’s more relevant quote in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, is the two freedoms, who gives the reader an accurate insight of the Gilead society. This quote exposes the contrast between the freedom before and after the settlement of the Republic of Gilead, and the mentality of the brainwashed nation. It is well known that the Gileadean era is a dystopia, but the reader must study deeper into both societies –Gileadean and pre-Gileadean- to understand which one is really worse. Before the appearing of the Republic of Gilead, freedom was seen as a person’s desire, however, on the Gileadean era, freedom is a collective idea. On the current community, freedom is settled by laws based on moral and social values, but ignoring the
In this written text, the emphasis will be on Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale and as well as the way Atwood portrays women and how it can be argued to show the oppression of women. The main purpose is to analyze the way women are treated throughout this book and depict why they are represented this way in the society in Gilead. Then, comparatively, observe the men’s domination over women and how they govern this society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are stripped of their rights, suffer many inequalities and are objectified, controlled by men and only valued for their reproductive qualities. The Gilead society is divided in multiple social group.
In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood portrays a dystopian society which forces women into reproductive slavery to warn of the dangers of a Christian fundamentalist patriarchal government. These women, handmaids, have no rights and are raped by their owners, otherwise known as Commanders, every month in hopes of elevating the depleting birth rates. Offred, the main character and handmaid, only wants two things: her freedom and her daughter, but both were stolen from her. Women in Gilead, like Offred, are not seen as individuals, but resources with their most valuable asset lying between their legs. This demeaning viewpoint of women is horrifying in that it shares perspective with current misogynists and politicians.
“Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt power.”- William Gaddis. People take advantage of power when it is entrusted to them because of their own greed, which as a result lead to societal deterioration. In the story, “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood, the higher-ups from Gilead abuse the power that is given to them, ruining the life of the citizens in the society. This was the cause for the need of higher birth rates and fixing conflicts in the world, but this was handled immorally.
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 .
