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The Handmaid's Tale Research Paper

1624 Words7 Pages

The Oppression of Women: Real Life or Fiction? In history women have fallen victim to the inferiority of men. This is present in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and also in today’s society. The struggles of women are a result of men believing that they can retain power over women and their rights. The Handmaid’s Tale gives us very good examples of this. Women of today can all too well relate to this. In this paper I will be discussing issues that women face such as men’s power over women, their rights and freedom; along with general labeling tactics that women fall victim to in today’s society along with The Handmaid’s Tale. Women are often characterized as fragile beings by some aspects of society. This is strongly shown in The Handmaid’s …show more content…

The categories are represented by colors. The Handmaid’s wear red. The red represents fertility, menstruation, and childbirth; which is everything a Handmaid is known for. The Handmaid’s realize this connection too. The narrator says “Everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood, which defines us” (8). The Wives wear blue. Blue normally represents virginity and purity, which is an ironic twist because it is qualities that the wives do not possess. The Commanders wear black. Black represents authority and power. The Commanders wearing this color is an example of their power over Gilead. The Martha’s wear green. Green often represents jealously which is the feelings between the Martha’s and the Handmaid’s. These colors can relate to the colors women are identified for in today’s society. Red is a color that represents blood, which is what women are known for essentially. This is also seen as a “sexy” color; when women wear red they are more sexually objectified. Green still represents jealously. Blue is known for wisdom and purity; the Virgin Mary is often connected with the color blue. The color black represents the same thing it does in the novel, power. Men who are in high positions wear black suits, showing off their

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