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The Handmaid's Tale Women Essay

754 Words4 Pages

Women in Gilead are being treated as if they have no feelings. In the Novel The Handmaid's Tale, men are regarded as being more superior to women and treat them very poorly. These women are being stripped of their rights, restricted from loving, and are being blamed for not being able to deliver a child. Women are allowed no freedom and very little rights in Gilead. During the time when women are being stripped of their rights, Moira tells Offred that “women can’t hold property anymore, it's a new law”. The government takes away all property from women because they believe the men are the only ones that should be trusted to hold any property. The Handmaids are also being watched everywhere they go. As Offred walks with Offglen she thinks about …show more content…

The members of a house depend on the Handmaid to conceive a child. It is up to the Handmaids to provide a child for every member of the house to care for. Rita, a servant in the house Offred is assigned to, is really counting on Offred to deliver a child for her to love and care for.“Rita scowls at me before slipping in to stand behind me. It’s my fault, this waste of her time. Not mine, but my body’s, if there is a difference.” Offred is blamed by everyone for not being able to conceive the child they had hoped for. These women are also blamed for any sexual events that occur, even if it is not their fault. When Offred was in The Red Center, she listened to a rape story of another girl. The girl that was raped was very upset by the flashbacks she was having of the events. The Aunts wanted to put in her head that it was her fault rather than the men who had raped her. “But whose fault was it? Aunt Helena says, holding up one plump finger. Her fault, her fault, her fault, we chant in unison. Who led them on? Aunt Helena beams, pleased with us. She did. She did. She did. Why did God allow such a terrible thing to happen? Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson.” () The girl is blamed for the events that led to herself to getting raped, none of it was her fault. The Aunts are putting bad things in these women’s minds and making them think that everything bad that happens is their

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