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Totalitarianism In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

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Imagine a society where women either had to agree to be raped once a month or they could be free in the world. The only catch is that in order to be free, they would suffer out in the colonies, which are the areas of the country that had been affected by radiation. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale demonstrates this type of totalitarianism society. There are three different classes of women in this society: the Handmaids, the Aunts, and the Wives. The Handmaids were the women who chose to live in the Republic of Gilead. They were primarily only wanted for their ability to get pregnant and were “victimized by a totalitarianism system that attempts to control her [their] thoughts and dent her [their] humanity” (Thomas 90). The Aunts …show more content…

At this time, Offred is to get groceries. Offred usually does this with her friend, Ofglen, who is also a Handmaid in a different household. As a Handmaid, Offred must be submissive to the rules given to her otherwise she will be kicked out to the colonies or even killed. If one choses not to be a Handmaid, one would be sent to the colonies. In the colonies, the people living there clean up the mess from the battles going on. Living here, one is not fed much and is not given protective clothing (Atwood 248). In some colonies, there was radiation and the people living there only had three years before one’s skin would start to peel away and their nose would fall off (Atwood 248). Offred had to hide the fact that she was pretending to be a good Handmaid, but really, she was just trying to survive. She also had to learn to ignore that her family was taken away from her (Canton 13). Offred falls in love with Nick, who was the Commander’s helper. Living in this society as a Handmaid would not be a life many people would want. As a Handmaid, one must follow strict rules; their thoughts and actions would be almost completely controlled. Handmaids are forced to have sex with a man who does not see them as anything other than a “two-legged womb” (Atwood

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