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Totalitarianism In The Handmaid's Tale

1251 Words6 Pages

The Handmaid 's Tale is one of Margaret Atwood most famous novels written during the spring of 1984, when the Berlin wall was still standing. Atwood creates a dystopia, which mostly consists of gender gap and oppression. The Handmaid 's Tale effectively portrays the United States as the modern-day totalitarian society of Gilead, which was illustrated as perfect by using the book of Genesis. Although the authors ideas are inherently and completely fictional, several concepts throughout his book have common links to the past and present society which the author herself calls a speculative fiction. The author uses a totalitarian system which includes aspects of Soviet system, to describe, deprivation, repression and terror with the use of …show more content…

The novel has created a society in which the only two important beliefs in a society are the ability to procreate and a strict belief in God. As mentioned above, Gilead was depicted as perfect by using the book of Genesis. The Handmaid 's tale holds several biblical references , some are obvious than others but most of them have been altered. The most important in a state of opinion would be. “It’s the usual story, the usual stories. God to Adam, God to Noah. Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth [...]. Give me children, or else I die. Am I in God’s stead, who bath withheld from the fruit of the womb? [..]and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children of her.” (Atwood 88) This verse was read to the Handmaid 's everyday at breakfast and before the ceremony just to drill it in their minds, even though most of them know those were not the right textual evidence from the Bible. The police are called “Guardians of the Faith” which suggest that they are guarding the beliefs of Gilead. Another biblical allusion depicted would be the Angels, so they are called. But they were simply Guards. “Carried by two angels” (Atwood 91) They are most likely driven from “Archangels” who symbolize strength, protection, and guardianship. “The Angels stood outside in with their backs to us. They were objects of fear to

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