What Is The Abuse Of Power In The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel which bases itself on the idea of recovering a society suffering from an alarmingly low birth rate. The women within the story have said to been rendered infertile. As a result, the fertile women are forced into becoming ‘Handmaids’ to bear children for the upper class. Within the newly established society, classes are segregated through distinct ranks and exploited through limiting circumstances and consequences. The theocratic nation also makes use of religion to manipulate the public and to justify their actions. Through the division of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, and the oppression of the lower class, Atwood was able to introduce the ultimate consequence of such dictatorial

Within the household, there are colours assigned to the members, such as ‘black, for the Commander, blue, for the Commander’s Wife, and the one assigned [to the handmaids], are red.’ These colour distinctions correlate the roles of such characters; the Commander has much freedom and power, the Wives, although in power, have limited freedom and are subjected to spending plentiful time alone in their homes. Imagery is also used to portray power distribution through the consequences of rebellion. The Gilead regime has intentionally publicised the death of rebels, such as those who look ‘like scarecrows’ are seen ‘hanged on the wall’. This deliberate representation of those who have been killed is used as a threat against the proletariat; a warning to whoever challenges the prejudiced hierarchy. By employing objectification, Atwood exhibits the dehumanisation endured by the lower class. The handmaids are subjected to language such as ‘carriers of life’, ‘walking wombs’, and ‘shallow rooted seeds.’ The oppression forced onto the proletariats in the dystopian Gilead is illustrated by Atwood through symbolism, imagery, and

By weaving ideas from the Marxist theory, Atwood uses intertextuality to effectively depict the eventual consequence of a dictatorial and theocratic society such as Gilead. Among one of the lowest classes were Handmaids, women who were starved of rights and freedoms. Karl Marx proposed the theory that when alienation occurs between classes and the lower class is restricted from the fruits of their labour, the lower class will rebel; they will repossess their earnings and the class division will cease to exist, ‘communism will replace capitalism’. As a result of this brutal oppression on the Handmaids, rose a ‘Women’s culture’ a unity of all the Handmaids. Despite the constraints forced onto them, they become ‘no longer single’ and even create a secret organisation; the ‘Grapevine’. Foreshadowing was another technique used by Atwood, Ofglen had mentioned ‘A fine May Day’ as an attempt of communication, and the thought of Offred to be able to associate it as mayday foreshadowed the true intention of Ofglen and the secret chain of operatives. The epilogue, set in the future recounts Gilead as a past regime, and the recollections of Offred which are compiled into ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. The epilogue is able to convey that the ‘Grapevine’ was successful in overthrowing Gilead. Atwood depicted he eventual repercussion of such