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Why Is The Handmaid's Tale A Dystopian Society

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In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred narrates her life during both the Republic of Gilead and the United States. In the dystopian society that is Gilead, women are subservient to men. They are placed in roles where many of their rights are stripped of them. Each woman must obey strict laws that pertain to their characters. Offred, the protagonist, is a handmaid. Her specific role is to reproduce for her Commander. While this may seem like a “fantastic” society for the men, where they can own concubines, wives, maids, and property, it is indeed not all it’s made out to be. During the conversation between the Commander and Offred, the Commander reveals why Gilead was founded. He tells Offred, “The problem wasn’t only with the women, he says. The main problem was with the men. There was nothing for them anymore . . . There was nothing to work for, nothing to fight for . . . You know what they were complaining …show more content…

Similarly, school has become such an easy routine that no one works for it anymore. In previous generations, the students worked hard to get what they deserve. There was no internet, no wikipedias, only merit. However nowadays, school has become increasingly easier. Often times I ask myself why I even come to school? Does our education system actually help us learn, or is it mere memorization of facts. I’ve come to this realization where “not-so-hard-working” students can obtain greater rewards than students who are more diligent. Most papers today are not original. With many open sources such as SparkNotes, Wikipedia, and Google, hardly anything that students create requires much effort. Honestly, is what I’m “learning” relevant? All I’m learning is how to do well on tests, how to manage my time, and how to get the most benefits with the least amount of effort. But maybe that’s what school is

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Lorenzo Ghiberti The Second Commentary Summary

358 Words | 2 Pages

The narrative of art that Lorenzo Ghiberti tells in “The Second Commentary” is how the Christian faith was victorious in the time of Emperor Constaine and Pope Sylvester (152). But the decline, began when everyone was ordered to make any statue and or picture in the color white (153). This, in Ghiberti’s opinion ended the art and teachings of sculpture and art. But, the rise of art and sculpture began when Greeks began to create paintings and sculptures over six hundred before the great era of Christianity (153). It is when Cimabue, one of the greatest painters from Florence took a young boy under his wing by the name of Gitto.

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The Commander In The Handmaid's Tale

1341 Words | 6 Pages

She is used by Commander for sex and companionship and had an affair with Nick (higher preganancy chance). Most of her actions are being forced “Which of us is it worse for, her or me?”(151) meant the sex between the narrator and commander is unbearable to the point of watching your husband having sex with another women right infront of you. Her only defiance done totally by herself is “I will use the butter later that night.” (113), everything else including escaping the Gilead, having an affair with Commander, having an affair with Nick and leaving the Commanders house are all stimulated by others. Offred represent those who does not stand against oppresion, being pushed around and used for sex.

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Control Of Women In The Handmaids Tale

678 Words | 3 Pages

“You wanted a women 's culture. Well, now there is one. It isn’t what you meant, but it exists. Be thankful for small mercies.” (Atwood 124) Offred is looking back on her past life to a story her mother once told her.

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Symbolism In The Handmaid's Tale

1410 Words | 6 Pages

It is narrated by the protagonist, Offred who is a handmaid forced into sexual servitude. Facing a plunging birth rate, the fundamentalist regime treats women as property of the state. Handmaids are the few of the remaining fertile women and their sole purpose is to help the government into re-populating their society, where a lot of people are left sterile. The Handmaid’s Tale deals with the theme of women in subjugation to misogyny in a patriarchal society, primarily. It shows the struggle that women have to go through in that society, as a Handmaid or as not being able to be one.

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John Taylor Gatto Against School

1297 Words | 6 Pages

Schools are like prisons. A student wakes up, goes to school, sits for an hour for each class, for seven classes, five days a week, nine months a year, for 12 years...if they do not decide to go to college. This monotonous routine has been shoved down the throats of students for years ever since attending school was made a requirement by the government and it doesn’t help today’s world at all. In her essay The Essentials of a Good Education, Diane Ravitch writes about the faults in our education system and how we need to refine our education system so that everyone benefits. In John Taylor Gatto’s essay, Against School, Gatto explores the realms of schools and how they are an outdated system that hurts individuals and encourage for people to

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Theme Of Marxism In The Handmaid's Tale

2035 Words | 9 Pages

Works of literature often portray ideas relating to Marxist theory, this is why in a dystopian society, class distinctions dominate the social climate, using Marxist ideologies as a tool to define the lives of the narrator and those around her. In Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, ideologies from Marxist theory dominate the society in which Offred, the narrator, lives in, evidenced by the strict class systems and limited interaction between them. In writing the novel, Atwood makes a point to create a world that could exist using technology and ideas already accessible in today’s society, meaning the events that take place in The Handmaid’s Tale could happen in present day. Offred lives in a reality where class distinctions dominate society, and women, especially fertile women. These women are displaced downwards, although there are those women who attempt to resist the grip of society.

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Stephen Guise How School Trains Us To Fail In The Real World Summary

782 Words | 4 Pages

In the article, “How School Trains Us To Fail In The Real World” Stephen Guise talks about how the education system does not prepare us for life. His article contains statistics and examples that show how the current education system lacks the ability to properly prepare students with the knowledge and skills to go out into the real world. Guise thinks that classes need to be updated and more applicable to life. Guise shares the quote, “Schools teach knowledge, but life requires wisdom” (Guise 1). He brings out the point that students are taught to memorize useless information, but not critical life skills.

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Rebellion In The Handmaids Tale

978 Words | 4 Pages

She knows that there are laws, but she is so desperate that she is willing to break them by suggesting this to Offred, “Maybe you should try it another way”(Atwood 204). She encourages Offred to break the law and have sexual intercourse with another man and plant it as the commander’s child. Her desperation make her take desperate actions and how she achieves to rebel against the government. The Commander the one above all and on top of the official classification of Gilead-Men. He has power and in control of the household.

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Dehumanization In The Handmaid's Tale

783 Words | 4 Pages

“What it really means is that she is in control of the process and thus the product. If any.” (109). The society of Gilead wants to make sure that the child is the Commander’s wife’s child as much as possible, and they believe that by having Serena Joy hold the hands of Offred, then that is possible. In this way, Offred, and all of the other Handmaid’s are sexually dehumanized.

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Resistance In The Handmaid's Tale

928 Words | 4 Pages

At the same time, the Historical Notes reveal that other records of those who lived in Gilead also exist (346). Though Offred has never participated in a coordinated regime subversive activity, her story, along with those of other survivors, now form a polyphony of resistance. Storytelling in The Handmaid’s Tale performs various functions: it is Offred’s way of resistance, her survival strategy, her intellectual pastime, and a testimony to the future. By telling herself stories she escapes into memories, shape and change her experience, and substitute the lacking communication. She uses storytelling to preserve herself, to validate her existence, to prove her life matters.

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Gender Roles In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaids Tale

1035 Words | 5 Pages

This year is the 30th anniversary of the publication of Margaret Atwood 's dystopian classic, The Handmaid 's Tale. The novel is told from a first person account of a young woman, Offred. In an age of declining births, she is forced to become a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, the imagined future in the United States. The Handmaids are to provide children by the substitution of infertile women of a higher social status. Through the creation of different characteristics of female characters – ones who are submissive yet rebellious, and like to take advantage of their power - Margaret Atwood portray themes of love, theocracy, rebellion, and gender roles.

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Oppression Of Women In The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

996 Words | 4 Pages

In this written text, the emphasis will be on Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale and as well as the way Atwood portrays women and how it can be argued to show the oppression of women. The main purpose is to analyze the way women are treated throughout this book and depict why they are represented this way in the society in Gilead. Then, comparatively, observe the men’s domination over women and how they govern this society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are stripped of their rights, suffer many inequalities and are objectified, controlled by men and only valued for their reproductive qualities. The Gilead society is divided in multiple social group.

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Examples Of Rebellion In The Handmaid's Tale

711 Words | 3 Pages

Rebellion in The Handmaid’s Tale Imagine not being able to do what you used to do because some actions are forbidden in this new society. In the Handmaid's Tale, Gilead is a dystopian society where people are limited to certain actions. Throughout the story, Offred’s actions are rebellious because she has broken so many rules. Atwood demonstrates that restricted expression leads to rebellion by showing the Commanders and Offred’s affair developing throughout time and the actions of both characters.

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The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

1101 Words | 5 Pages

Imagine a nation in which its government commands by a religion where women are separated into different titles and must conceive children for their commander. Their rights from before this regime, and anything deemed unholy by the government, are a thing of the past. This situation is the one represent in the Republic of Gilead, where the rules of society and its traditions are not taken lightly if broken. In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood shows that an oppressive government leads to the inevitable neglect and remiss of the rules through Offred’s characterization, irony, and flashbacks. Offred 's character development can show that her actions change .

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Political Issues In The Handmaid's Tale

988 Words | 4 Pages

The subjugation of women is evident in the Gilead system as each Commander is given a handmaid whose name is “Of” the Commander’s name. Handmaids have no identity of their own and are similar to sex slaves at the mercy of

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