Women In The Handmaid's Tale

Due to the harsh restrictions put on their livelihood, women of the Gilead Society are labeled based on a limited pieces of knowledge. The Gilead Society is a unique civilization, in which the founders “shot the president and machine-gunned the Congress” (Atwood 174). The hierarchy suppresses the fundamental rights of women, including their right to speak freely. The main character, Offred, shares her views of this society, and tells stories of her recent and non-recent past. The Handmaid’s Tale relates to a Ted Talk by the author Chimamanda Adichie titled “The Danger Of A Single Story,” Adichie discusses how people are labeled based on insufficient amounts of information, and thus given a single story. Similarly, in the Gilead Society the

Instead of individual skills or preference. One who cannot bear children fufills the role of a Martha, which described as “She's in her usual Martha's dress, which is dull green...but nobody much cares who sees the face of a Martha.” (Atwood 24). The only description given Atwood gives is their designated color, green. This overlooks the other characteristics that the women described in the quote has, and only describes a typical Martha. Thus, all Marthas are subjected to a single story. This story is of a woman who cannot give birth, whom is only useful to carry out their needed functions in society, which includes the responsibilities of a household servant. This reduces the identity of a woman whose role is a Martha to a simple color. Similarly in the essay “The Ideal Woman” by Jennifer Holt, women are subjected to clear roles in society, “A woman’s place is in the home with her family: ‘Motherhood and the care of the home and husband are the ultimate goals of a woman’s life and her greatest creative opportunity” (Holt). While this may be true for some women, not all women have the role of taking care of their husband and home. This in turn labels the entire social construct with this single story that women must stay at home at all times. Single stories are fabricated through consistency. All women in the Gilead Society are assigned a

Self- identification is much more important than the views of others. Hence when one changes the way that they see themself, it is a sign that their identity has changed. For example, when Offred prepares to present herself to her Commander she thinks “What I must present is a made thing, not something born” (Atwood 66). This quote epitomzes the way that women are viewed and treated, not as human beings, but as made things. A made thing is indistinguishable from others, in this case other women. Also, a made is thing is replaceable. Offred attempts to hide her actual self that has feelings, preferences and an individual identity. She wants to represent the single story of a Handmaid, and appear as an inanimate object that has one purpose in life, which is to bear the child of a Commander. Similar to Offred’s need to present a made made thing. In “The Ideal Women” the author described how women “felt it necessary to adhere to the domestic ideal as much as possible in order to maintain their identity as a ‘good woman, mother, and wife’” (Holt). This self-treatment is identical to that of Offred. In both societies, women are aware that they must present themselves not an individual, but as a representation of the single story that they represent. This is identical to the way that women’s identities have been robbed in the Gilead Society. “The Ideal