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.
Throughout chapter four Atwood describes the woman 's loss of identity and how ashamed they are at life. “I drop my head and turn so that the white wings hide my face, and keep walking” Offred is nearly humiliated and embarrassed about the life she is currently living. The handmaid’s are not allowed to find in full-indicates this shows how controlled they are. “A shape like mine, a nondescript woman” women are all the same, such as, they all have the same task in hand, they feel as if there idently has been strpied from them. In the society handmaids live in they could just “simply be replaced” as is if no one would notice.
In The Handmaid’s Tale, the effects of suspicion on a society, on handmaid’s, are clearly visible; it can also be seen that the government’s method of control leads to the creation of a dystopia. The Handmaid’s Tale proves that a society built on fear and shaped by suspicion achieves near total control of the population by the ruling class, the government of Gilead in this case. In chapter 42, Aunt Lydia describes how they will no longer announce the crimes that the prisoners have committed at the Salvagings. Once Offred learns this she states, “Now we are left to our own devices, speculation” (Atwood 275). Therefore, through Offered, the reader is able to see how the handmaid 's will now have suspicions of what the prisoners did to get hanged, since they are no longer being told.
In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood demonstrates a quizzical protagonist, Offred, in a dystopian, totalitarian society where fertile women are only a mere vessel for child birth. Every month during Offred’s menstrual cycle her Commander, Fred, and his wife Serena Joy perform detached intercourse while Serena holds Offred’s hands. The handmaids of the Republic of Gilead are not allowed to use their mind for knowledge nor take part in formal society. They are but the vacuous-minded property to their Commanders and their infertile wives. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred discloses the day to day moments and her commicalOffred had once lived in a world where she was her own person with a job and a home with a family of her own but now she lives under unfortunate circumstances that disable her from being a true, soulful human.
Throughout the handmaid 's tale Margaret Atwood sticks to a theme of power and privilege and the role it plays on society as a whole. She shows the handmaids and how they are affected and represented to help get this theme across to the reader. They are seen as women saved from their sins, they are seen as an object used for carrying children, and although they’re fertile, they’re easily disposed or
The truth in The Handmaid’s Tale is that the new way of life is the best way. No more danger, no more risks. It is now a more ordered society that each person has a role to play. If only everyone believed it, Offred is not only aware that the seamless society has some rips in the stitches, but also questions it. She allows tiny slips of memories from her past, and the past culture.
Now if a Handmaid does a crime (which could literally be anything) then they have a strong possibility that they would get killed. In chapter 42 of The Handmaid’s Tale, there is a district ‘Salvaging’ which is a recorded event where they hang women (or men) for their crimes. It is in front of everyone, Aunts, Wives, Daughters, and Handmaids. In this particular section there is one Aunt and two Handmaids. Atwood didn’t go into detail of the crimes that they had committed.
recorded by Offred found later. In an academic conference of the year 2195, historians discuss the authenticity of the Offred’s stories. I think the Handmaid’s Tale deals with problems that the modern society faces such as fundamentalism, extremism, and objectification of women in today’s society. Atwood’s portrayal of these problems in extreme circumstances functions as a warning to the society. It shows that serious consequences will occur if these problems stay unresolved.
This contrasts from the rather mechanic and automated voice Offred has when she becomes a Handmaid, replying with contrived phrases such as “praise be” to other Handmaids. Thus, Atwood’s choice of making Moira’s tone of voice tenacious and even sarcastic, leads to the notion of Moira being an important symbol for rebellion amongst Handmaids. Moira is characterised by Offred in Chapter 22 as a “loose woman.” Offered contemplates what Moira would do after her attempted escape of the Red Centre: “At any moment there might be a shattering explosion, the glass of the windows would fall inwards, the doors would swing open…Moira had the power
The use of the noun ‘blood’ implies this notion. Common associations with this noun tend to range from pain to aggression. Moreover, the reference to these ‘wings’ around the narrators’ face shows the firmly established thread of extremist religion throughout the novel. As the narrator is almost hopeless, Atwood creates a strong bond between religion and The Handmaids’ to evoke their desperation to escape this dictatorship. The fact that the narrator solely keeps her thoughts about this oppressive society to herself, and merely conforms to the values and rules set in front of her shows her innocence, yet also illustrates the notion that she believes that the society that they live in is unjust, yet she does not seem to act on these beliefs, and rather keeps them to