The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

The people confuse the common man with evil and to obey the wishes of God, the people must attack the source. This is clearly seen in the Red Scare, but the American people were not in fear of God, they were in fear of politics, or the government in general. The proof is in the statement, “A young Senator named Joseph McCarthy made a public accusation that more than two hundred “card-carrying” communists had infiltrated the United States government causing fear” (McCarthyism). They too attacked the source of fear, which they claimed to be Communism, but just like the witch hunters claimed the source to be the Devil. The people were so in fear, they had to reside all of their obedience into either the court led by God or the

Religion and government should not be combined because of the damaging effects of genocide, holy war, and terrorism. Genocide is the intentional killing of a large group of people. In the crucible, we see a mass of people hanged for the accusations of others in their community. In the crucible on page 109, Danforth is talking to Mary Warren and states, “You will confess yourself or you will hang.” This is not the first time Danforth has said this to people in the

By being written through a Canadian perspective, the United States would be the most appropriate choice because the country was known for struggling with retaining a stable foundation political and social wise. The most prominent event that put them in the spotlight was the Cold War. The political stirring between them and China caused a shift on what is considered the “correct” and “beneficial” power. Their win caused this story to be dictated and spread through the western world in the following years; it built the illusion that the United States does certain actions for the greater good. This political moral compass made the formation of Gilead in the said country doesn’t seem far-fetched.

According to Alanna A. Callaway, Gilead’s entire power structure relies on the disunity of women. Although Gilead’s system oppresses women, it is the few women in power that make the caste system dangerous for Handmaids. The patriarchal power structure of Gilead needs women to regulate each other, suggesting that gynocentric misogyny, or women hating women, is far more dangerous than traditional misogyny (Callaway 2008). This being said, the genuine threat in Gilead is not from the men in power, but the

Throughout history, oppressive regimes have existed to expand the power of a few at the cost of many. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale tells the tale of Offred, a handmaid in the oppressive Republic of Gilead. Gilead strictly controls the actions of its people, especially its women, to expand the power of the men in control and combat falling birth rates. Their control consists of literal force and the use of psychology. Krickel, a psychologist, uses repression as a way to explain implicit biases.

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 .

He uses religious metaphors to emphasize that Americans need to resist the vast and well-equipped oppressors such as the time when Moses parted the Red Sea and the people were left with no choice but to either cross the parted sea and close upon their “pursuers, or a life and death struggle will ensue between oppressors and oppressed - between those who would destroy and enslave and those who are seeking to enter into the inheritance prepared for them by a beneficent Father” (795). Weaver emphasises that currently in society, men have been reduced to slaves who are victims of corporate feudal powers and unless the common people do not acknowledge this slave relationship to the corporations, then more chaos will ensue. We, as human beings of God, should know through our history and past experience to steer clear of this danger by resisting the vast and well-equipped oppressors. This religious metaphor takes inspiration from Providentialism with the idea that Americans are living in a biblical epic and hence must act as moral agents for the sake of furthering God’s plan. Therefore, this biblical language and tone are familiar to Americans, therefore, easier for Americans to digest.

Throughout history, there have been countless coups, invasions, and wars that result in a governmental overthrow. Entire countries have their governments changed, however, the people under those governments also change both physically and mentally. Many are brainwashed and forced to obey the new laws of the land, leaving them in a damaged mental state. Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, follows the thoughts and actions of Offred, a key member of the alternate society known as the Republic of Gilead. Gilead divides women into different classes, each serving their respective purpose.

There are two ways people will react to when their freedom is taken away. They will either accept it or rebel against it, which is what a lot of the female characters in Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale accomplished. Shown through Offred’s repetition of certain events, Moira’s tone of being a fighter, and Serena Joy’s desperation, the reader can see that lack of freedom leads to rebellion. Offred, the novel’s narrator, now lives in a world where women are powerless. She has had her freedom taken away, and at times follows the rules, but ends up rebelling in many powerful ways.

Some of these methods include destroying identity through classification, objectification, and indoctrination. Most women of Gilead are sufficiently repressed that they seem to accept their assigned roles, at least outwardly resigned to their fate. Atwood uses gender roles in The Handmaid’s Tale to show the lengths to which misogynistic totalitarian governments will go, to protect their dictatorships. The Republic of Gilead is a hierarchical society which requires complete submission of women to men. By taking away women’s paid jobs, confiscating their property, draining their bank accounts, and giving them no recourse, the male leadership leaves women in a fully dependent and subservient position.

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.

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.

In face of severe situation, people often feel relief when they think of happier, simpler times in order to alleviate the severity. In the fiction novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, a theocracy government controls every aspect of life in order to produce the best result of its plans. At the beginning of chapter 12, Offred takes a required, but luxurious bath because she can take off the burdensome wings and veils. While she bathes, Offred remembers her daughter from the past and a time with her family. Atwood compares Offred’s past and present through imagery, tone, similes, and symbolism combined with parallel structure to highlight the vulnerability of women to their surroundings.

After the religious dissenters from Europe arrived in America, society was dominated by a clash of various religious beliefs. Those beliefs continued to dominate America for hundreds of years, up until the latter half of the 20th century. Religion was so strong in America that it dictated the lives of millions of settlers that lived in the colonies. People in America can now worship as they believe but no state religion is to be endorsed. Many different Christian denominations are being worshipped in America today.

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.