Power In The Handmaids Tale

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Like the institution of slavery, women in Gilead were enslaved through biblical justifications. According to the Commanders, God intended the ultimate power to be in the hands of men, not only because man was created first, but also because it was woman 's temptation that expelled them both from the Garden of Eden. Women, therefore, must be controlled by man. Slave traders and owners also justified the enslavement of Africans, arguing that slave labor existed extensively in the Bible , and therefore God did not condemn the institution. Once a master acquires slaves, or a handmaid, he must rule over them effectively, to ensure that they will meet his needs . The political structure of Gilead is based around the church. The laws …show more content…

The images of power can be seen throughout the novel, but there are major parts that stand out to the reader from the aunt’s in the training centre to the secret meetings between the Commander and Offred . The first we see of the struggles of power between people is when the novel opens and we first see the aunts of the red centre with their electric cattle prods and their stern moral teaching and their stern looks. The aunts are given small amounts of power by the male dominated regime, like the ability to carry the cattle prods but no other weapons. "No guns though, even they could not be trusted with guns. Guns were for the guards…" (Atwood …show more content…

The Red Center is the place they take women who they believe are prime child bearers, and the women are taught how to become handmaids. A handmaid is a woman who goes into a home, usually of a high ranking official, to get pregnant because in this age of pollution and death, people are unable to procreate. The handmaids are sent to live in the homes and take the name of the male in the household, where their goal is to become pregnant. If she does not within three terms in three separate houses she is no longer considered "helpful" to society and may be sent away to the colonies to live out the rest of her life cleaning up radioactive

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