Examples Of Rebellion In The Handmaid's Tale

How would you feel if you were controlled by a society? In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, Gilead is a dystopian society where people are told what to do and what not to do. Margaret Atwood demonstrates that restricted expression leads to rebellious actions by showing the rules being broken by the Commanders and Offred’s relationship as it’s developing. Although, society tells them they are restricted to certain actions, they disregard these rules and do what they desire.

Evidence of this is in Benedick’s friend group and how it changes throughout the play. At the beginning, Benedick associates himself with his war friends, poking fun at them and discussing his opinions on how outrageous marriage is. This is due to Benedick’s identity of a soldier at the time. He feels if he associates himself with respectable men that will play to his own reputation. However, after his sacrifice, leaving that identity behind, Benedick changes his social circle, ditching those men and allowing his judgment to direct him to people of good character and continuing his love for Beatrice.

“Oh beware, my lord, of jealousy! It’s a green-eyed monster that laughs at the person who is devoured by it. The one who is betrayed is perfectly happy, certain that he knows what lies ahead, as long as he doesn’t know his beloved has wronged him. But, oh, what tortuous moments are spent by the one who loves, yet doubts; who suspects, yet loves deeply!” Iago then explains to Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with his lieutenant Michael Cassio, but Othello is still contemplating on whether or not it’s true.

He has the duty to impregnate his handmaid Offred. He plays a hypocritical character because even though he creates the rules he breaks them. For example, the place he takes Offred wearing a lingerie, “‘What do you think of our little club?’”(Atwood 236). It was more of a brothel and he only took her to the so he could have the freedom to have sexual intercourse with her without having to restrain himself from showing pleasure and without his wife invading the room. Him having to act like he doesn’t take pleasure in having sexual intercourse made him take these measures.

His heart had grown so cold that he cannot give her mercy, so he rather decided to kill her with a clean spirit, to get the love and mercy from elsewhere. On that note, a guiltless death she dies (V,ii.

Although the audience is well aware of his hatred for Othello at this point, this soliloquy begins to delve into the mind of Iago. For example, Iago states “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse;/ For I mine own gained knowledge should profane/ If I would time expend with such a snipe/ But for my sport and profit” (1.3.375-8). Because Roderigo is in love with Othello’s wife Desdemona, Iago is just using him in order to achieve his goal.

The rules and style of London are something completely foreign to her and she ends up making many mistakes in terms of the rules at the beginning of her stay. However, unlike Madame Duval she learns from these mistakes and starts to learn how to avoid them. Evelina is caught in the middle of what society wants from women of this time period. She is naïve in many ways so she naturally ends up making mistakes.

(Atwood 231). She agreed because she knew it was risky and she did not care because it seemed odd. This leads to her having fun breaking rules because she does not know where she is going with the Commander and likes odd surprises. Strict leadership can cause rebellious acts among the people of the totalitarian government, also the leader can commit rebellious acts too. The Republic of Gilead can relate to other governments as well.

Laurie’s obsessive behaviors are seen throughout the play but this thought of war really heightens it. One of the main points in the the Psychology Today article is to “determine what you can control”. Laurie needs to have a reality check so she can realize that, even though to her it is terrifying, she has no control over the government. The article continues by saying, “When you find yourself worrying, take a minute to examine the things you have control over.

He can hold it when he's speaking.’” (Golding 36), which gives everybody a chance to voice themselves and support Ralph voluntarily. This strategy of gradually building a positive reputation prior to giving orders to the boys highlights Ralph’s ability to gain authority, whilst acknowledging that he is not superior to any of the boys. This is in comparison to Jack, who falls prey to the excitement of proving his hunting capabilities to the boys, using it as an excuse to lead the boys, which essentially serves as the cause of the chaos the island falls into. He eventually even destroys the conch, symbolizing his role as a catalyst in the loss of democracy, and thus

Despite all of General Zaroff’s success, fortune and his appeared attitude, Zaroff is in many ways not civilized. Civilized means being polite, well-mannered or treating others with respect. Well Zaroff treats Rainsford good at first evident by giving him a cocktail, treating him to a meal, and hoping to hunt with him until he says “I wish to leave this island at once”. This quote hit Zaroff in his heart.

Paul and Farouk have something to hide, but each keeps their secret for different reasons. First, Farouk was hiding his identity because Sang did not know any friends or family relating to him. Also, he never wanted to spend time with her housemate as the author says, “ He never said hello or good bye; instead, he behaved as if Sang was the sole occupant of the house. They never sat in the living room, or in the kitchen” (186).

Equality broke the law of no being with everybody, and not being in the place he was suppose to be at, he also didn’t report it straight to the council like he was suppose too. Conformity took place here because he didn’t report it to the council like he was suppose to and broke the laws. “It was a great tunnel. The walls were hard and smooth to the touch, it felt like stone but it was not stone.” (Rand 32).

It portreys that people can still care for their loved ones even if the society is tragic. In the story Anthem, the novella illustrates marriage as a crule action to take upon. The society in Anthem has strict laws that if acted, the person could be punished. “For men are forbidden to take notice of women, and women are forbidden to take notice of men.” (Rand 38).

In “Pleasantville” and “As in the beginning” the characters experience difficult situations, making all the things being hard to conclude, or come back for the natural state. Both have something to miss, about the old part of life. They could give up, but they didn’t, because they knew that all the things will be better or get in a good place in the end, but not for sure. When David and his sister went to Pleasantville, they didn’t know how to come back, they passed for big and hard moments. They were differents, they knew and saw things that no one could see, making they showing the truth about the world, because in this ville, the fire didn’t exist.