The reason they chose that name was because United states was going through an infertility crisis, and we know from the bible that Jacobs wife Rachel, was an infertile woman, so she let her husband Jacob have sex with another woman called Leah, to give her children. And that originated the idea of the handmaids. However, this novel, talks about how women have resisted Gilead 's horrible laws, that has divided them into classes, took their freedom, and how they made men dominant over them. regardless of the compressive essence of Gilead, many characters still managed to resist Gilead’s harsh laws, but not all of them could success. The handmaids, were a group of women that were kept in the system only for reproductive purposes.
2017 Biblical Re-readings: Lot’s Wife As a Critique of The Book of Genesis In what ways are the voices of history and tradition present in the work? One of the angels grasped [Lot’s wife’s] hand (Genesis 19:16) and God asked her “Don’t look back … !” (Genesis 19:17). Yet, “Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” (Genesis 19:26). Lot’s Wife by Wisława Szymborska is a commentary on the story from The Book of Genesis. In a single stanza, questions of morality and deity arise.
It has been cherry-picked from a Bible story in which a sterile woman named Rachel begs her husband for children, using that phrase to express her sorrow. The Gilead society has used its power and corrupted the original story by taking the phrase literally, sending the Handmaids to a certain death in the colonies if they cannot bear children after a specified time. During the Prayvaganza, the Commander in charge of the service claims that the young girls’ arranged marriages benefit women by saying, “We’ve given them more than we’ve taken away...think of the trouble they had before..some of them were desperate, they starved themselves thin or pumped their breasts full of silicone, had their noses cut off. Think of the human misery”(Atwood 219). By saying
Gilead is proof that how people change the religion, Bible in this case, in order for it to fit their narrative and use it to oppress others. One way they did this was by using salvagings or hangings to show what happens to people who did not follow the rules, did something against religion. During the Particicution they bring out a man who is accused of rape. Aunt Lydia points out "The
Motherhood is the most basic human right, and slaves are being stripped of their ability to have families. No white woman in America would ever ‘wish that she and they [her children] might die before the day dawns,’ so Jacobs includes this notion to appeal to the maternal instincts of the women reading her narrative. It creates a sorrowful tone that veils underlying anger at the unjust nature of this New Year’s practice. Furthermore, she creates more sympathy for the situation of slave mothers by reminding her white audience that slave children are ‘torn’ from their mothers at a young age. The word invokes a different emotional response from her audience; it invokes a feeling of longing for their children and sympathy for the mothers.
Child marriage is the violation of human rights under Article 16 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that men and women of full age are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution (United Nations). By definition, child marriage is forced marriage, because children rarely decide upon their future partner, and lack the maturity to make such a significant decision. The practice of child marriage repeatedly denies education to young brides as they are put into roles of being mothers and housewives. They struggled to receive the same treatment as everyone else and are expected to be failures. Child marriage causes many young girls to leave behind their hopes and dreams of becoming who they will want to be in the future.
The novel opens with an opening letter where we discover that Celie the main character was savagely raped by her step father. Such a bold beginning lets us know that Celie 's life is anything but ordinary. The sanctity of the family unit so important to the American way of life is destroyed. The shocking details of rape as Celie writes are sad but a factual everyday occurrence. Celie understands that as a Black woman she is seen as worthless having a meaningless existence.There is no other way of life.
In the documentary Whores’ Glory, a Madam of one of the Indian brothels is interviewed. She illustrates the vicious cycle that befalls women involved in the sex industry: This is our whole life. What else do we have? Think of my daughter. Because her mother is a whore, no one will marry her… When I am very old, I won’t be able to support her.
Nathu Ram’s ill treatment is also backed by his merciless wife Uttam Kaur or Biwiji. She becomes the epitome of exploitation in oppressing her teenage servant to show her superiority. She makes his life hell and because of her orthodox mind set. For her Munnoo was not at all a human he was something to be hated all the time. The third phase of Munoo’s life is dominanted by Ganpat for Munoo’s miserable condition in the third phase of Munoo’s life.
The pregnant women who were raped either had miscarriage or delivered deformed children. The mothers of the raped girls was unable to speak due to the severe trauma. The sons whose mothers were raped refused to even look at the faces of their mothers. After begged by their wives,some husbands accepted them so that their childrens will not be orphaned but then also they were never treated with the respect that they deserve as a wife or as a mother. In one case, a 80-year-old victim was kicked out of the house by her son and in other case, one sister was raped, but the stigma casts over all the six sisters.