...The Handmaid’s Tale: Power and Corruption Governments impose a certain amount of power and control on their citizens in order for societies to function according to plan. In the Handmaid’s Tale, excessive control and power in the Gilead society strips the residents of their freedom, forbidding them to live ordinary lives. Men abuse their control and power over women in order to satisfy their personal needs and women are persecuted to the point of corruption. The Handmaids suffer the most due to the loss of their personal liberties and identities. Inhabitants live in constant fear for their lives, and are subjected to perpetual surveillance. The Gilead society follows a patriarchal law that women must obey their male counterparts. Since they believe that they are powerful, they think that they can get away with what they want. An example of the male abuse that occurs in the Handmaid’s Tale centres on Offred, who is trapped in Gilead as a Handmaid. She is one of the women valued only for her potential as a surrogate mother. Denied all her individual rights and personal identity, she is known only by the patronymic Of-Fred, derived from the name of her current Commander. Offred struggles with this new name with this statement, “My name isn’t Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses now because it's forbidden. I tell myself it doesn’t matter, your name is like your telephone number, useful only to others; but what I tell myself is wrong, it does matter...
Words: 887 - Pages: 4
...and Literature Essays Editing Services College Application Essays Writing Help Q & A Lesson Plans Home : The Handmaid's Tale : Study Guide : Summary and Analysis of V: Nap - VI: Household The Handmaid's Tale Summary and Analysis by Margaret Atwood Buy PDFBuy Paperback V: Nap - VI: Household Summary This section begins with Offred simply sitting alone, waiting. She had not been prepared for all this stillness, all of this boredom. She thinks about experiments they used to do on animals, how they would give them something to distract them. She wishes she had something to distract her. She lies down on the floor and begins to do her exercises, tilting her pelvis back. She remembers how at the training center they had rest time every day from three to four. Now she thinks it was practice for all of the waiting. She remembers how Moira showed up, after she'd been there for about three weeks. They couldn't talk for a few days, but finally during a walk they were able to plan a meeting in the washroom. The first time was during Testifying, which Aunt Helena came for specially. That day, Janine was talking about how she was gang raped when she was fourteen and had to get an abortion, and the other women respond as they have learned to, chanting that it was her fault. Despite the surroundings, Offred was extremely happy to see Moira. Now Offred thinks about her body. She used to see it as an instrument of her will, but now she sees it only as a container protecting...
Words: 2109 - Pages: 9
...eloquently stated in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, portrays the exact feelings of Offred, the main character in Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Taking place in a dystopian future, The Handmaid’s Tale depicts a totalitarian government under which women are harshly subjugated. Instead of accepting her current position as a handmaid. Offred longs to return to her previous life; however, in the Republic of Gilead, gender-based oppression is commonplace and often prevents Offred from achieving both her short and long-term aspirations. Similar to the painting Fair Rosamund by Arthur Hughes, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale examines how sexual oppression leads to the loss of identity, shaming of...
Words: 2399 - Pages: 10
...The handmaid’s tale rough draft paragraph • Margret Atwood in the novel the Handmaid’s tale uses language to make the reader follow and understand the multiple themes that are portrayed in the story such as oppression, representation of power and identity. • To start off with, The Prayer Reading machine in the novel that is present in the society of Gield, symbolizes education and knowledge in which speeches and form of communication are restricted. These things are restricted because of The Republic of Gield’s rules, where woman do not have the rights that they’re supposed to have such as having a basic knowledge, so therefore instead of all handmaid’s send letters which is impossible as literacy and reading are forbidden, characters in the...
Words: 481 - Pages: 2
...The Running Man and The Handmaid’s Tale offer perspective on dystopian societies. The Running Man, by Stephen King, is set in 2025 where society crumbles economically and TV networks now run society. They show sadistic game shows that are popular with the masses. The most popular is The Running Man, a show where a contestant is hunted by Hunters and the entire population for the grand prize of a billion dollars. The Handmaid’s Tale explores a dystopian society through the eyes of a woman who has to adapt to her new way of life. Both these novels have universal praise. Their innovation, thematic concepts, and perspective will be analyzed thoroughly. Observing both their protagonists and societies they live in. Both authors explored the themes of their respective novels mostly differently. The Handmaid’s Tale sees resistance against their oppressive society more internally than externally. Offred constantly battles internal...
Words: 1543 - Pages: 7
...Topic 2: Feminism in the 1980s thought that a woman’s culture and society would be one marked by pure sisterhood and equality. Discuss The Handmaid’s Tale as an exploration of the ideas of feminism, the treatment of women, and the control of women’s bodies. Feminism in The Handmaid’s Tale. Women have been treated very poorly through the years and in the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale women have no control of their bodies, the treatment they get from other is terrible and there is no freedom. Offred the main character is presented in the novel has a handmaid who’s only propose in life is to have a baby with the commander. She lives in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian state that has replaced the United States of America. She like other women have no freedom and are only allowed to go for shopping trip, but still someone is always watching. Therefore in the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the women have limited rights, limited freedom and limited control of their bodies. The women in Gilead have no rights and have to listen to the rules or the consequences result in death, getting send to the colonies or become a prostitute at Jezebel’s. They don’t really have a choice they can be handmaids to the commander and his wife or become a prostitute at Jezebel’s, but it’s not really a choice thy only have two options. The women in Gilead have to do play their roles in the society and not complain about it. The roles include: Handmaids, Marthas, Econowives and the...
Words: 951 - Pages: 4
...The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood in 1985. It is set in the republic of Gilead which has a highly structured hierarchy and a strict set of rules. The story is narrated by a young handmaid named Offred. Atwood says, “that the novel isn't simply a vehicle for private expression, but that it also exists for social examination.” Which is exactly what the novel serves as when it makes us criticise and reflect on the cracks in our society such as the totalitarian regimes that still reign today, gender inequality and the brutality of people higher up in society. In Gilead there is an obvious totalitarian regime and through the narrative of Offred, Atwood gives us a clear idea of her opinion on that. Offred was once a happily married woman with a daughter but she has now been caught up in the new Gilead totalitarian regime which has taken all that away from her and turned her into a handmaid whose only purpose is to bear children for her commander. The society is so strict that Offred has basically been reduced to a childlike state, she can’t pick what she wears, eats or says, she isn’t allowed basic necessities like moisturiser and she can’t even go to the bathroom unsupervised. The Gilead regime has taken away all of her personal freedom. Societies like these make us reflect on those in our own world such as the situation in North Korea. North Korea is run by a totalitarian regime, it is so strict on the people and they are in a similar situation...
Words: 909 - Pages: 4
...To what extent does The Handmaid’s Tale present the future as a feminine dystopia? A feminine dystopia imagines a world gone terribly wrong, exploring the most extreme possible consequences of current society’s problems. In a feminine dystopia, the inequality of society or oppression of women is exaggerated or intensified to highlight the need for change in contemporary society. The Handmaid’s Tale presents the future as this in many ways. Chapter 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale presents the future as a feminine dystopia. Religion is brought up as Gilead is seen to be trying to purify the values of women, for example Offred is only allowed a single bed, the words “nothing takes place in the bed but sleep; or no sleep” highlight the fact that a bed is only for sleeping, to purify her. The reference to nunneries also suggests there is religion involved in Gilead, Offred states that “time here is measured by bells, as once in nunneries. As in nunneries too, there are few mirrors” this suggests sexual contact for the Handmaids, or anyone, is forbidden, and the use of the word “once” suggests that Offred is like a nun, or feels like a nun, out of a nunnery and in a house. Also in chapter 2, the role of the Handmaids is introduced; we learn they are needed for something very important, as they are not allowed to attempt to kill themselves as it is said that “they’ve removed anything you could tie a rope to.” Also Offred says “I am not being wasted.” This shows that the Handmaids are not...
Words: 1501 - Pages: 7
...✰✰✰ The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. Fiction; 1986; 295 pages. This dystopian literature is the story of a woman who is called Offred, but her real name is never identified. In her society women are treated very poorly. They are either wives, who have an arranged marriage arranged by the society; a Martha, who is a house manager meaning they cook and clean; or a handmaid, who bare the children. Offred is a handmaid. She is in her last year of bearing children, and if she does not have one, she could be killed or taken to do hard labor. The handmaid's bear the children for the wives by having sex with the Commanders who are the wives husbands. The problem is, the Commander that Offred has worked for is not making her pregnant, and she has little time left. The story constantly switches from present day to her time with her husband Luke before she was captured and forced to be a handmaid. In the present day she is secretly meeting with the Commander, who is giving her magazines to read. In Offred’s society, women are not allowed to read so this is a big deal for her. She also is meeting with the wife who really wants a child, so she is hooking her up with a male helper named Nick to help get her pregnant. This is because the Wife, who is named Serena, does not think the...
Words: 431 - Pages: 2
...Oppression on Women in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, is memoir of a little girl growing in Iran. She refers to a secular pre revolutionary time through contrast, the oppressive characteristics of the fundamentalist government upon women in particular. Her work is a lot similar to Margaret Atwood's, A Handmaid’s Tale, in which the protagonist Offred reflects upon her former life’s freedom, cherishing her former name and in doing so emphasizes the cloistered and enslaved life that she must now endure. Although both Margaret Atwood and Satrapi show how a totalitarian state oppresses women in different ways by taking away the freedom to think and decide for oneself, both accentuating on the ways a woman should dress, which stratified society in Handmaid’s tale and enforced religious modesty in Persepolis. Growing up in the western society, we often think clothing as a means of expressing our individuality, our style, defining who we are. Offred grew up in a similar environment but it was taken away once she became a Handmaid. That was the precise reason why she felt “ fascinated but also repelled” (28) at the same time when she saw the Japanese tourist. She says she “used to dress like that. That was freedom. Westernized they used to call it”(28). She says this because she no longer gets to dress like the tourists any more. In a very little amount of time, the society has forced every individual to change...
Words: 960 - Pages: 4
...medium in which the author can bring to light the plight of people who are ostracized or marginalized for any number of reasons. From segregation and racial discrimination to inequality between Genders and the oppression of women, literature has the ability to reach out and usurp the perspective of the reader and provide them with a whole new one to shine a light on what life may be like being subjected to such experiences of “Otherness”. Both The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King are both books which bring to the fore the plights of two different groups of people: Women and the domination and subjugation of the gender is the basis for The Handmaid’s Tale, while Green Grass, Running Water identifies the attempt of Native Americans to hold onto their culture in the face of a society that disregards their ancestry and subsequently find themselves marginalized, and both books show how each of these groups attempt to speak out and resist despite the odds against them. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a book that explores the oppression and subjugation of women at the hands of a totalitarian regime...
Words: 1648 - Pages: 7
...In Margaret Atwood’s speculative fiction, The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood introduces a society where men place domination and governance over women. Women’s bodies, particularly Handmaids’ bodies, are used as political instruments that are under the government’s complete control. The epigram Genesis 30: 1-3 provides biblical justification for the Handmaid system and serves as a prophecy for how women’s worth in Gilead is dependent on their ability to bear children. Corresponding to the novel, the character Offred from the Handmaid’s Tale resembles Bilhah from Genesis, while Offred’s higher authority, Serena Joy, correlates with Rachel from Genesis. In Genesis 30:1-3, Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid plays a similar role to Offred, both of them are both...
Words: 925 - Pages: 4
...Atwood’s Look into the Future Margaret Atwood used The Handmaid’s Tale to depict the possible future of the United States. Atwood takes current societal, economical, political, environmental and gender-related issues and uses them to create a possible future that is just as oppressive as the country’s past, leaving the reader to contemplate what they can do as a human being to protect this earth, and/or society from becoming a country “established by religious fanatics who have dismantled the republic, liquidated the opposition and replaced out present political system with a quasi-military infrastructure,” (Kendall 149). Atwood brings up such issues as money, a predominantly male government, the environment, and the value of a woman’s body throughout the text in an effort to bring to light some of the typical controversies of present time. “Yet the book just does not tell me what there is in our present mores that I ought to watch out for unless I want the United States of America to become a slave state something like the Republic of Gilead whose outlines are here sketched out,” (McCarthy 150). Atwood makes her warnings clear through the Tale she has written. Atwood uses a common middle class woman, in an effort to sympathize with the majority of women in the United States, also known as Offred, to paint the picture of the futuristic, or dare I say historical, times. “[Offred] is simply a warm, intelligent, ordinary woman who had taken for granted the freedoms she...
Words: 2487 - Pages: 10
...English 1102 March 10, 2012 Escaping Gilead In Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, women are subjected to unimaginable oppression. Almost every aspect of their lives is controlled; they are not allowed to read, write, or even speak freely. Any type of expression would be dangerous to the order of the Gilead’s strict society, but the handmaids are conditioned to believe that they are safer and better off living there. However, not everyone is convinced that the Gileadean society is how it portrays itself to be. Through storytelling, past memories, and rebellion, the handmaid Offred is able to escape the reality of Gilead and cease to completely submit to its repressive culture. Rebellion is a way for Offred to access freedom. Handmaids speaking freely are not tolerated in Gilead, so to find a way to secretly speak is Offred’s way of escape: “We learned to whisper almost without sound. In the semidarkness we would stretch out our arms, when the Aunts weren’t looking, and touch each other’s hands across space. We learned to lip-read, our heads flat on the beds, turned sideways, watching each other’s mouths”(Atwood 4). Each unfiltered word is a source of freedom. To be able to converse freely keeps alive the nature of relationships between people like life before Gilead. Conversation brings release and the comfort of knowing that everything she does is not controlled. These small rebellions that Offred participates in are very significant. The fact that she chooses to engage...
Words: 1215 - Pages: 5
...seen object and not human beings. When Offred was at the doctor’s office to get tested for pregnancy and disease, the doctor tries to talk her into having sex and getting her pregnant. When she says know he tries to blackmail her, Offred says, “He could fake the tests, report me for cancer, for infertility, have me shipped off to the colonies, with the unwomen” (The Handmaid’s Tale 61). The doctor was not treating her like a women, he was treating her as an object. Offred was afraid of what was going to happen to her, she was thinking about all the possibilities. Once she thought about it she rethinks the whole situation and told him that she will think about it. This was also showing dictatorship because societies like this man have all of the power and women have no power. Gilead is also a dystopian society by how the women have no control over their money. In a society like this woman was not allowed to vote nor owned ownership of their job. For example when Offred was reminiscing about how she was fired from her job and her money was to her husband’s account. This shows that the woman in this society does not have any control and the man takes all the control. This goes back to what Aunt Lydia says about freedom within this society. Aunt Lydia says, “There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from” (The Handmaid’s Tale 24)....
Words: 570 - Pages: 3
