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The handmaid’s Tale final assignment The handmaid’s tale is a dystopian novel written in 1985 that was also turned into a Hulu series in 2017. The show does a great job at following the same storyline as the book. This is more than likely due to the fact that Margaret Atwood played a big part in the production of the show. However like many books that have been turned into movies, there are some differences between the two as well. In the opening episode we are introduced to Offred at the Waterford’s residence just as we are in the novel. We don’t receive much detail about why Offred is there or what has happened in this society the show builds us up to that point and we are still left with many questions. In the show we become more aware …show more content…
Both the book and the movie include details about Luke in fact, most of Offred’s flashbacks are centered around him. In the novel we learn about Luke and Offred’s relationship in the “old world” and that’s pretty much the end of it we are left to presume he is dead. In the show Offred meets the Mexican ambassador's assistant this man somehow has connections to Luke and she is able to send Luke a note that reads “ I love you. Save Hannah” Luke being alive opens a whole new door of opportunities and hope of escape for …show more content…
At first I was under the impression that all high ranking officials followed rules and there were no exceptions for anyone but as both mediums progressed and we are introduced to Jezabels I learned that this society is actually more corrupt than I once thought. As far as the society itself, we find out in the historical notes at the end of the novel that things did in fact change eventually because the professor is speaking of Gilead in the past tense. The labels in this society are what determine whether you have a somewhat tolerable life or not. There are the commanders and their wives, the guardians, the people like Nick (drivers), the Marthas, and the handmaids. The handmaid's are supposed to be considered the most valued members of society, but they are treated the poorest. The commanders and their wives are free to do most things as long as they do it with caution. The other citizens have almost no freedoms because of their
In the novel offred and others in that time was going through hardships, struggles and challenges.
Offred is one of the Handmaid’s in the Republic of Gilead. This used to be known as the United States of America but now it is Gilead, a theocratic state. Because of an issue that occurred, women lost all of their money and rights. Handmaid’s were then assigned to higher class couples that were unable to have children, that was the new job for the Handmaid’s. Offred was assigned to the Commander and Serena Joy, his wife. Offred was once married to a man named Luke and they had a baby girl together. When this issue started occurring and Offred lost her rights, her, Luke and their daughter tried to escape to Canada but were caught. Offred has not seen Luke or her daughter since that incident. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the most unorthodox characters are Offred, Serena Joy, and The Commander.
There are two possible events that can occur with Offred's arrest and readers have the ability to open the book to new possibilities. If Offred is arrested, she will likely be tried for treason and killed. However, if she escapes into freedom, she will have a new lifestyle away from Gilead. She is different from Winston as she only wants to survive and survives because of her memories of her past Conclusion:
The ability to create life is an amazing thing but being forced to have children for strangers is not so amazing. Offred is a handmaid, handmaid's have children for government officials, such as Commander Waterford. Offred used to be married to Luke and together they had a daughter but then everything changed; Offred was separated from her family and assigned to a family as their handmaid. The society which Offred is forced to live in shaped her in many ways. In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses cultural and geographical surroundings to shape Offred's psychological and moral traits as she tries to survive the society that she is forced to live, in hopes that she can rebel and make change.
Prior to meeting Nick, Offred abhorred her life as a handmaid. She was depressed and she even mentions thoughts of killing herself. Even though the Commander spends time with her, Offred still did not grew to love him or find comfort in him, as seen during the night the Commander slept with Offred; Even the commander was disappointed by Offred’s lack of enthusiasm. However, ever since Offred slept with Nick, she became enamoured with him. Nick became her source of content and joy; she idolized him. Even though she hated her role as a handmaid, she became used to it if it means she can stay with
Therefore, Gilead from Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is a more successful totalitarian regime than the Council from P. D. James' Children of Men due to the differences in their means of maintaining political power. Unlike the Council, Gilead gives every member of society a specific role and duty to which they must conform to. The Council exerts no control over the roles of citizens in society, and gives people freedom to do as they please, even if it is of no real value to the state. Theo is allowed to continue his work as a history professor, despite the futility of it and the fact that "history...is the least rewarding discipline for a dying species" (James 11). The Five Fishes also seemingly have no profession, or at least no profession which occupies enough of their time to prevent them from creating a pamphlet and planning a rebellion against the government.
Offred has not portrayed any heroic characteristics in The Handmaid’s Tale, through her actions of weakness, fear, and self-centredness. This novel by Margaret Atwood discusses about the group take over the government and control the Gilead’s society. In this society, all women has no power to become the leader, commander like men do. Offred is one of them, she has to be a handmaid for Serena and the Commander, Fred. Offred wants to get out of this society, that way she has to do something about it. There wasn’t any performances from her changing the society.
Hence, even though Offred is agitated at how society is, she is unable to share her frustrations with anyone else, and as a result, she is looking for someone to love and as a result, share her frustrations with. Unfortunately for Offred, she continues to remember Luke and misses him
Offred from The Handmaid's Tale uses different tactics to cope with her situation. She is trapped within a distopian society comprised of a community riddled by despair. Though she is not physically tortured, the overwhelming and ridiculously powerful government mentally enslaves her. Offred lives in a horrific society, which prevents her from being freed. Essentially, the government enslaves her because she is a female and she is fertile. Offred memories about the way life used to be with her husband, Luke, her daughter, and her best friend Moira provides her with temporary relief from her binding situation. Also, Offred befriends the Commander's aide, Nick. Offred longs to be with her husband and she feels that she can find his love by being with Nick. She risks her life several times just to be with Nick. Feeling loved by Nick gives her a window of hope in her otherwise miserable life.
...t create a feeling of disorientation towards the reader. Atwood does this to enable us to understand just how disjointed life is in Gilead. Offred continuously involves the reader, she directly addresses us and anticipates our response and even feels she has to justify some of her actions, she is a self-conscious narrator. Atwood is also preparing us for the revelation in the Historical notes that Offred is recounting her story into a tape recorder. The story is open ended; we are not told what exactly happened to Offred, Atwood does this in order to have more of an impact on the reader.
The society established by the Republic of Gilead in “The Handmaid’s Tale” is founded on and sustained by false doctrine. They intentionally twist and skew the Bible in order to justify their actions and brainwash the women who are involuntarily participating in their indoctrinated society. The Gilead does not treat the Bible as the divine word of God. Instead, they exploit its authority and use it as a tool for their own benefit. The very framework of the Gilead’s social hierarchy is in sharp contradiction to everything the Bible teaches, but because they are so corrupt and only use the Bible for their own advantage, they seem not to care. Instead of abiding by the teachings in the Bible and letting them shape how things are done, they hand-select and contort certain parts of it to match the framework of their own aspirations and beliefs, which are by no means Christian. Every piece of scripture that the Republic customizes is specifically suited to help them achieve their ultimate goal: indoctrinating an entire society for the purposes of personal power and authority. The end product is the unethical, dysfunctional society that is depicted in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The Republic of Gilead is by no means a true religious group, but they do use religion and skewed religious text as a reference for the foundation, justification, manipulation, and enforcement of their new society.
In The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, Offred was taken from her husband and child, brainwashed, and then forced into a new house where her sole purpose is to be a walking uterus. In a Brave New World by Aldus Huxley, people are made in a laboratory, no one cares about family, and everyone is high on soma. These two books are both different, but are also very similar. The main thing they have in common is that they are a dystopian society, the government controls everyone, and nobody has the freedom to do/live the way they want. However, why is it that so many authors write books like this? Where the world is controlled by terrible dictatorships, only the people higher up benefit, and the normal every day citizen is screwed? I believe that
Atwood reveals Offredís struggle by introducing the foil character, Moira. Moira doesnít get to tell the reader her story; rather, it is told through Offred. This narrative choice accentuates the difference between the two women. Both women dislike the situation in Gilead. However, while Offred resigns herself to her lot, Moira rebels against the regime. Moiraís character unfolds with her escape from the rehabilitation centerña risk none of the other handmaids, including Offred, would ever dare to take. In fact, Offred is frightened with the idea of escaping, not because of the consequences, but more because she is ìlosing the taste of freedomî and findi...
Offred’s journey is a prime example of the appalling effects of idly standing by and allowing herself to become a part of the Gilead’s corrupt system. This woman is a Handmaid which was recently placed within a new
Offred had been though many mixed feelings throughout this entire book. She has been able to feel, experience and thinks thoughts that she had not ever imagined that she would have. Offred can not escape the fact that in spite of the treatment from Serena Joy and the commander, that they both will have if not already have an impact on her life. Not to mention Nick also. Nick gave her the comfort and the security that she wanted, and at the end nothing done to her by the commander or his wife mattered to her. Living in the Republic of Gilead will always be a memory that she will probably try to forget.