To America And The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

What is Freedom? Freedom is a word that has been used many times and in many places throughout the course of time. Freedom is defined as the state of being free from physical constraints or external regulations. This is a very simplistic definition of freedom. In actuality, freedom has many meanings. Freedom for one person can be taking away the freedom of another person. For example, if one person is free to play loud music outside. The person next to him is not free from hearing the music that the other person is playing. Christopher Lasch talks about contentment in America in his article “Tried & Found Wanting”. Margret Atwood the author of “Letter to America” and The Handmaid’s Tale addresses many issues in her essay “Letter to America” that leads her to believe that the United States is in peril. Atwood addresses many issues such as freedom which she

One of the issues she points out is why America is acting as a world police. Atwood says “I think your recent Iraqi adventures have been taking the long view an ill-advised tactical error”. She clarifies that America has shifted on making other countries better while averting helping the United States become a better country itself. People are able to enter the country without anyone knowing which creates doubt of the safety of its own citizens. She also talks about privacy and says “you can be snatched away and incarcerated without cause, your email can be spied, your private records searched” (Atwood). This creates a sense of insecurity and fear from its own government which is supposed to protect their rights as well as create a sense of security and trust between its citizens and them. This makes Atwood think that the United States government is taking the freedom of personal life away from its people. Freedom is one of the founding ideas that our constitution was found on with liberty and justice for