Jasdeep Walia
Mrs. Ciufo
ENG3U1
27 April 2016
The Nature of a Totalitarian Regime
In Some societies extreme religious laws and rules is followed as a solution to problems. Allowing religious fundamentalists to run a regime can lead to injustice, for certain people in the regime. In the Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaids tale such things like these take place where freedom is revoked and nightmares are reality for the women of Gilead. The novel presents as a totalitarian society where there is a governing system in which a ruling command holds all power and controls everything in the society. The regime takes it laws very strict because these laws are said to be of god and by disobeying the government the people are disobeying God. The narrator reminds us that there are freedom but
…show more content…
The narrator being forced to wear the uniform represents all the loss of freedom caused by the Totalitarian Regime. The Regime has limited all women’s daily necessities which revokes their Cosmetics products. The narrator states “As long as we do this, butter our skin to keep it soft, we can believe that we will someday get out, that we will be touched again, in love or desire. We have ceremonies of our own, private ones. (17.6) the narrator and the handmaids are trying to make and live their lives how they used too, by stealing butter and using it as a lotion to keep the skin soft, the narrator and the other Handmaids can believe that they will someday get out and are just using the household material temporally until freedom is sought in the Totalitarian Regime. The narrators is desperate and wants freedom and to escape the regime, makes her careless as states “It occurs to me that she may be a spy, a plant, set to trap me; such is the soil in which we grow. But I can't believe it; hope is rising in me, like sap in a tree. Blood in a wound. We have made an opening.” (27.46) in this case Ofglen could
The Handmaid’s role is to produce Keepers (babies that are born without any birth defects) for their host family. Housemaids are made to wear all red besides their nun-like white wings that work as blinders. Red represents passion and sin that can be turned white by the cleansing power of God. Commanders are the patriarchal head of the house who have a duty to father children either by their Wife or a Handmaid if needed. “Not every Commander has a handmaid; some of their wives have children.
A new society is created by a group of people who strengthen and maintain their power by any means necessary including torture and death. Margaret Atwood's book, A Handmaid's Tale, can be compared to the morning after a bad fight within an abusive relationship. Being surrounded by rules that must be obeyed because of being afraid of the torture that will be received. There are no other choices because there is control over what is done, who you see and talk to, and has taken you far away from your family. You have no money or way out. The new republic of Gilead takes it laws to an even higher level because these laws are said to be of God and by disobeying them you are disobeying him. People are already likely to do anything for their God especially when they live in fear of punishment or death. The republic of Gilead is created and maintains its power structure through the use of religion, laws that isolate people from communication to one another and their families, and the fear of punishment for disobeying the law.
The Handmaids Tale is a poetic tale of a woman's survival as a Handmaid in the male dominated Republic of Gilead. Offred portrayed the struggle living as a Handmaid, essentially becoming a walking womb and a slave to mankind. Women throughout Gilead are oppressed because they are seen as "potentially threatening and subversive and therefore require strict control" (Callaway 48). The fear of women rebelling and taking control of society is stopped through acts such as the caste system, the ceremony and the creation of the Handmaids. The Republic of Gilead is surrounded with people being oppressed. In order for the Republic to continue running the way it is, a sense of control needs to be felt by the government. Without control Gilead will collapse.
In the novel The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood the themes of Religion and inter-human relationships are the themes that are most evident in the text. This novel shows the possibility of the existence of an all-powerful governing system. This is portrayed through the lack of freedom for women in society, from being revoked of their right to own any money or property, to being stripped of their given names and acquiring names such as Offred and Ofglen, symbolizing women’s dependant existence, only being defined by the men which they belong to. This portrayal of women demonstrates the idea that individuals are unimportant, that the goals of the society as a whole are more pertinent. “For our purposes, your feet and your hands are not essential” (chapter 15) is a quote revealing that Gilead denies rights to individuals and to humankind. In The Handmaids Tale, handmaids are only considered of value for their ability to reproduce, otherwise they are disposable. Religion is an aspect very prominent in the society of Gilead. We see this in chapter 4, where Ofglen and Offred meet and th...
Margaret Atwood uses the culture of how handmaids dress to psychologically change how Offred sees and thinks about the world and others. On the way home from shopping with her partner Ofglen, Offred sees a group of tourists who are dressed how women used to dress before the war. Offred and Oglen stop and watch the tourists; "We are fascinated, but also repelled. They seem undressed" (28), Offred then remembers that she too used to dress like that. Offred's reaction shows that being a handmaid and having to dress so modestly can alter how you think about yourself and
Feminism as we know it began in the mid 1960's as the Women's Liberation Movement. Among its chief tenants is the idea of women's empowerment, the idea that women are capable of doing and should be allowed to do anything men can do. Feminists believe that neither sex is naturally superior. They stand behind the idea that women are inherently just as strong and intelligent as the so-called stronger sex. Many writers have taken up the cause of feminism in their work. One of the most well known writers to deal with feminist themes is Margaret Atwood. Her work is clearly influenced by the movement and many literary critics, as well as Atwood herself, have identified her as a feminist writer. However, one of Atwood's most successful books, The Handmaid's Tale, stands in stark contrast to the ideas of feminism. In fact, the female characters in the novel are portrayed in such a way that they directly conflict with the idea of women's empowerment.
In the novel, the Handmaids represent stability and importance, and completely contradict the symbolism of the Jews in the concentration camps. Even though both patriarchal societies abuse its power and confine its prisoners, the reasoning between the confinements varies significantly. Similarly, the oppression put upon the masses by the patriarchal systems causes the oppressed to lose their belief in God and the idea of religion as a whole.
In Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, women are subjected to unthinkable oppression. Practically every aspect of their life is controlled, and they are taught to believe that their only purpose is to bear children for their commander. These “handmaids” are not allowed to read, write or speak freely. Any type of expression would be dangerous to the order of the Gilead’s strict society. They are conditioned to believe that they are safer in this new society. Women are supposedly no longer exploited or disrespected (pornography, rape, etc.) as they once were. Romantic relationships are strongly prohibited because involving emotion would defeat the handmaid’s sole purpose of reproducing. Of course not all women who were taken into Gilead believed right what was happening to their way of life. Through the process of storytelling, remembering, and rebellion, Offred and other handmaids cease to completely submit to Gilead’s repressive culture.
If people believe government oppression is more beneficial for the society, then they will happily subject themselves to the government’s orders. Aunt Lydia represents the government in Gilead. She says, “In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it” (Atwood 24). This warning to the handmaids convinces them to not rebel against this society because they should feel blessed. “‘We were a society dying’ said Aunt Lydia, ‘of too much choice’” (Atwood 25). Aunt Lydia describes the old times of Gilead as oppressive and dangerous. She convinces the handmaids that people used to be cruel because they abused the freedoms that they were given. By manipulating the language that she uses, Aunt Lydia changes the past and affects the present. Aunt Lydia tells the girls that women were previously cat called on the streets and looked at in demeaning ways. Now the girls are protected from the men because no one has freedom. The handmaids do not know any better; they are forced to accept Aunt Lydia’s propaganda even if they have doubts. For example, Aunt Lydia even says, “A shame it was… Once they [men] drugged women, induced
Gilead’s subjugation of women is also evident in their clothing. The roles of the women in the society were predetermined by the color of their dresses: Handmaids wore red, the Wives wore blue, and green was worn by the Marthas – their individuality and autonomy completely stripped from them. The handmaids’ dresses were referred to as a habit and was similar to the hijabs worn by Muslim women: covering them from their wrists down to their ankles, with the only skin visible being their neck and face. Offred compares the habits to the blouses worn by Lauren Bacall and Katherine Hepburn:
Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaids Tale belongs to the genre of anti-utopian (dystopian) science fiction where we read about a woman's fictive autobiography of a nightmarish United States at the end of the twentieth century when democratic institutions have been violently overthrown and replaced by the new fundamentalist republic of Gilead. In the novel the majority of the population are suppressed by using a "Bible-based" religion as an excuse for the suppression. How does this work and why can the girls, the so called Handmaids, be considered the victims of society? Also, in what way does Gilead use biblical allusions? That is some of the questions this essay will give answers for.
Imagine a world where you are confined to a room, you have no say in what your day to day life holds, you have no say in anything that happens in your life. This is not an imagination it is reality for the Handmaids in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Attwood. In this story the narrator Offred describes what it is like to be her about her existence in an oppressive organization in a theocratic dictatorship world. “A theocracy dictatorship is a form of government in which a deity is officially recognized as the civil ruler and official policy is governed by officials regarded as divinely guided, or is pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religion or religious group” (Wikipedia). In this story the dictatorship takes place in Gilead, we
As you read through the handmaid’s tale you see the relationships of the characters develop and the fight for power, however small that glimpse of power may be. The images of power can be seen through out the novel, but there are major parts that stand out to the reader from the aunt’s in the training centre to the secret meetings between the Commander and Offred.
In “The Handmaids Tale” Margret Atwood’s, character was a Serena Joy playing the role as the head of the household towards the women. She gave orders, and did not want to be around the handmaids unless truly necessary. She made it noticeable to the handmaids by telling Offred, “I want to see you as little as possible,” (Atwood pg. 15). I felt as though Atwood had Serena act that way to show authority because she was the face of Gilead, for the women. Atwood wants the background of the story to seem strict, so we can understand how the dynamic of each role is. That’s why she has Serena show that the rules and traditional values are set in this household, and would be respected. If the girls did not respect her or caused any trouble, she would do something about it. “…this is like a business transaction. But if I get trouble, I’ll give trouble back,” says Serena (Atwood pg. 15). With her attitude towards the handmaid’s it shows she takes it upon herself to establish authority, which is an
Built on the pillars on Puritanism, the United States of America has been largely divided over the debate of whether the fusion of politics and religion would be suitable to run a country. Margaret Atwood addresses this question in her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. Published during the growing conservative era of the 1980s, The Handmaid’s Tale takes place in the fictional Republic of Gilead, where the religious extremists have grasped control of the government. The laws implemented by the Gileadean officials, largely based around religion, are meant to act on the issue of a declining birth rate. Although the laws are rooted in valid concerns, their religious influences are soon manipulated to oppress women and validate the oppression. Offred,