In America, women’s rights have always been fought for, never given. The campaigns to make both genders equal faced criticism from people of all socioeconomic levels, but policy has usually moved in the proper, forward direction. Other countries, such as Iran, took notice of women’s rights going in to the later half of the 20th century, but the 1979 Iranian Revolution brought back some of their pre-Western ideals, such as socially and politically handicapping women. In her novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood uses parallels of the real-world aftermath of the Iranian Revolution to the Republic of Gilead in order to convey that a society based on strict moral codes may be favored by those religiously devout, but for everyone else, it led to a desperate struggle to live day-to-day and was a regression from what came before.
The brutal and rigidly enforced ethics put upon the citizens of Gilead share similarities to those of the post 1979 Iranian Revolution to reveal how such a strange world can exist in real life. The most recognizable societal ethics placed upon women in these “strange worlds” involves their clothing. In Gilead, handmaids are forced to wear red gloves and “skirts [at] ankle-length, full gathered to a flat yoke that extends over the breasts...The white wings are too prescribed issue, they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen.” (Atwood 8) This modest attire shares similarities with the hijab or burqa worn by Muslim women in certain countries. The hijab covers up a woman’s head and chest, while a burqa has a more extreme approach as it covers up all of a woman’s face and body. This similarity in clothing was done in order to explain that a woman needs to remain modest, since she is the creator of...
... middle of paper ...
...y and they saw independent women’s lives die away. Through the government use of deindividuation, and to a point, dehumanization, those who yearned for what life was like before both Revolutions saw no escape from trudging through life uncommitted to the enforced theocracy.
By taking inspiration of the then-current affairs of the Iranian Revolution, Margaret Atwood created similar injustices in her dystopian Republic of Gilead. This culture, founded on harsh ethical values have been supported by a minority as the rest of the population slowly begins to detest the rules inflicted upon them more and more, as they hope to return to the lifestyle that was once allowed. The parity between these two conflicting ideologies has existed for a long time, but attempts to rid authoritarian governments of their power have always been able to topple them, even if it takes awhile.
Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale is a story heavily influenced by the Bible and has many biblical themes that are used to prove Atwood’s belief in balance. The novel is set in the Republic of Gilead which was formerly the United States. The story is told through the perspective of a handmaid named Offred and begins when she is placed at her third assignment as a housemaid. Offred describes her society as a fundamentalist theocracy where the Christian God is seen as the divine Ruler over the Republic of Gilead. Atwood is often thought of as a feminist writer but through this novel her writing is not completely feminist nor patriarchal but something in the middle. Atwood is also someone who described herself as a “strict agnostic”
Gender inequality has existed all around the world for many centuries. Women were seen as property of men and their purpose of existence was to provide for the men in their lives. Men would play the role of being the breadwinners, whereas women played the role of being the caregiver of the family and household and must obey the men around her. The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood portrays how women in society are controlled and demeaned by men, and how men feel they are more superior over women.
The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian-style novel designed to provide a quick glimpse as to what the United States would be like if it were penetrated and overtaken by totalitarian extremists. The main character, Offred, begins her story in a school gymnasium somewhere on the Harvard/MIT campus; and from there we learn more about Offred and her struggle to adapt to the loss of her own free will. The Republic of Gilead—this dystopian novel’s totalitarian regime—keeps women under control by prohibiting any form of literature, limiting contact with males aside from their assigned commander, and enforcing their biblical views regarding childbirth and its sanctity....
In "The Handmaid's Tale", Margaret Atwood tells a saddening story about a not-to-distant future where toxic chemicals and abuses of the human body have resulted in many men and women alike becoming sterile. The main character, Offred, gives a first person encounter about her subservient life as a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, a republic formed after a bloody coup against the United States government. She and her fellow handmaids are fertile women that the leaders of Gilead, the Commanders, enslave to ensure their power and the population of the Republic. While the laws governing women and others who are not in control of Gilead seem oppressive, outlandish and ridiculous, they are merely a caricature of past and present laws and traditions of Western civilization. "The Handmaid's Tale" is an accurate and feasible description of what society could be like if a strict and oppressive religious organization gained dominant power over the political system in the United States.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, the protagonist, Offred is a Handmaid, one whose sole role is to provide a child, in a misogynistic totalitarian regime. Although Gilead society seems unrealistic, a similar orthodoxy has been imposed in Syria. The ISIS brides’ situation directly mirrors the societal roles, restrictions, and methods of coercion of the Handmaids, illustrating that Gileadean society can be achieved in the modern world.
To live in a country such as the United States of America is considered a privilege. The liberties that American citizens are entitled to, as declared in the Constitution, makes the United States an attractive and envied democracy. It would be improbable to imagine these liberties being stripped from American society. However, Margaret Atwood depicts the United States as a dystopian society in her novel The Handmaid’s Tale. The first society is modern America, with its autonomy and liberal customs. The second, Gilead, a far cry from modern America, is a totalitarian Christian theocracy which absorbs America in the late 1980s in order to salvage it from widespread pollution and a dwindling birthrate. The principal flaw in Atwood’s Gileadian society is the justification of human rights violations. This justification only limits the liberties citizens experience, and taunts their once freeing rights, such as the prerogative to explore sexuality. Gilead’s only freedom, is freedom from all other liberties, or as Aunt Lydia would describe, freedom from the anarchy that unveiled in the first society.
First, the government used a dangerous literal interpretation of a Biblical passage as justification for adultery under the guise of reproduction. Second, the state constantly reinforced its falsified morality by saturating daily routines with religious expressions. Lastly, the regime altered Biblical references to further its political goals, and then prohibited language to prevent exposing its duplicity. Although Gilead rather effectively erased women’s values to construct a hyper-patriarchy, The Handmaid’s Tale provides a voice for this silenced population.
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.
Many texts that were published from different authors have introduced topics that can be related in today’s society, but Margaret Atwood’s creation called, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, gives voice to the thoughts and revolves around the narrator Offred, a woman whose rights have been deprived due to political issues. However, the information shared by Offred to the reader to the text is not reliable for the reason that she only touches upon her own perspective. Through the text, Atwood depicted what the United States of America would be in the future based on the actions of humanity during 1980’s. The text is set up in an androcentric and totalitarian country called Gilead, where the government attempts to create a utopian society. Thus, in order to attain this society, the authorities generated their legislation from the teachings of the Holy Bible in an attempt to control humanity. The governing
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...
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.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, social turmoil after a staged terrorist attack has led to a totalitarian Christian regime. In this dystopian future, the roles of men and women are much different than in today’s society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are unequal because they have no choice about their bodies, their dress, or their relationships.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood creates a society of oppression in which she redefines oppression in common culture. Gilead is a society characterized by highly regulated systems of social control and extreme regulation of the female body. The instinctive need to “protect and preserve” the female body is driven by the innate biological desires of the men. The manipulation of language, commodification, and attire, enhances the theme of oppression and highlights the imbalance of power in the Gilead society.
The novel, The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood focuses on the choices made by the society of Gilead in which the preservation and security of mankind is more highly regarded than freedom or happiness. This society has undergone many physical changes that have led to extreme psychological ramifications. I think that Ms. Atwood believes that the possibility of our society becoming as that of Gilead is very evident in the choices that we make today and from what has occured in the past. Our actions will inevitably catch up to us when we are most vulnerable.
The Handmaid's Tale presents an extreme example of sexism and misogyny by featuring the complete objectification of women in the society of Gilead. Yet by also highlighting the mistreatment of women in the cultures that precede and follow the Gileadean era, Margaret Atwood is suggesting that sexism and misogyny are deeply embedded in any society and that serious and deliberate attention must be given to these forms of discrimination in order to eliminate them.