Handmaids Tale

574 Words2 Pages

Does the women of Gilead know that they are being controlled?

Are the women of Gilead aware that they are being controlled by the society? In Margaret Atwood¡¯s The Handmaid¡¯s Tale, the theme of control is a very important factor of the book. In the story, at the Republic of Gilead, the women are being controlled by the society to do what the society wants them to do. The handmaids are brainwashed before they start working for the society. But since the brainwashing happens so naturally over a period of time, the handmaids don¡¯t fully realize that they have been brainwashed by the society to do what the society wants them to do.
The theme of control and being brainwashed could be found in many parts of books in many forms. For example, before the women became handmaids, they were at a institution where they get educated and influenced by the aunts on how they should live their lives. In the institution, the aunts treat the women like children. ¡°But whose fault was it? Aunt Helena says, holding up on plump finger.¡±(93), aunts ask such questions, which leads the women to think the way the society wants them to think. ¡°Her fault, her fault, her fault, we chant in unison.¡±(94), and the women repeats the answer out loud as a whole as if they were young kindergartners, and by doing so, they are being influenced and brainwashed. By treating them like children and making them repeat after what they say, they slowly ...

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