The Handmaids Tale Essay

787 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Freedom from handmaids tale

In any society, laws and restrictions are placed upon the individuals living in it. These regulations can not only be a determinant of how one acts, but also how one perceives themselves. One issue that is undoubtedly going to happen to an individual is unfairness concerning one of society’s laws. Even if one is innocent of actions, regulations can cause an individual to feel as if that law is creating injustice. Does an individual have a right to oppose and rebel against perceived unfairness? Or shall one simply accept the unfairness thrust upon them? In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, we meet a woman named Offred, who is a handmaid. She describes how her society is not always a positive influence towards the people living it. In connection to Offred’s opinion, in Plato’s Critio, Socrates argues that an individual needs to accept these regulations placed upon oneself. Both Socrates and Offred gives great reasoning behind their argument, but the connection found between both stories is that an individual needs to accept the terms given to them. To right against unfair regulations creates a huge controversy and can even cause injuries to a group or an individual. Society’s laws are not always positive influence however one needs to adapt life to make it more bearable. Laws are not always going to be fair and even if these laws interfere with individual needs, a person needs to corporate and find different alterations in order to survive. In The Handmaid’s Tale, a woman named Offred is introduced. Offred lives in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian and theocratic state that replaced the United States. (Atwood 21). In this state there is low reproduction rates so Handmaids are assigned to these exclusive couples in order... ... middle of paper ... ...tion is wrong, however Socrates reasons to Crito why he must comply with injustice given to him. “But, my dear Crito, why should we care so much about public opinion? Reasonable men, of whose opinion it is worth our while to think, will believe that we acted as we really did” (Plato 53). Socrates understands that what he did to receive execution was unjustly represented. However Socrates tries to explain to Crito the need to comply with his sentence for he does not care what society’s opinions are, as long as those who actually know what occurred understand that Socrates did nothing wrong. Those few people that know Socrates is not guilty of his crime is the compensation that Socrates lives with. As Crito goes into a more detailed argument about how Socrates needs to rebel against the higher power, Socrates patiently disputes back the reasons behind his compliance.

Show More
Related

  • Conflict In The Handmaids Tale

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    Offred is a handmaid, in the novel The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood, who no longer desired to rebel against the government of Gilead after they separated her from her family. When Offred was taken away from her family the Government of Gilead placed her in an institution known as the Red Center where they trained her along with other women unwillingly to be handmaids. The handmaid’s task was to repopulate the society because of the dramatic decrease in population form lack of childbirth. Handmaids are women who are put into the homes of the commanders who were unable to have kids with their own wives. The Handmaids had very little freedom and were not allowed to do simple tasks by themselves or without supervision like taking baths or going to the store. There was an uprising against the government of Gilead and many people who lived in this society including some handmaids looked for a way to escape to get their freedom back which was taken away from them and to reunited with their families which they lost contact with. Offred was one of the handmaids who was against the government of Gilead before she was put in the Red Center, but she joined the uprising after she became a

    Read More

  • The Most Unorthodox Characters In The Handmaid's Tale

    981 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compare 1984 And The Handmaids Tale

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Handmaid 's Tale by Margaret Atwood, readers are introduced to Offred, who is a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. As this novel is

    Read More

  • Essay on The Handmaid's Tale as a Warning to Society

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    Margaret Atwood's renowned science fiction novel, The Handmaid's Tale, was written in 1986 during the rise of the opposition to the feminist movement. Atwood, a Native American, was a vigorous supporter of this movement. The battle that existed between both sides of the women's rights issue inspired her to write this work. Because it was not clear just what the end result of the feminist movement would be, the author begins at the outset to prod her reader to consider where the story will end. Her purpose in writing this serious satire is to warn women of what the female gender stands to lose if the feminist movement were to fail. Atwood envisions a society of extreme changes in governmental, social, and mental oppression to make her point.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Handmaid's Tale

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Offred's Synthesis Essay

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    Offred was different because she chose neither so she remained neutral. Offred internalized the rules of Gilead and in doing so she began to lose herself and she tried to preserve it by hanging on to her past identity. She says that "the expectations of other have become [her] own" (Atwood 95). In part three, they talk about resistance and complicity. Offred doesn't clearly or actively resist to the system. She instead does minor things like making eye contact with the guardsmen or swaying her hips. It's something so subtle and further supports the fact that Offred only defines herself by her body and not her identity because she no longer has it. In the article they use the example of another handmaid, Moira. She attempts an escape but is unfortunately caught and is brought to a Jezebel, which is another term for whorehouse. Even in such a disheartening situation where hope is taken from her she keeps her humor, her identity. "Anyway, look at it this way: it's not so bad, there's lots of women around. Butch paradise, you might call it" (Atwood 249). Offred, on the other hand, slowly lost her identity as she never garnered enough interest to

    Read More

  • Handmaids Tale Analysis

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Free Handmaid's Tale Essays: The Struggle of Women

    850 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Socrates's loyalty to athens

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Crito,” Socrates’s loyalty to Athens is the determining principle that leads him to face the jury’s sentencing instead of taking the chance to escape from execution. But why is Socrates loyal to what he believes to be a corrupt society? While in his prison cell, Socrates’s loyalty to Athens is tested by his good friend, Crito. Crito puts forth the effort to provide Socrates with an argument as to why he should escape his death. Socrates makes a counter argument as to why he should stay and abide by his sentencing. Socrates poorly argues that he should abide by the sentencing of the Athenian jury because of his distaste for injustice, his happiness with Athens, and an agreement made at the voting age with the Law.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis: A Handmaid's Tale

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    For centuries, men have been known as the superior sex. Dominant and controlling. Most of the time, they receive what they ask for with no questions. In Margaret Atwood’s novel, A Handmaid’s Tale, a male character known as the Commander is not the only one in control. The Commander is the one most fear, the one who calls the shots and who usually gets what he wants but that is also the case for Serena Joy, the Commander’s wife. Both Serena Joy and the Commander have control of what goes on in the lives of the Handmaids.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In The Handmaid's Tale

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, the author Margaret Atwood gives the reader an understanding of what life would be like in a theocratic society that controls women’s lives. The narrator, Offred gives the reader her perspective on the many injustices she faces as a handmaid. Offred is a woman who lived before this society was established and when she undergoes the transition to her new status she has a hard time coping with the new laws she must follow. There are many laws in this government that degrade women and give men the authority of each household. All women are placed in each household for a reason and if they do not follow their duties they are sent away or killed. Atwood bases the irrational laws in the Gilead republic on the many

    Read More

  • The Crito: The Dilemmas Of Socrates Escape From Prison

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Crito, there are three major reasons as to why Socrates should escape from the prison. Notably, Crito offers lame self centered excuses for Socrates escape. Indeed, two of the reasons do not stand ground whereas the third concentrates on the victim’s responsibility to his offspring. Crito begins by proposing Socrates escape because failing to do so will doubly hurt him. Firstly, Crito enjoys a warm and cordial friendship with Socrates. Therefore, his execution would distraught and melancholy him. On the other hand, Crito says that the execution of Socrates will harm his reputation. People will tantalize, taunt and jeer him for valuing his monies more than the life of his friend. This is because Crito can bribe Socrates way out of prison. According to Crito, the population will be prejudicial to him un...

    Read More

  • Free Handmaid's Tale Essays: The Handmaid's Dystopia

    1495 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Handmaid's Dystopia The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a dystopian tale about a world where unrealistic things take place. The events in the novel could never actually take place in our reality." This is what most people think and assume, but they"re wrong. Look at the world today and in the recent past, and there are not only many situations that have ALMOST become a Gilead, but places that have been and ARE Gileadean societies. We're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy! Even today, there are places in the world where there is a startling similarity to this fictitious dystopia.

    Read More

  • Essay on the Character of Offred in The Handmaid's Tale

    1209 Words  | 3 Pages

    Offred is one of the main characters in The Handmaid's Tale. She was the faithful wife of Luke, mother of an eleven month old child and a working woman, before she entered the Republic of Gilead. She was given the name "Offred", when she entered Gilead. This was to make it known that she was a handmaid. Offred becomes psychologically programmed in Gilead as a handmaid, and the mistress of the commander who is in power of all things. She was used for her ovaries to reproduce a child, because they are living in an age where birth rates are declining. Offred was ordered by Serena Joy, the handmaid's barren wife who develops some jealousy and envy towards her to become the lover of Nick. Nick is the family chauffeur, and Offred becomes deeply in love with him. At the end of all the confusion, mixed emotions, jealousy, envy and chaos towards her, she escapes the Republic of Gilead. Offred is given treatment and advantages by the commander that none of the there handmaids are given. During the times the commander and Offred were seeing each other secretly, he began to develop some feelings for her that he tried to hide. Somewhere along the times when Offred and the commander began having secret meetings with each other, Offred too began to develop some feelings for the commander. Offred is also a special handmaid, because she has actually experienced love, the satisfaction of having a child years before. She knows what it is to feel loved, to be in love and to have someone love you. That is all when she has knowledge, a job, a family and money of her own. That is when her life was complete. Because all of that has been taken away from...

    Read More

  • The Handmaid's Tale Research Paper

    1815 Words  | 4 Pages

    It is proven in both American society and the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, women are treated different from men. Why is that one may ask? Women are categorized, Treated like slaves, and oppressed by society. Men have all the power, leaving most women left behind. The Handmaid’s Tale often feels too real. There are the protests, the control over women’s reproductive rights, the understanding of women as simply being a means to reproduce. Strong women really don’t have much power.

    Read More

More about The Handmaids Tale Essay

Open Document