Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale depicts many aspects of humanity at times of crisis as the protagonist, and narrator, of this novel is experiencing and seen through her eyes throughout the novel. The form of government in this novel is totalitarian with Christianity guidelines in which men have higher roles and women are put into submission and into supporting roles with no equal footing as it one was before and where Offred is forced to adjust with these new restrictions. Throughout the centuries, women have been put into submitting rules mainly due to their physical appearances; the dainty hands, smooth skin, and their natural motherly nature are seen as weak and should be an object of protection. It is true that women do not possess the physical strength that the male sex do, as it is seen throughout Atwood’s novel where the male military Commanders wield considerable power over the lesser male roles, women such as Offred are highly valued not for their strength but for their fertility. Although women have made considerable progress in putting themselves in an equal standing in society today, as can be seen with the number of women in government and highly appointed job positions, there is still that underlying prejudice that women are inferior. “Women hold 17 percent of the seats in Congress”, says Jessica Valenti in the popular newspaper The Washington Post, and follows with the argument that “more than 85 percent of counties in the United States have no provider; women work outside the home, but they make about 76 cents to a man's dollar and make up the majority of Americans living in poverty”. The psychological control that is used is one of the key ideologies that made the once sex-independent nation... ... middle of paper ... ...these underlining prejudices that at first seem to benefit the Republic of Gilead were in fact the rotten blocks in which the foundation of the country established itself. Eliminating variables that did not seem to serve or didn’t fit into the world the Republic envisioned made them blind to what could happen in the aftermath the way a person sees a spider and immediately wants to get rid of it and does not think of the advantages of what they bring, what they could do despite the general knowledge of them labeled as pests. The elimination of different ethnicities have also drawn a blow to the rich diversities the Post-Republic of Gilead had; the trading of knowledge gained from personal experience could have further progressed the Republic in ways that could have ended the inequitable treatment of women and different races and was the key downfall of the Republic.
Margaret Atwood is famous for many things. She is a poet, novelist, story writer, essayist, and an environmental activist. Her books are usually bestsellers and have received high praises in the United States, Europe, and her native country, Canada. She has also received many Literary awards, like the Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the two Governor General’s Awards (“Margaret Atwood” Poetry). Through her books, she has written about what she sees in society towards women. She discusses how gender equality was corrupted in the past, but still is far from being reached, and women’s roles in society (“Spotty-handed”). Atwood also takes events in her life; like the Great Depression, Communism, and World War II; and applies it to her works. Margaret Atwood's works, including her novel The Handmaid's Tale, reflects women’s fight in equality, how society determines
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.
Thesis: In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood characterizes Handmaids, as women with expectations to obey the society’s hierarchy, as reproducers, symbolizing how inferior the Handmaid class is to others within Gilead; the class marginalization of Handmaids reveals the use of hierarchical control exerted to eliminate societal flaws among citizens.
In Margaret Atwood 's The Handmaid 's Tale, society is meant to have overcome the sinful tendencies of modern culture. People who would rebel against the new status quo are broken through torture and conditioning. The character Moira acts as a symbol of the main characters, Offred 's, hope and need for rebelliousness. The perceived loss of this hope causes Offred to begin a spiral of indifference which leads her to cling to Nick as a replacement and a way to find meaning in an extra meaningless life. Moira 's attitude and statements in the beginnings of her and Offred 's conversation in the club, instead of showing her to be a broken woman, reveal the remaining fire and rebelliousness of someone with little room or freedom to express.
In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, there is an apparent power struggle between Offred and the Commander. The Gilead Society’s structure is based off of order and command. This is what creates a divide between genders and specifies gender roles in this novel. Without this categorization of the roles and expectations of women, the society would fall apart at the base. Thus, the Commander, being the dominant gender set forth by the society, has control over Offred.
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 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 Marxist theory “is the belief that the struggle between social classes is a major force in history and that there should eventually be a society in which there are no classes” – Karl Marx In the book “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood there are significant examples of the Marxist theory because of the way social classes are represented, how religion is manipulated in the society, and what values the text reinforces in the reader.
People need some sort of control in their lives, whether that be through big or little things. In The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, the republic of Gilead had clear positions that enabled more power for some compared to others, the most powerful being the commander and the least being the handmaid’s. Men were the ones controlling all of Gilead and they had the power to make the rules. There were different ways in which men ruled over women a few of them being taking away their names, using the wall as a threat and controlling what they wear.
Margaret Atwood’s book “The Handmaid’s Tale”, Offred ( The main Character) struggles with expressing Individualism among a society that constrains a woman by labelling her for her duties and worth. Offred is a “Handmaid” which is a group of women who are used for reproduction, being a “Handmaid” is considered to be very degrading because these women are seen for only their bodies to provide children and nothing more. An article previously read, written by “Frieda Fordham” discusses Jungian Archetypes and one that best correlates with the book is “The Persona”. The Persona is defined as “A collective phenomenon, a facet of the personality that might equally well belong to somebody else, but it is often mistaken for
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
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.
Symbols and Lenses Role in The Handmaid’s Tale Makeup symbolizes the stereotypical women attributes in our modern society. Women are expected to look their best, not necessarily feel their best. In The Handmaid’s Tale, makeup plays just that. Gender roles relating to power, as well as changing appearances, loss of freedom, their past lives, and how the femininity has changed since their society was overthrown. Makeup isn’t mentioned as frequently as the word red, but it is a common theme throughout the novel.