Throughout history women have achieved more political and human rights. In many societies around the world today women are discriminated against and are not equal to mean. Feminism is not a concept that is often present in dysfunctional societies. In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, a group of fertile women, known as handmaids, are assigned to a married couple and told that they must produce a child. The article titled “The feminist cupcake sale that led to death and rape threats” written by Madeline Price, depicts the events that took place at a university in Australia. The students who organized the bake sale wanted to educate their peers about the wage gap by making men pay one dollar for every baked good, while allowing …show more content…
In the The Handmaid’s Tale women are put at a lower standard than men. Women are given jobs such as kitchen servants, known as Marthas, or Handmaids. Women are shown as a possession to men when they are referred to as “their blue Wives and white-veiled daughters.’’ Further more, calling them “their dumpy green Marthas and their red Handmaids” showcases their inability to escape this life because they are women (Atwood 27). The repetition of the word “their” highlights that women are possessions of the men in this world. This ultimately leads to women rebelling or even committing suicide to be freed from this patriarchal society. Men in the novel are able to read, write and hold good jobs, whereas women are not given such privileges. One night when the Commander begins reading from the bible, the narrator explains that women “can be read to from it, by him, but we cannot read” indicating that men are clearly above women in society (Atwood 108). This causes women to secretly go against the government to feel as if they are still in control of their own lives, this ultimately leads to a broken nation. The article shows that gender inequality is a major issue in today’s society by educating people of the wage gap between men and women. The students had prices for different situations, “for example, for a woman of colour in the legal profession, a baked good at the stall would only cost you 55 cents” (Price). This bake sale shows that women are still seen as far less than a man, 45 percent less. In the film however, men and women are seen as equals. Men and women in this community are both able to hold positions of power. This is clear when a woman is introduced as the Chief Elder, the leader of this community. By having a woman in this position with power shows that this community believes that there is not a
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.
n Handmaid’s tale novel we can discuss about women’s role. The key to the whole program is using other women to train and control them. It is hard to go against your own kind, when Son’s of Jacob took over, they knew that if they use male, it would not be workable because women could easily seduce the males to get their own way. "Something could be exchanged... We still had our bodies."(p. 4). By using other women as known as the Aunts, they could tell the women that they understood and knew what it was like, and that all this was for their own good, to keep them safe and make their world a better place. Aunts usually were very strict; they could use force to Handmaids. According to Offred “they had eclectic cattle prods slung on thongs from their leather belts”. (p.4). In addition, there are many of these training facilities such as Red centers, where the women trains by Aunts to be handmaidens. In other words, to be thought to bear children for wives who were no longer capable of childbirth. Older
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.
On the surface, The Handmaid's Tale appears to be feminist in nature. The point-of-view character and narrator is a woman and thus we see the world through a woman's eyes. There's much more to the story than that, though. Atwood doesn't show us our world. She shows us a newly created world in which women lack the freedoms that they currently take for granted. This dystopian society is completely controlled by men. Of course, the men have help from the Aunts, a crack team of brainwashers that run the reeducation centers and teach the handmaids how to be slaves. These characters really don't speak well for womankind for two reasons. First of all, it's difficult to tell who their real life counterpart is, assuming that this...
In the real world, different symbols are used to help people understand things, and to add different effects onto people’s lives. For example a pendent a women or man wears from the army helps someone understand what they’ve been through and helps portray them as a strong individual. In novels which may have complex story lines like The Handmaids tale it is important that these novels have some symbolism to help the reader decode what some details in the novel represent, helping them understand the plot more in-depth. Through the novel of the Handmaid Tale by Margaret Atwood, symbolism is present and that helps to enhance the story line, as well as contribute an important factor in which is helping the reader understand
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.
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.
Unlike men, women have been facing unique problems for centuries, and often women experience harassment and discrimination. In today's society, females are trying to combat their tribulations through lawsuits and protest rallies. Literature often deals with people being unable to articulate their problems. Often, unforeseen circumstances force people to conceal their true emotions. In The Handmaid's Tale, the main female characters find ways to escape their situations rather than deal with them.
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.
The hierarchy of women goes as such: Commander’s Wives, Aunts, Marthas, Handmaids, Econowives, and Unwomen. Commanders are at the head of their household. Every woman within these ranks has settled into their roles as part of the Republic except for the Unwomen, those who refused to become a part of their society under any circumstances--those who are sent to work camps and separated from the rest of the world. Aside from them, the rest of the Republic's women all serve men in one way or another. Women are made to believe that the roles assigned to them are to be seen as a great honor. Outwardly, women accept these roles with little to no retaliation, but inwardly and amongst each other, many perform small acts of rebellion against their overseers. One woman who partook in many of these acts is referred to as Offred throughout the story; however, her real name is never revealed.