A Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

Written by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel set in the near future where the United States is overthrown and a military dictatorship forms called the Republic of Gilead. Gilead is a society that reconsolidates power and creates a new hierarchical regime that limits women entirely of their rights. The rulers of this dystopia are centrally concerned with dominating their subjects through the control of their experiences, time, memory, and history. A woman called Offred narrates the story and works as a Handmaid for reproductive purposes only. In her storytelling, Offred describes flashbacks consisting of portions of her life before the revolution. These flashbacks are the only thing that keeps her going in this

In her book, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, Margaret Atwood describes a dystopian society in which all of the progress in the feminist movement that was made during the twentieth century is reversed and the nation is reverted back to its traditional patriarchal ways. The story is told from the point of view of Offred, a woman who was separated from her husband and child and forced into the life of a handmaid. In this book, Atwood explores the oppression of women through her use of literary tools such as figurative language, symbols, and literary allusions.

Offred leaves the Commander’s office when she says, “Live in the present, make the most of it, it’s all you’ve got” (Atwood 143). The story The Handmaid’s Tale composed by Margret Atwood, takes place in a theocracy titled, The Republic of Gilead, which is present-day United States. Almost everyone in the republic has become infertile due to a nuclear contamination. The narrator and main character of the novel is named Offred and her job is that of a Handmaid. Handmaids in the new society have the job of serving any member of the hierarchy as the birth mother of his children. Offred is on her third commander. If she does not have a baby this time she will be sent to the colonies to clean up

In the book Handmaid’s Tale, each character develops and changes as the book goes on. As you read, you learn more about the character’s past and how they think and act in this new society. Offred, the narrator, is a great example of these changes. At the end of the book, Offred was willing to submit to her new culture.

This gives us a hint on the totalitarian society of Gilead that Offred lived through, where she had no control over her own life. She wishes she had control over what would have happened to her. Overall,

In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the dystopian society of Gileadean society is described. The role of women and the oppression of women by men cannot be missed while reading the novel. Due to the dropping fertility rates, fertile women are trained to be a Handmaid by the Aunts in the Red Center. The job of the Handmaid is to conceive a baby with the Commander, so the Commander and the Wife can nurture the child. Atwood uses the oppression of women in the Gileadean society to show her thoughts about the danger of historic events and the developments in society nowadays. The novel projects the struggle of Offred, who is a Handmaid herself, against the totalitarian restriction of her society and her desire for happiness and

Her body is completely in the hands of the Commander and his Wife. All she can do is sit still in humiliation and endure what is being done to her (Atwood 93). Furthermore, Offred is treated as the child of the household even though she is a fully grown woman. The Marthas will not discuss certain matters with her because she is dispensable. If Offred were to be replaced, punished, or transferred, their household information could possibly spread to other homes. Therefore, many things are purposely kept from Offred (Atwood 53). At one point, Offred shares her thoughts of stealing an item from the house. Offred is not a thief, but the lack of freedom is desperately driving her to feel a sense of rebellious power. If she can steal something, Offred will feel a sense of power and thrill that she has not received in a while. She carefully considers what she could steal and where she can hide it, but comes to the conclusion that feeling power such as that is too dangerous and risky (Atwood 81).

In a “A Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, readers see a world go from what it once used to be to total totalitarianism. In this now cruel world called Gilead, we see people stripped from their original identities, and no longer free. Furthermore, they are brainwashed to believe and abide by new regulations and rules, and the ones that rebel or no longer are of any use for the government end up dead. Besides the narrator who is now named “Offred” in this new society, her past friend “Moira” from the pre-totalitarian world, is a central figure of hope in the story. Moira becomes a rebel and fights to win back her freedom, but ultimately that thirst to outsmart the government, leads to her ultimate destruction.

The Handmaid’s Tale: A Feminist Post-Apocalyptic Novel In Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, birthrates have fallen vastly below the replacement rate causing a threat to the human race’s existence. The reproductive apocalypse has prompted a theocracy in which women have lost all of their basic rights and civil liberties. In Gilead, the new tyrannical theocratic regime that has taken over the United States, Offred’s fertility has deemed her useful.

Offred's memories are a way for her to escape a society riddled with hopelessness. The authoritarian society of Gilead prevents her from

Offred’s dissociation suggests that it’s her way of solidifying her chances of survival against the harsh society of Gilead, which is important because in furthering her own continuity, she becomes averse to the idea of taking any risks that might harm those chances. This can be observed during the monthly ceremony performed with

Her belief gives her a false sense of security as well as her unwillingness to rebel due to fear of the Eyes. Her conversations with others are "Praise be," "Blessed be the fruit," and "May the Lord open" it is difficult for Offred or any women to really have a meaningful conversation for fear that anyone is a spy. Everything that Offred does is now part of the norm of society. She doesn't question her duties just does what is expected of her. As Offred begins a secret relationship with Nick she believes she has reclaimed a tiny piece of her past. She becomes addicted to the small amount of companionship from Nick, causing her to turn a blind eye to the injustices going on around her. She feels empowered because it was her own choice. When in reality she did what was expected of her. Using her body in order to produce a child.

Although Offred accepts the standards and criterions of her society, she keeps her individuality and refuses to forget the past. She remembers having had an identity of her own and strives to hold on to it as best as she can. She puts a claim on her temporary room in her Commander's house; it becomes a sanctuary for her true self. Her room becomes a place of

Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred recalls her past life before and during the creation of the Republic of

As the female narrators reads the story to the audience we realize that she often has flashbacks to former times, when the United States was still a nation. She recalls the happier times she had with her mother, her close friends, and her lover and husband Luck. In the Pre-Gilead period, she also had a little daughter, June, with Luck. Offred's mother was a single mother and feminist activist. Her best friend was Moira, who was also fiercely independent.