Agent Orange In The Handmaid's Tale

In today’s news we see many disruptions and inconsistencies in society, and, according to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, humankind might be headed in that direction. The deterioration of society is a concept often explored biologically in novels, but less common, is the effect on everyday social constructs such as the position of women as a item that can be distributed and traded-in for a ‘better’ product. The Handmaid’s Tale elaborates the concept that, as societal discrimination towards women intensifies, gender equality deteriorates and certain aspects of societal freedoms are lost. Offred’s experience with serving Gilead demonstrates a victim’s perspective and shows how the occurring changes develope the Republic.

A genuine identity and individuality is not possible in an oppressive environment especially when one’s daily life, actions, and thoughts are dictated by domineering societal expectations. Oppressive environments such as regimes controlled by a dictatorship and that run off a totalitarian government system strip an individual of their civil rights as a human being in order to gain ultimate control over its citizens. A government such as the Republic of Gilead in Margaret Atwood’s work, The Handmaid’s Tale, controls their citizen’s lives to the extent to where they must learn to suppress their emotions and feelings. In the Republic of

Throughout history, the desire for power has lead once peaceful societies to war. The necessity to be in control of one's surroundings has ended with unnecessary bloodshed. Typically these battles occur over some sort of prize such as money, but when there is nothing to be gained other than one’s freedom, the same principals apply. In the novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, by Margaret Atwood, the desire for power in the form of freedom is the main conquest which all characters face, and how they overcome adversity to gain such power is what defines their character.

In “The Handmaid 's Tale” by Margaret Atwood, there is the addressing of freedom, abuse of power, feminism, rebellion and sexuality. The audience is transported to a disparate time where things normalized in our current society are almost indistinguishable. Atwood uses each character carefully to display the set of theme of rebellion within the writing, really giving the reader a taste of what the environment is like by explaining detailed interactions, and consequences as well as their role in society.

Within the totalitarian society created by Margaret Atwood in the Handmaid’s Tale, there are many people and regimes centred around and reliant on the manipulation of power. The laws that are in place in the republic of Gilead are designed and implemented so as to control and restrict the rights and freedom of its inhabitants.

In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the United States of America no longer exists. It has been overthrown and is now known as the Republic of Gilead. Due to an unknown disaster, women are desperately needed to keep the reproduction rate steady. They are too valuable in this time of crisis to be allowed to roam around as they please. The new government’s attempt to enforce this message and make it a known fact is through the use of propaganda. The propaganda is focused towards women because it is a male dominated society which eliminates education, uses selective television broadcasting, and contains the Red Center.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is set in a future time period where the United States is under the control of the Gileadean regime. A terrorist attack leads to the collapse of Congress, the suspension of the Constitution, and the establishment of a theocratic totalitarian government. Men and women are given roles within society; they are Commanders, Eyes, Handmaids, and Marthas. In this novel, Atwood explores a prominent social issue, feminism. The suppression and power of women are examined through the setting and characterization of the novel to help understand the meaning of the novel as a whole.

Throughout the Vietnam War, American soldiers faced a problem. Thick foliage covering Vietnamese soil hid Vietnamese soldiers, causing difficulty for the Americans, but advantages for the Vietnamese. This foliage also allowed Vietnamese soldiers access to essential crops. Both of these advantages from plant growth allowed Vietnamese soldiers to fight efficiently and allowed them success. According to the book Agent Orange: History, Science, and the Politics of Uncertainty by Edward Martini (2012), the vegetation of Vietnam “retains its leaves year round; consequently it afforded ideal concealment to guerilla terrorists who sporadically attacked the free people of Vietnam.” (p. 24). The original problem the American soldiers faced in the war was a local problem, as it only affected the people in the local radius of plant growth-heavy areas in Vietnam.

Parents typically don’t want their children reading in depth books about sex; however, The Handmaid’s Tale offers great fictional examples that teach sexism and the mistreatment of women, yet these examples can lead some in the wrong way. Therefore depending on the view in society, The Handmaid’s tale should be banned or kept to certain areas of the world because of the unfair treatment of women.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the author, Margaret Atwood, creates a dystopian society that is under theocratic rule. From this theocracy, each individual’s freedom is, for the most part, taken away. The Handmaid’s Tale creates a dystopia by placing restrictions on the individual’s freedom, using propaganda to control its citizens, and by having citizens of Gilead live in dehumanized ways. Furthermore, the creation of a hierarchal system in Gilead caused its citizens to lose the ability to feel empathy towards one another. In the search to create a perfect society, Gilead caused more harm and problems than expected which created a dystopia rather than a utopia.

Her real name may not be known but the woman who came to be called Offred during the years of Gilead lead a remarkable life. Much about her early childhood and the times before she was a handmaid are unknown. What is known is that she married her first husband Luke and had a child sometime before she was a handmaid. Unfortunately, her husband was killed and her daughter was given away when she was caught trying to run away with them to Canada. Offred was then forced to be a handmaid. Fertile women were scarce in the United States and all those able to have children were sent to officers of Gilead, used to reproduce their children. Offred recalls the bleak rooms she stayed in as “...a bed. Single, mattress medium-hard, covered with a flocked white spread. Nothing takes place in the bed but sleep; or no sleep. I try not to think too much” (8). The Republic of Gilead had taken away women's rights

Imagine if you can, living in a world that tells you what you are to wear, where to live, as well as your position and value to society. In Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale, she shows us the Republic of Gilead does just that. Offred, the main character, is a Handmaid, whose usefulness is her ovaries. Handmaids are ordered to live in a house with a Commander, his wife, and once a month attempt to become pregnant by the Commander. Throughout Atwood's novel, you will notice she uses different colors for her characters clothing that correspond to their position and place in the Republic of Gilead. They become aware of people's statuses by the color of their

The Handmaid's Tale, a science-fiction novel written by Margaret Atwood, focuses on women's rights and what could happen to them in the future. This novel was later made into a movie in 1990. As with most cases of books made into movies, there are some similarities and differences between the novel and the film. Overall the film tends to stay on the same track as the book with a few minor details changed, and only two major differences.

In literature, the color red symbolizes many things, each with its own emotional impact. Red can be associated with violence and bloodshed, or it can be associated with love and intense emotions. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred, chosen to be a “baby-maker” for a couple she was assigned to, desires to escape the dystopian society that she lives in. Thus, Margaret creates a fictional government that uses totalitarianism, violence, and the reoccurring pattern of the color red to illustrate the negative impact it has on women, especially the Handmaids.

A Critical Analysis of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” In this dystopia novel, it reveals a remarkable new world called Gilead. “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood, explores all these themes about women who are being subjugated to misogyny to a patriarchal society and had many means by which women tried to gain not only their individualism and their own independence. Her purpose of writing this novel is to warn of the price of an overly zealous religious philosophy, one that places women in such a submissive role in the family. I believe there are also statements about class in there, since the poor woman are being meant to serve the rich families need for a child. As the novel goes along the narrator Offred is going between the past and