Creative Writing: The Handmaid's Tale

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

Paula Hawkins, a well-known British author, once said, “I have lost control over everything, even the places in my head.” In Margaret Atwood’s futuristic dystopia The Handmaid’s Tale, a woman named Offred feels she is losing control over everything in her life. Offred lives in the Republic of Gilead. A group of fundamentalists create the Republic of Gilead after they murder the President of the United States and members of Congress. The fundamentalists use the power to their advantage and restrict women’s freedom. As a result, each woman is assigned a specific duty to perform in society. Offred’s husband and child are taken away from her and she is now forced to live her life as a Handmaid. Offred’s role in society is to produce a child

Serena Joy is the most powerful female presence in the hierarchy of Gileadean women; she is the central character in the dystopian novel, signifying the foundation for the Gileadean regime. Atwood uses Serena Joy as a symbol for the present dystopian society, justifying why the society of Gilead arose and how its oppression had infiltrated the lives of unsuspecting people.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Hillary Jordan’s When She Woke, are three novels that carry important messages when read individually. All three depict the struggle of a young woman to fit into society after traumatic changes, either personal or societal. But putting the novels into context to each other reveals even more similarities than the main characters fate.

In Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaids Tale’, we hear a transcribed account of one womans posting ‘Offred’ in the Republic of Gilead. A society based around Biblical philosophies as a way to validate inhumane state practises. In a society of declining birth rates, fertile women are chosen to become Handmaids, walking incubators, whose role in life is to reproduce for barren wives of commanders. Older women, gay men, and barren Handmaids are sent to the colonies to clean toxic waste.

It made Lydia feel guilty, hiding the truth. Except she couldn't think of a way to tell her that she'd sold her grandchild to a man who'd sell it again for a profit. That the child would probably grow up on a human farm where it would stay for awhile before it was sold yet again to be used for lord knows what. Maybe they would be used by the company, who'd leave them brain dead so that someone would have room plant their subconscious into their head. Perhaps they'd be deemed an unfit host and sent right back to the city where they'd been bought from in the first place. The truth was that she didn't know. It often haunted her at night, wondering where her other children were. Her eldest would be 7 now. She didn't know the gender but she always

Gawain lay on a cold, hard surface, daggers sticking into his skull, a flaming pike shoved into his midsection, and a dead rat stuffed into his mouth.

Imagine growing up in a society where all women are useful is to reproduce. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is an excellent novel of what could potentially be the fate of the future one day. The main character, Offred, moves into a new home where she is there to perform “rituals” with the Commander, head of the house, so she can hopefully reproduce herself. The Commander is a key character for he can get rid of Offred if he does not like her and he has all the power. The two end up having a secret relationship where Offred begins to trust him. In the book the Commander is portrayed as a pretty trustworthy character to Offred, however the movie adaptation was the complete opposite. There are three important scenes that portray the Commander differently from the movie in comparison to the book serving to create a different mood.

As with all literature, many aspects of storytelling are present in Margaret Atwood’s conception of The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian fictional literary work. Analysis of these tools and vehicles of literary fiction sheds light upon the deeper meanings wrought into the given work. The protagonist of The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred is of course, a handmaid. She is the member of a social class of her society which is owned and operated completely by an elite’s household, the head of house being a Commander and his Wife.

The Handmaids Tale Essay Patriarchy is a system of a society in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it. The power unbalance between men and women is clear in every level of society, where women have little to no control over their lives. In the novel, The Handmaids Tale, women are seen to be less dominant then men, who have much more power in their society. Women in the Gileadean society are considered beneath men; in this patriarchal society, they are clearly disadvantaged, they are only valued for their reproductive abilities.

In Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaids Tale’, we hear a transcribed account of one womans posting ‘Offred’ in the Republic of Gilead. A society based around Biblical philosophies as a way to validate inhumane state practises. In a society of declining birth rates, fertile women are chosen to become Handmaids, walking incubators, whose role in life is to reproduce for barren wives of commanders. Older women, gay men, and barren Handmaids are sent to the colonies to clean toxic waste.

Jodee went to Claire’s house and was amazed Claire lives in Plantation, her home is enormous, and the house is white, and the door is red with a glassed window. The house Jodee went inside the house, and she saw Claire. Claire kissed her on the cheek and said “oh my gosh you're here we are going to have a lot a fun’’ Jodee was already making her bed. Claire said “ who wants to play a game’’ then all the girls were saying “me, me, me!’’ Claire saw Jodee and decided to make her play.

The prince was a tall, young man with watchful blue eyes and long coppery hair. He had gone impulsively to hunt. Ian could think of nothing like responsibility or duty. He could only think of leaving the palace for an hour or a day. The company had met the king's messenger half-way across Sirle. The message was accompanied by a troop of guards to make sure that Ian did not ignore it. Come home, it said tersely. Now. Ian was not surprised, and he was too weary to fend for himself. So he let fortune, in the shape of the king's guards, bring him back.

The novel is written in first person point of view. In first person point of view, we are brought into the mind and world of the main character, Offred. This allows the reader to experience moments and memories as vividly as she does. Ultimately, the reader bonds and sympathizes with Offred.

“You were?” Harold wondered in bemusement. Surveying his surrounding, he noticed that he was in some sort of barracks that housed a large number of people. “Where am I?” He pointed his index finger at himself. “In fact, who am I?” He then proceeded to point his finger at Margaret. “Moreover, who are you supposed to be?”