Critical Analysis Of 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

His and all of the commanders maltreatment of women presents itself throughout Offred's story. Offred’s commander however, begins an unusual relationship with her, by seeing her outside of his home and creating moments of intimacy, which is highly unusual between a Handmaid and those she serves. After several attempts to conceive with Offred, those surrounding the Commander begin to suspect that he is actually sterile, which could be a potentially embarrassing discovery if anyone outside the household found out. At that point, Serena Joy, fearing the consequences of her husband being sterile, encourages Offred to have an affair with Nick and attempt to become

Offred struggles with her new life, stating, “I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former name; to remind myself of what I once could do, how others saw me” (Atwood 97). Offred is emotionally run down. She misses her husband Luke and the way he made her feel. Offred spends most of her days wondering about her husband Luke, and daughter. She wonders if her husband is dead, made it across the Canadian border, or was captured. Although Offred never finds out Luke’s life status, Serena Joy offers to tell Offred some information regarding her daughter. Consequently, Offred must sleep with Nick and conceive a child in spite of receiving the information. As long as the Commander believes he is the father of Offred 's child, no problems will arise. Offred 's decision is unconventional and risky, both for herself and Nick. If Nick and Offred are caught, they will be executed. However, her unorthodox decision pays off. Serena Joy obtains a photograph of Offred’s daughter and informs Offred that her daughter is now around eight years old and has been adopted by a family loyal to the regime. Offred is informed that her daughter is alive and in safe care. The new information provides Offred with a sense of relief.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the Gilead regime oppresses women in many different ways; they take complete control over their bodies, they

The Aunts even subject Offred’s body to routine exercises where they ask her to “breathe in to the count of five, hold expel” (70). Offred’s time is void, and her existence in Gilead is an empty vessel, a body to breed. She compares Gilead is a blurry white noise, where memories are the only thing that keeps Offred going.

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.

Can human live without love? The answer is evidently no. Love can be defined as: the most spectacular, indescribable, deep euphoric feeling for someone. Margaret Atwood, the author of the outstanding dystopian fiction the handmaid 's tale (1985) had once in her book said: " nobody dies from lack of sex. It 's lack of love we die from.” In this novel, Atwood specifically depicts a society where relationships have been altered, undermined and in many ways forbidden. The key word in the issue of relationships is love. In the Republic of Gilead, a form of theocratic government, women had lost their ability to love. The protagonist Offred is a handmaid whose sole purpose in life is to reproduce a child. Gilead expects its handmaids to have faith in its commandments, but has removed love and hope from them. Women became objects and sex slaves to men. Therefore, the relationships of the protagonist Offred are unhealthy as well as abnormal, yet they are source of hope for Offred to survive from this theocratic form of government. Her relationship with the commander is strained but profitable, her relationship with Serena Joy has lots of tensions and conflicts; and her relationship with Nick is subtle as well as controversial.

Atwood demonstrates a sense of hatred and jealousy within Serena Joy, which is directed towards Offred as she is unintentionally an intruder and is invading Serena Joy’s private life. Eventually, this jealousy enables Serena Joy to try to obliviate Offred by “fixing it up with Nick”. Also, Serena Joy indicates that she is willing to “help” Offred by showing her a “picture”, “something you want”. However, all these actions are a result of Serena Joy’s self-interest and her manipulative personality, “there’s a hint of her former small-screen mannequin’s allure, flickering over her face like momentary static”. Consequently, Atwood highlights Serena Joy’s “roguish” actions caused by jealousy and a desire for revenge upon the very person who has been deprived her of possession of the Commander; she deliberately withheld the news of Offred’s lost daughter and the photograph that Offred has been longing for.

Throughout the novel, Offred demonstrates unorthodox behavior through her actions and her thoughts. One action that proves she is an unconventional character is when she meets the Commander in his office. Handmaids and Commanders are supposed to have strictly a business relationship. When Offred breaks that code of conduct, her life is left hanging in the balance. Not only did Offred commit this offense once, but multiple times: “The second evening began in the same way as the first. I went to the door, which was closed, knocked on it, was told to come in” (Atwood 155). Once Offred enters the room, the commander and she play games and start to get to know each other. Offred also has many unorthodox thoughts. During Offred’s walks accompanied by Ofglen, they exchange some information about the Underground Femaleroad: “’ It’s a beautiful May Day, ‘ Ofglen says. I feel rather than see her head turn towards me, waiting for a reply” (Atwood 43). Offred replies and she explains that as she sees Ofglen leave, Offred feels as though she is looking in a mirror. Offred and Ofglen are the same person. Offred shares many of her unorthodox activities with the

While observing her body, she thinks, “My nakedness is strange to me already. My body seems outdated. Did I really wear bathing suits, at the beach?” (63). While most of the women around her are resisting the Gilead rules, Offred never seems to rebel. Even during the most traumatic experiences, such as the Ceremony or beating a man to death, her moral judgments cease to exist, as if she has accepted her fate as a handmaid. It is only until her knowledge of the resistance when she finally decides to participate and even then, it is still kept on the down low. She gives into discreet affairs only under the request of her Commander and Serena Joy. She participates at the Jezebel club under the request of her Commander. Her most daring acts of rebellion are her stealing butter, the thought of stealing from the living room, or her talking to Ofglen. During all of this mutiny, she still binds herself to the color red and her duty as a

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.

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.

“I feel thankful to her. She has died that I may live. I will mourn later” (Atwood 286). Many sacrifices and hard decisions are made by unorthodox people to keep what they believe in alive. There would be no rebellions and no change without these nonconforming people. Offred, the main character and a Handmaiden, would have faced eminent death in her strictly orthodox world had it not been for the rebelliousness of those who died before her wanting change. The Republic of Gilead, previously known as the United States, is a theocracy. Environmental events and population decline prompt changes. A caste system is created, and each caste performs specific duties. They are punished if the laws are not followed. The Eyes are at the top of the caste system; they make sure the laws are obeyed. Next are the Commanders and their Wives. The Handmaiden’s main task is to produce a child with their Commander. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, some unorthodox characters challenge the theocracy such as Offred, Ofglen, and Nick.

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