Does The Handmaid's Dystopian 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.

Although some people might argue that this could be seen as madness it’s not true, because her actions had a logical

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

Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, reflects the strict and restrained nature of Puritan society in the Republic of Gilead to illustrate how a government can control the public and keep them compliant. In the 17th century, many Puritans immigrated to the New England region in pursuit of religious freedom, but their religious and moral code was anything but free; the lifestyle of the Puritans was “rigid and restrained” and all Puritans, even children, were expected to repress their emotions because “any show of emotion...was discouraged” by the Puritan church (“Salem Witch Trials”). Atwood draws on this “restrained” and repressed lifestyle when creating the Republic of Gilead and society in The Handmaid’s Tale. Like the Puritans,

Monsters are often thought of as green, abnormally large and scary. They are believed to hide in dark shadows and forgotten street corners. Monsters have a bad reputation and the very nature of the term monster is not smiled upon. I believe these thoughts are generic and relics of a much safer past. In our morally bankrupt society monsters exist in the realist scariest form. As we step into adulthood and take our heads out of the comic books that shows us the danger of the Green Goblin we must now be alerted the real demons. Adolf Hitler killed thousands upon thousands of people. His persona and legacy can only be thought of as sick and sadistic. Adolf Hitler did by himself what would take an entire army of

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.

you, sir, I do not believe it” (Miller70). Even after John’s lechery, she believed that he

The Handmaid’s Tale is about Offered as she shares her thoughts and experiences in a journal-like form and provides some advice. Offred is a lower class female who has been taken from her husband and daughter at 5 years old to be a handmaid for the red commander at the red center. The point of this center is to reproduce with the Commander

In court, when she was under oath, she was asked a lot of questions. Her answers from one side she tried to tell the truth from one side, and from the other she was to protect. Bert she did not want to do him any harm, though she knew her father would not be pleased with her answers. It was clear she demonstrated her independent views and ideas there.

SHe previously believed their intent were to help people, when in reality they merely harmed

The true monster lurks in our mind. It represents everything that we afraid of. When some people has any of these features. We just easily put them in the category of monster, regardless they are truly the monster or

Offred is a Handmaid in what used to be the United States, now the theocratic Republic of Gilead. In order to create Gilead's idea of a more perfect society, they have reverted to taking the Book of Genesis at its word. Women no longer have any privileges; they cannot work, have their own bank accounts, or own anything. The also are not allowed to read or even chose who they want to marry. Women are taught that they should be subservient to men and should only be concerned with bearing children. Margaret Atwood writes The Handmaid's Tale (1986) as to create a dystopia. A dystopia is an imaginary place where the condition of life is extremely bad, from deprivation, oppression, or

The main character, Offred, is a woman who lives in the Republic of Gilead. The Republic of Gilead overthrew the original United States government and quickly began to take away women’s rights. As a result, Offred was forced to become a Handmaid, a fertile woman whose job is to bear children for a Commander who has an infertile Wife. The story follows Offred through her ordeals as a Handmaid with virtually no rights. She hopes that she will become pregnant so that she will not be sent away with the sterile Unwoman, who are exiled to the Colonies to clean up deadly pollution. Offred misses what the country used to be and struggles to survive in the dystopia that has erupted.

In the story the main speaker is Victor Frankenstein who is the creator of the monster, which he also describes the monster throughout the novel. The first descriptions he gives to the creature are mainly based on the physical features of it; the first impression he has is “His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath… his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.” (Shelley 58) This shows that the monster does not look anything close to a human being, and this traits represent how his first impression defines his destiny through the story. On the other hand, when the monster tells his story, he expresses himself with “I have good dispositions; my life has been hitherto harmless and in some degree beneficial; but a fatal prejudice clouds their eyes, and where they ought to see a feeling and kind friend, they behold only a detestable monster.” (Shelley 159) He expresses how he is prejudiced by other people, and they are afraid that the monster might hurt them. The consequence

[ATT] In our country we are told that we have freedoms, as long as one follows the laws set out by the Constitution. If we defy these laws, there are serious consequences. But what happens when the Government goes against their own laws but are not as easily caught because it is considered “top secret”. This is the baseline for the novel Little Brother written by Cory Doctorow. Marcus, a seventeen-year-old boy, and his four friends are captured by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for being at the wrong place and the wrong time. They are treated horrendously at this prison and held captive for three days. There one friend, Darryl is captured for months, but they are under the impression that he has died. The whole book is Marcus trying to get back at the DHS for what they have done to him and all the wrongs they are committing. On the other hand, we have Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale where Offred, a handmaid, is part of a society called Gilead. Where the rules are so strict that women are not allowed to read, write, or even say what they are thinking without severe consequences. Gilead is part of a hierarchy system where the men are at the top and control everything the women do. They women are ranked as well, a handmaid being the lowest ranking. Offred despises everything about Gilead and just wants life to go back to what it was previously, normal. The main characters from these two novels, Marcus and Offred, both exemplify ways of defying the higher