Handmaids

At first, The Handmaid’s Tale (1986) may purely seem like a reconstruction of events. However, when examined more closely the reader can see that Atwood has used many narrative and poetic techniques. Each of these devices develop the novel into so much more than just a simple reconstruction of events, it becomes a precise and planned piece of work; a documented life experience that slowly unfolds. The reader becomes involved in the story and in Offred’s life; they go through her pain, suffering and occasional joy and trusts what she is telling them to be the truth. Yet, when the novel

From the outset of 'The Handmaids Tale' the reader is placed in an unknown world, where the rights and freedom of women have been taken away. We follow the narrative journey of a handmaid, named Offred.

In Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood writes about a dystopia society. Atwood used situations that were happening during the time she began writing her novel, for example, women’s rights, politics, and in religious aspects. Atwood’s novel is relevant to contemporary society. There are similarities between Atwood’s novel and our society today, which lends to the possibility that our modern society might be headed to a less intense version of this dystopia society.

One of the many sad aspects of The Handmaid’s Tale is that the women who are subjected to abuse and discrimination soon comply with the roles that have been assigned to them, permitting abuse and exploitation against and amongst themselves. Atwood is not particularly hopeful about women as a means of changing the conditions in which they are living in this society. Even Offred’s eventual escape from the perverted system is more of a luck luck thing than determined will. Paying particular attention to the ending of the novel, this essay will argue that the author wants to call the reader’s attention to the problems that women suffer, but that she offers no solution or hope for change. I will be addressing three different literary devices in this essay; Repetition, Characterization, and Foreshadowing. I hope you enjoy.

Atwood has constructed the novel as a first person narrative in which Offred offers her point of view as a Handmaid living in The Republic of Gilead. “The guards weren't allowed inside the building except when called, and we weren't allowed out, except for our walks, twice daily, two by two around the football field, which was enclosed now by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire” (Atwood 16). The reader is not able to interpret what is happening outside of the enclosed area that the Handmaids are living in. This creates ambiguity because Offred cannot inform the reader because of her circumstances which generates ambiguity. Further, this relationship communicates the theme of freedom because the Handmaids do not have any freedom to explore outside of the enclosed premises and they are not allowed to talk to anyone outside including the angels. Due to the ambiguity generated through the imprisonment of women the reader is left to wonder what is happening in other parts of the

Gilead is a society not far from the present and it based around one central idea, control of reproduction by using women’s bodies as political instruments. Handmaids are women who the state took complete control of through their political subjugation. They are not allowed to vote, hold property, read or do anything that can make them independent from their husband and the state. These handmaids are reduced to their fertility and treated like nothing more than a set of ovaries and a womb. They lose their identity and become an object of the state. The narrator of The Handmaids Tale is a handmaid by the name of Offred. The novel takes place in first person point of view and this allows the readers to see how she is treated and all the events that take place for her. First person point of view allows the reader a closer view as to how a central theme develops by giving the reader a firsthand experience from the mind of the narrator.

The Handmaid’s Tale explores how individuals and society will interpret sources based on their own agendas and beliefs leading to a manipulation of the source for their own advantage. Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale in 1984 where conservatism was on a rise and women were in danger of losing the rights they had been granted just a decade before. Thus in the novel she

Both Julius Caesar and The Handmaid's Tale are speculative text that help present a warning based on the social, cultural and historical values of its time as well as through the use of language and the conventions of the narratives. The Handmaid’s Tale presents a warning to its audience as a result of the novel being written in 1986 during the rise of the opposition to the feminist movement. Whilst Julius Caesar presents a warning to his audience through writing the play based on the Roman history.

Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaids Tale, is a story of a dystopian society set in the land of Gilead. The premise of The Handmaids Tale is the creation a masculine dominated civilization in which not only are the rights of women oppressed, but the basic rights of humanity. Everything, even and up to sex, has been desensitized, which destroys the concept of family, as men have sex with and impregnate handmaids, not their wives, as a means of conception and reproduction. While the officials of the Republic of Gilead attempt to suppress all evidence of the past, it is impossible to do so. The novels main character, and narrative voice, is a handmaid named Offred. Early on in the novel, she describes her home in this future, tyrannical society. The glimpse she provides, through symbolism, demonstrates to the reader the main themes of the novel, and allows the reader to identify the failures of Gilead in upholding its principles. A closer look at chapter two of The Handmaids Tale foreshadows many of the thematic elements established throughout the novel. The idea of family, represented by the Late Victorian house, the necessity of both the wives and the handmaids, represented by the color of the flowers, and the notion of time, represented by the grandfather clock are the books integral themes.

The Handmaid´s Tale book by the Canadian Margaret Atwood is a dystopian novel, science fiction first published in 1985. It won so many prizes such as the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Nebula Award, among others, that this novel was adapted to the big screen. The movie adaptation, named the same as the book, was directed by Volker Schlondorff and made in 1990. As every book with its corresponding movie adaptation they have differences and similarities, in the Handmaid´s Tale we can observe those in the arrangement of the scenes and changes in the scenes itself. We will now analyze those changes. There

In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, set in a futuristic state, women are portrayed as voiceless belongings viewed only as childbearing vessels. Atwood characterizes women as both physically and psychologically oppressed by the totalitarian male leaders through Handmaid characters such as Offred, Ofwarren, and Ofglen. The novel clearly displays the dehumanizing effects of the ideology, the biological reductionism, and manipulation of language through the testimony of the eyewitness’ recollections. The portrayal of women in this novel is conveyed through Offred’s characterizations and descriptions of women in this society.

In the thought - provoking novel by Margaret Atwood, the domination and the unjust governing of women by men is palpable. Freedom for women is restricted, because of the new Christian government’s extreme policies and the ideas of this Christian government are presented through Offred’s first person narrative. Through politics, Atwood uses The Handmaid’s Tale as a social commentary on freedom for women. The handmaids are no longer free to think for themselves and are “used… as an instrument… a means of transportation or an implement” (Atwood 73). In addition, slavery which was abolished by the thirteenth Amendment reoccurs again.

Margaret Atwood's tale of a concubine engulfs the reader in a chilling effect on what could be our future America. The Handmaid’s Tale reveals the story of June, but her name has been altered to Offred. The patronymic was enforced by the new regime in a burdensome parallel of an impeding America. The Handmaid's roles include providing children for the infertile women of the upper class. The female population is divided into classes established by household functions. The Eye is a secret police group that maintains the law and roots up traitors. Offred, believes anyone could be an Eye. Power and freedom have been stripped away from women. June lives in a world where many items are forbidden including, scrabble, books, magazines, and makeup.

For this essay, we focused strictly on critics' reactions to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. For the most part, we found two separate opinions about The Handmaid's Tale, concerning feminism. One opinion is that it is a feminist novel, and the opposing opinion that it is not. Feminism: A doctrine advocating social, political, and economic rights for women equal to those of men as recorded in Webster's Dictionary. This topic is prevalent in the novel The Handmaid's Tale. Margaret Atwood, a Canadian writer, spends most of her time featuring women in her books, novels, and poetry that examine their relationships in society. In the book Atwood centers her novel on a girl whom

In Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale language, love, and rebellion are three of the most important topics discussed. All three show up throughout the book within almost every single chapter. Language was hard to find. Love was basically unattainable. Rebellion was among the entire city of Gilead. In my creative piece, I expanded on language, love, and rebellion to show that Atwood was trying to tell us that all three are factors of our everyday lives that we all take for granted.