Handmaids

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.

Rebellion of an individual occurs when there is a difference of opinion. This conventional trait among society allows diverse ideas to be suggested and added upon for a better future and eventually an all around Utopia. Rebellious attitude is depicted throughout George Orwell’s novel 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale in a subtle, yet powerful way. The faint, disobedient remarks made by their characters suggest their hope in the future generations opposed to the present one. When a rebellious mindset comes in contact with an oppressed society with strict rules and regulations, the outcome suggests a better future through the realization of mistakes and unity for a common goal.

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

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.

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

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.

In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Offred recounts the story of her life and that of others in Gilead, but she does not do so alone. The symbolic meanings found in the dress code of the women, the names/titles of characters, the absence of the mirror, and the smell and hunger imagery aid her in telling of the repugnant conditions in the Republic of Gilead. The symbols speak with a voice of their own and in decibels louder than Offred can ever dare to use. They convey the social structure of Gileadean society and carry the theme of the individual's loss of identity.

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 Chapter 13, Thomas Foster explain how in most of the novels, writers address politics to elaborate the influence of politics as of a way to support his or her suggestion that he or she is trying to make throughout the story. Not being very fond of “programmatic” politics, Foster clarifies that some writers do often associate politics by “engaging people’s rights, wrong-doings of those in power, and social conflicts” (Foster 177). Foster believes that the first type of politics “tend to be clumsy and heavy – handed” while he considers the second strategy to be interesting and more relatable. The Handmaid’s Tale is an effective satire, in which Atwood uses indirect politics to refer to the unpleased, brutal and horrific events in the recent past, social

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 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.

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

Offred, within the novel, is seen as being in one of the lowest classes within the hierarchy of women only putting her above the women who are sent to the colonies. Unlike the handmaids, the Martha, who are helping ladies to the Wives, talk about Offred like she is not in their present but viewed her as “a household chore,one among many”(Atwood 48). Although the Martha are women too, they have more control than Offred. By viewing Offred as a household chore conveys that Offred is an inconvenience but still a necessary part of Gilead. Speaking about Offred like this emphasizes that she is below them in the status of society and they are not seen as equals. In addition, Offred, being a handmaid, wasn’t allow to talk to the Wives in a direct manner (Atwood 14-15). By Offred not being allowed to talk to the Wives illustrates that the Wives authority over the handmaids. Furthermore, the handmaid’s are viewed as less and “[reduced]... to the slavery status of being mere ‘breeders’” (Malak). By conveying the handmaids are slaves shows are they force without consent to have sex with men and that the handmaid focus is to breed, unlike the Martha, aunts, and Wives. Moreover, the class system within the female hierarchy of Gilead is utilized as a political tool thus adding to the assumption

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.

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.