Handmaid's Tale: A Personal Narrative

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.

This morning I completed all my duties of the castle, before having Dorota arrange a set of clothing for me. She tied the golden ribbon of my beautiful, sanguine, wool dress so that it hugged my waist, just tight enough. As she left the room, I brushed out my long brunette curls, admiring my gown in the mirror, and placing my favorite headdress atop my freshly groomed locks. Lastly, Dorota fastened the locket my mother gave me as a child round my neck. I strolled down our grand staircase to the main room of the castle to bid my mother a farewell for the remainder of the day.

Parents typically don’t want their children reading in depth books about sex; however, The Handmaid’s Tale offers great fictional examples that teach sexism and the mistreatment of women, yet these examples can lead some in the wrong way. Therefore depending on the view in society, The Handmaid’s tale should be banned or kept to certain areas of the world because of the unfair treatment of women.

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

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.

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.

traditional communities, particularly in the more remote villages, she is still expected to shave her head and live like an ascetic, sleeping on the ground, living only to fast and pray for her departed spouse. (50)

The central social hierarchy within the novel is the gender hierarchy, placing men in a position of extreme power. This is evident in every aspect of the book, as the entire Gilead society is male dominated. The Commander is at the top of the hierarchy and is involved with designing and establishing the current society taking control of a nation of women, and exploiting their power by controlling what is taught, what they can teach themselves and the words that they can use. Soon all of the women will become brainwashed, simply because it is made nearly impossible to defy the rules

Imagine having no option other than breaking your government laws to survive. In the new society, Republic of Gilead, Offred is ultimately trying to survive with the new laws that were implemented. In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood which conveys the quest for survival leads to breaking laws. It’s shown through the tone of Offred, foreshadowing Offred and her daughter attempted escape, and plot twist of Serena Joy.

Once upon a time there was poor peasant who had no land, but had many dogs. Not the normal peasant but a peasant that was just sentenced to death by the king. Why this peasant got sentenced to death was because he couldn't give the rich the money that they needed to be happy. The rich think of the peasants like they're dogs or slaves. The peasant kneels before the king and says, “Oh great and glorious king if you would only let me live one more year, i pledge that i can teach the royal horse to talk”.

In Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, the idea of women’s bodies as political instruments and elimination of sexual pleasure is explored. The republic of Gilead “depicts a futuristic society in which a brutal patriarchal regime deprives women of power and subjectivity, enslaving them through a sophisticated, ubiquitous apparatus of surveillance” (Cooper 49). Offred is a girl who lives with her Commander within Gilead. She is surrounded by girls at his house. When one becomes a woman they have had a baby. Any time before they have a baby they are just girls. They are valued only by their ovaries and wombs. They have no freedom and

I awoke at the beginning of the first hour when Drusa cooked a meal of puls for ourselves and the children. Today was the first day I was to bring Marcius along to apprentice at the shop. By age eleven, he had learned enough arithmetic and grammar to be able to do inventory and make sales. His first day was rather rough, but it was just that–a first day. I am sure my father was less than thrilled with my first day at the shop. I can only hope that he improves.

Once upon a time, I had been thinking that I was the happiest woman in the world. I had a great husband Luke and a little lovely daughter. And I had my best friend Moira. A perfect life! Everything was going well until one day, the terrible day in my life when a new law defined that women could not hold property even doing monetary matters! How unfair it was! “I [felt] as if somebody cut off my feet” (Atwood 179). You may think it was not that bad. Yes, yes, it was not, but it was just a beginning point of my worst life! Look at me. I am a thirty-three-year-old handmaid in the society of Gilead, where everyone calls me, Offred, where men are above and have a power over women who are such a weak gender, and where there is no freedom! I always

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

Throughout the novel, Offred articulates a variety of stories which prove to be crucial for her survival. Specifically, the majority of her narratives center on her daily occurrences in Gilead which range from shopping with Ofglen to discovering various trifling details while exploring her room. While these stories may appear trivial at first, upon closer examination one can see that Offred’s retelling of these events acts as a survival strategy for keeping her sane and safe amidst the maddening society she resides in. Due to the restrictive nature of Gilead, Offred’s life is filled with constant paranoia and uncertainty; there is a relentless air of secrecy which