The Handmaid 's Tale : Intimidation Through Power And Superiority

Handmaids also suffer similar inequality and powerlessness. This is largely evident as the Aunts in the Red Centre are explained to have “scriptural precedent” to hit the handmaids. Offred communicates the power over those considered substandard in society by explaining that “Better never means better for everyone… It always means worse for someone.” Atwood and Scott both explore power over those considered inferior in order to enhance the already dystopic worlds, and to evoke a strong emotional response from their audience.

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

Throughout time, authors wrote countless books that are told by diverse and unique narrators. The readers entered the story world as much as the narrator let them to; the more sophisticated the narrator’s mind was, the harder it got to fathom the story line correctly. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the protagonist Offred has two split personalities, an independent woman that can’t stand to feel oppressed; and a woman that is too afraid of the consequences that may occur if she acts audaciously, almost showing the symptoms of bipolar disorder. Offred is a handmaid; the most feeble step a woman can be in the hierarchy of Gilead. Even the Marthas, a group of women that dedicate themselves to the service of the household do not venerate

Even though the women who can bear children are “cherished”, the babies are not which can be seen when babies are referred to as “shredders” and “unbabies.” Furthermore, it is interesting that the babies are not “cherished”, but the women who can bear children are because it is illegal to have an abortion and can lead to the doctor being killed who performed it. If the handmaids do not get pregnant within three months then they move down in the hierarchy. It is argued who has it worst in the society, however they all share something in common, being oppressed. The handmaids are not allowed to read, go out into public on their own and even have access to everyday things such as lotion. It is seen as vain and people say, “who are they trying to impress?” when they use such items. Offred steals butter to use as a substitute for lotion because she does not have access to it. Lastly, their names perfectly symbolize their oppression: Offred is Fred’s handmaid; she is “of Fred.” Everyday liberties people take for granted and this dystopia shows what it would be like to live under these harsh laws that can lead to execution.

Within the totalitarian society created by Margaret Atwood in the Handmaid’s Tale, there are many people and regimes centred around and reliant on the manipulation of power. The laws that are in place in the republic of Gilead are designed and implemented so as to control and restrict the rights and freedom of its inhabitants.

The handmaids are one of the many social groups in Gilead. Their main purpose in Gilead is to bear children for the infertile,

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

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.

Fear is power. Fear is ever-present in Gilead; it is implemented through violence and force. It is through fear that the regime controls the Gileadian society. There is no way Offred, or the other Handmaids can avoid it. What used to be Harvard University, a

The Handmaids Tale is a poetic tale of a woman's survival as a Handmaid in the male dominated Republic of Gilead. Offred portrayed the struggle living as a Handmaid, essentially becoming a walking womb and a slave to mankind. Women throughout Gilead are oppressed because they are seen as "potentially threatening and subversive and therefore require strict control" (Callaway 48). The fear of women rebelling and taking control of society is stopped through acts such as the caste system, the ceremony and the creation of the Handmaids. The Republic of Gilead is surrounded with people being oppressed. In order for the Republic to continue running the way it is, a sense of control needs to be felt by the government. Without control Gilead will

the Biblical context, however, is irrelevant to the modern society which existed before the coup. The context of the scripture is that of an ancient patriarchal society where men often had multiple wives whose value was to produce progeny, and the Judaic laws accorded women few rights. Though there are some similarities between ancient times and Gilead-the high infant mortality rate and death in childbirth--scripture is used by Gilead as a means to an end. In order to increase the birth rate, the regime forced the wives to accept their roles as barren women, hence inferior people, and surrogate mothers. Consequently, the handmaids are not seen as whole people at all, just reproductive machines. Offred observed that her uterus made her like a womb on legs. At the Red Center, the women listened to a tape of the Beatitudes, and Offred knew the reading was incorrect. She recollects, "'…Blessed be the meek. Blessed are the silent.' I knew it was wrong, and they left things out, too, but there was

Offred can see herself in the mirror like a distorted shadow, a parody of something, some fairy-tale figure in a red cloak, descending towards a moment of carelessness that is in the same as danger. A Sister, dipped in blood."(8). In Cliff Notes, Mary Ellen Snodgrass wrote, "The persistent color motif suggesting menstruation and the female cycle in the blatant scarlet color of the Handmaid's uniform"(31). For that reason, it seems appropriate the color used to represent the Handmaids is red. Their job is to deliver a child for Commanders and their wives; therefore, the menstruation cycle has a strong meaning. Giving birth is another representation. Red could be associated with the bleeding and afterbirth that is part of childbirth. The mode of transportation to travel to the birth of a fellow Handmaid is the Birthmobile. The bench seats, curtains, and floor, as well as the Birthmobile itself, is red. The place where all of the of Handmaids are trained as potential breeders is named "Red Center." That is where they are taught how to act and present themselves proudly. The Red Center is also where the Handmaids are told everything they cannot do anymore, such as read, because they are women. In today's society, we associate "Red Light Districts" with prostitution. Several examples in the novel show how little the other women in the Republic think of the function of the Handmaids. Perhaps they look at the Handmaids lives as a form of

In The Handmaids Tale citizens must abide by the new rules, therefore they are in constant fear of punishment which includes death. “Abortion, possibly the key issue of the Christian political movement, also had its federal funding eliminated, even though attempts to limit or outlaw abortion itself were fought successfully on Constitutional grounds.” (Napierkowoski) Many people like to argue that men are also mistreated in the novel. Men, such as the Commander, may desire to experience a true connection, this can be seen between the Commander and Offreds’ secret affair. The difference between the Commander and the Handmaids is that the Commander gets to raise a child unlike the Handmaids which are just seen as sex machines. “My red skirt is hitched up to my waist, though no higher. Below it the Commander is fucking. What he is fucking is the lower part of my body. I do not say making love, because this is not what he’s doing. Copulating too would be inaccurate, because it would imply two people and only one is involved” (Attwood 94). Shows how they are only used as sex machines…. Gilead believes that women are valuable if they are fertile and can reproduce. It can be seen in history where it is seen as the women’s fault, with Henry the Eighth. He killed his wives because they were unable to give him a son, when in reality Henry the Eighths gene left him unable produce a

The setting of The Handmaid’s Tale – known as Gilead – is a totalitarian government, originally based on Old Testament patriarchy. This structure forbids rival loyalties or parties, so all loyalty must be for the group of men that

To begin, the red color of the handmaid’s dresses represents the immorality of the services they provide to the powerful commanders and their wives. In Gilead handmaids are mandated to have sex with their commanders in the hopes of baring a child. Giving birth to a healthy child is the ultimate goal of the handmaids that they must devote themselves entirely to in order to be safe under authoritarian rule. The red color of their dresses is a constant reminder to themselves and others that their importance is their fertility. Offred the protagonist states, “everything except the