The Handmaid's Tale Essay

Margaret Atwood's renowned science fiction novel, The Handmaid's Tale, was written in 1986 during the rise of the opposition to the feminist movement. Atwood, a Native American, was a vigorous supporter of this movement. The battle that existed between both sides of the women's rights issue inspired her to write this work. Because it was not clear just what the end result of the feminist movement would be, the author begins at the outset to prod her reader to consider where the story will end. Her purpose in writing this serious satire is to warn women of what the female gender stands to lose if the feminist movement were to fail. Atwood envisions a society of extreme changes in

THE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN IN ATWOOD’S THE HANDMAID’S TALE AND THEIR WAYS OF RESISTING THE REGIME

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 Atwood’s bestselling novel is The Handmaid’s Tale, a disturbing dystopian fiction novel. The Handmaid’s Tale is a complex tale of a woman’s life living in a society that endorses sexual slavery and inequality through oppression and fear. The female characters in Margaret Atwood’s novel demonstrates how these issues affects women’s lives. Offred is the individual with whom we sympathize and experience these issues. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood addresses her perception of the ongoing feminism issues during her time; reproduction rights, workforce inequalities and gender discrimination. Atwood uses her talent to write The Handmaid Tale to express her view on past, present, and future women’s issues.

religious extremism in the United States, as in the novel the country is turned into “Gilead” after

Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, satirizes the movement of religious conservatives that was occurring during its time of publication in the 1980’s. The beliefs expressed by these conservatives are taken to the extreme in the book when a totalitarian government creates a new society that reverses all advancements of women. Through these reversals and formed hierarchies, Atwood creatively makes a statement about the unfair molds in real life that both genders try to break free from. In other words, the story inflates the roles of men and women through the creation of strict regulations in order to show the discriminatory stereotypes that are a reality today.

In Margaret Atwood’s novel ‘The Handmaid’s Tale, she narrates how women are abused mentally and physically by the hands of men. Also, women were forced to become prostitutes or sent to colonies. During the Republic of Gilead which is ruled by men and surrounded by corruption, lust, prostitution, and violence towards women who were punished by hanging or being sent to colonies for exile if they break the rules. According to the government, women, who cannot follow the rules or have babies, were considered worthless. Women were strongly identified by coded languages that were mainly hidden within their clothing and were manipulated to act within Gilead.

The Gilead regime uses language, particularly Biblical language to solidify its power. Language has a strong influence in moulding how people think, and it is fully abused by the rulers of Gilead, for example, the phrase, ‘’give me children or else I die.’’ (pg. 99 ) gave the republic of Gilead the idea to use handmaids to bear children for barren wives. Bible readings and prayers before the ceremony, Is another example the regime justifies its actions and the role of the handmaid, to disguise what is actually taking place, which is the exploitation and abuse of women.

Literary Analysis In a world that is created of men and women, all must equally work together in order to achieve a functioning society on Earth. However, in the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, a dystopian society is created where men have complete authority over women. Thus, the women in The Handmaid’s Tale are not subject to any rights or freedoms. A matter of a fact, the only women that have any place in the society are the handmaids that reproduce children for the elite men of the Republic of Gilead.

Written in 1986, during the beginning of the feminist movement’s opposition, Margret Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale. This novel, which contemplates on the 1980’s political group, The New Right movement and it’s severe antifeminist messages, provides a bleak future on what might had followed if they had succeeded in getting power: Women getting reduced into being mere objects. Atwood wrote this novel as a warning to warn society about what females stand to lose if feminism was to fail. The masculine authority within The Republic of Gilead, assigns women to various classes and their functions: The Aunts, The Handmaids, The Martha’s, and The Econo-wives.

The novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, by Margaret Atwood, explores the role of women in a fictional patriarchal society. Women in the novel are seen as property of a man and they live under a strict set of enforced rules and guidelines that male society has deemed appropriate. These patriarchal beliefs are so entrenched in the society that many women either believe the ideals or have been subconsciously influenced by society. Most of the women in the novel were “products of society” with their personalities being heavily attributed into the culture that they were now immersed in. A major theme of “The Handmaid’s Tale”, by Margaret Atwood, is the skewed sense of freedom and power that the women have developed; seen in the value placed on children, the women’s interactions with one another, and the clear presence of suicide.

Written in 1985, the dystopian, fictional novel; The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood depicts a totalitarian theocracy society set in the United States of America that covers many facets of being a modern woman in this patriarchal world, that range from domestic/dating violence, sexual assault, to less-involved topics. Though the novel was originally published in the year 1985, its’ explicit scenes draw an eerie image of what the future may look for women following the election of President Donald Trump. Altogether a woman’s socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and educational level affect the probability that she will experience any form of violence throughout her lifetime. One’s socioeconomic status is not always a reliable source to determine

Margret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaids Tale’ is a dystopian novel focusing on the totalitarian state of Gilead. Although the state of Gilead can be superficially seen as patriarchal where men are the only oppressors, considering the context from the time when the novel was written, we can see Atwood’s concerns for the future. The novel describes the life story of protagonist Offred through her first person narrative and use of flashbacks and Atwood primarily portrays gender roles through her use of language and symbolism throughout the novel, which reiterate the oppressive and authoritarian state that the handmaids are obliged to live in. Similarly, Atwood portrays largely negative attitudes towards hierarchy through the use of techniques such as

In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood explores the role that women play in society and the consequences of a countryís value system. She reveals that values held in the United States are a threat to the livelihood and status of women. As one critic writes, “the author has concluded that present social trends are dangerous to individual welfare” (Prescott 151).

The Handmaid's Tale is a distopian novel of tightly wound truths and links to our society today. It is so tightly wound, like a thorn bush, that gaining any meaning from it at all proves to be a very arduous task indeed for those who are not predisposed to do so. Nevertheless, some meaning did present itself during the text, as follows.