The Handmaid's Tale: Plot Analysis Essay

From very early on in the book, the significance of gender roles is set out in order to allow the reader to comprehend the idea of the castes in this patriarchal society. The transition between the “time before” and what Offred describes as “now”, is essential in order to realize the changes that occurred. After the “Sons of Jacob” start the revolution, people’s rights are put in limbo as the constitution is suspended. Women’s rights become almost non-existent, and the division begins. Since her attempted escape, Offred is brought back into Gilead and do her duty as a fertile woman, and become a handmaid. She is very limited in what she can do, and in order to not be sent away to the

Offred struggles with her new life, stating, “I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former name; to remind myself of what I once could do, how others saw me” (Atwood 97). Offred is emotionally run down. She misses her husband Luke and the way he made her feel. Offred spends most of her days wondering about her husband Luke, and daughter. She wonders if her husband is dead, made it across the Canadian border, or was captured. Although Offred never finds out Luke’s life status, Serena Joy offers to tell Offred some information regarding her daughter. Consequently, Offred must sleep with Nick and conceive a child in spite of receiving the information. As long as the Commander believes he is the father of Offred 's child, no problems will arise. Offred 's decision is unconventional and risky, both for herself and Nick. If Nick and Offred are caught, they will be executed. However, her unorthodox decision pays off. Serena Joy obtains a photograph of Offred’s daughter and informs Offred that her daughter is now around eight years old and has been adopted by a family loyal to the regime. Offred is informed that her daughter is alive and in safe care. The new information provides Offred with a sense of relief.

In Gilead, all Handmaids are made to wear the same red uniform, white veil, use the same designated language- “Blessed by the fruit”- and go to work in pairs, shedding them of their own identity and alienating them. Giving the Handmaids no real alone time other than to sleep, they must even bathe with someone watching over them, and thus taking away their unique distinctiveness. Therefore when Offred finds herself alone and naked, she is subconsciously disconnected from the uniformed Handmaid role that she plays daily, and is reminded that she, herself, is an individual with her own body and convictions. This illustrates the fact

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.

She is kept alive for purely that reason in the first chapters, as the story progresses and she is invited into the Commander's office, where they play Scrabble and he reveals to her hidden or contraband aspects of the new society, such as fashion magazines and cosmetics, which he allows her to read, an activity otherwise prohibited for women. In these meetings Offred is treated more humanely than she has in years. She's treated more like a human should instead of a slave to her own body and “Commander”, which is suggested in her name in of its self, which means “of Fred”, conceding the point that the Commander's name is

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

Imagine not being able to go out, all you do is just stay inside doing nothing, and when you are able to go out they send you to do errands. Offred is a handmaid for a new society that took over a part of the United States. Her world consist of having sexual intercourse or a ‘Ceremony’ with a specific male once a month in order to reproduce and give birth. She also isn't able to communicate with others. In the novel if handmaid’s get pregnant they aren’t allowed to keep the child, they eventually give it to the Wife, the partner of the Commander, who then cares for it and acts as if it’s one of her own.

Her real name may not be known but the woman who came to be called Offred during the years of Gilead lead a remarkable life. Much about her early childhood and the times before she was a handmaid are unknown. What is known is that she married her first husband Luke and had a child sometime before she was a handmaid. Unfortunately, her husband was killed and her daughter was given away when she was caught trying to run away with them to Canada. Offred was then forced to be a handmaid. Fertile women were scarce in the United States and all those able to have children were sent to officers of Gilead, used to reproduce their children. Offred recalls the bleak rooms she stayed in as “...a bed. Single, mattress medium-hard, covered with a flocked white spread. Nothing takes place in the bed but sleep; or no sleep. I try not to think too much” (8). The Republic of Gilead had taken away women's rights

Offred's memories are a way for her to escape a society riddled with hopelessness. The authoritarian society of Gilead prevents her from

Her belief gives her a false sense of security as well as her unwillingness to rebel due to fear of the Eyes. Her conversations with others are "Praise be," "Blessed be the fruit," and "May the Lord open" it is difficult for Offred or any women to really have a meaningful conversation for fear that anyone is a spy. Everything that Offred does is now part of the norm of society. She doesn't question her duties just does what is expected of her. As Offred begins a secret relationship with Nick she believes she has reclaimed a tiny piece of her past. She becomes addicted to the small amount of companionship from Nick, causing her to turn a blind eye to the injustices going on around her. She feels empowered because it was her own choice. When in reality she did what was expected of her. Using her body in order to produce a child.

First published in 1986, The Handmaid's Tale takes place in the near-future utopian society of Gilead. The novel's main characters have lived through society's transition from the social order of late twentieth-century America to a radically different one. Gilead, like the societies in most utopian novels, is actually a dystopia. An ideal culture on the surface, but a disturbingly dysfunctional culture in practice. Besides Handmaids and Wives, Gilead's functional identities for women include Aunts Marthas , and Econowives.

Although Offred accepts the standards and criterions of her society, she keeps her individuality and refuses to forget the past. She remembers having had an identity of her own and strives to hold on to it as best as she can. She puts a claim on her temporary room in her Commander's house; it becomes a sanctuary for her true self. Her room becomes a place of

Offred is a Handmaid in what used to be the United States, now the theocratic Republic of Gilead. In order to create Gilead's idea of a more perfect society, they have reverted to taking the Book of Genesis at its word. Women no longer have any privileges; they cannot work, have their own bank accounts, or own anything. The also are not allowed to read or even chose who they want to marry. Women are taught that they should be subservient to men and should only be concerned with bearing children. Margaret Atwood writes The Handmaid's Tale (1986) as to create a dystopia. A dystopia is an imaginary place where the condition of life is extremely bad, from deprivation, oppression, or

Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred recalls her past life before and during the creation of the Republic of

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