Essay about The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

She says the man is “as if he’s a half dead rat dragging itself across a kitchen floor”. This portrays the way Handmaids view this man because of the rape he was convicted of. The comparison to something horrible and disgusting reflects the horridness of such a vile act. However, it has a bigger impact on the Handmaids due to their job and the pressure of having a healthy baby. Thus, this man and his supposed crime have released an opportunity for Aunts to manipulate the Handmaids into believing that they have the freedom to release their emotions towards such behavior. Diction is also used to portray the hate and anger the Handmaids express towards rape. Offred claims that “there is a bloodlust” and that she wants to “tear, gouge, rend”. These three words, used to express the anger she feels, are synonyms for each other. The repetition of these words is used to emphasize the passionate anger that all the Handmaids share after being told that he had raped a woman. It also shows how even in the society where such a violent crime like rape is disgraced, such violence still tends to exist within the people. Both the similes and diction illustrate the fact that those in charge allow the manipulated society to act violently towards actions that are intolerable, even when the society itself does not tolerate violence. Thus, giving a sense of freedom to the

In a society where women are completely oppressed they have two choices: To conform and survive, or to rebel and risk execution. Conformity would entail suppressing their morals and their personal rights to adapt to Gilead’s social standards. Would one choose self-inflicted isolation by disassociating oneself as a human being to survive, or gain more rights and disregard all morals by working for the government? This society is represented in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaids Tale. The novel is set in the Republic of Gilead, a dictatorship, formerly known as the United States of America. The government controls all aspects of the lives’ of its citizens, with its harshest regulations directly affecting women.

The Handmaid’s Tale is a story told in the voice of Offred, who is the character of the “handmaid”, which is described best by women who are being forced and used for reproduction because they can make babies. In the Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood uses symbolism, which is the use of symbols to represent ideas, to show the reader the handmaid’s role in society of Gilead. The handmaids were women who had broken the law of Gilead, and forced into having sex and reproducing for the higher class. They had no rights and were watched constantly so this created a very nervous atmosphere. This horrible way of living is most likely why Offred never fully made the reader aware of the horrible life she was forced to live because

The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood describes the story of Offred, a Handmaid, that is a woman ascribed a breeding function by society, and who is placed with a husband and wife higher up the social ladder who need a child. Through Offred's eyes we explore the rigidity of the theocracy in which she lives, the contradictions in the society they have created, and her attempts to find solace through otherwise trivial things. The heroine is never identified except as Offred, the property of her current Commander, she was a modern woman: college-educated, a wife and a mother when she lost all that due to the change in her society. The novel can be viewed from one perspective as being a feminist depiction of the suppression of a woman, from another

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.

The most symbolic element in nature that is commonly used in novels is a flower. Flowers have been used in various genres of literature and just like a specific color, authors use a specific flower to convey and to communicate different types of messages. For example, a rose can be used to represent simplicity, beauty, love or even lust, whereas a white daisy can be used to represent innocence and purity. Margaret Atwood also uses flowers repetitively in her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. Atwood’s motif of flowers, clearly represent the love, and fertility associated with the woman in the Gilead society; Offred’s most important role of bearing children and her desires are demonstrated through the flower’s descriptions.

In John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums”, he uses the chrysanthemums, fence, and garden to symbolize Elisa’s thoughts and feelings throughout his story. He uses these symbols to show love, neglect, loneliness, protection, and passion for his characters.

Oppression is a major fret in the contemporary world. Alluding to Ronald Raegan 's policy of supporting the oppressive apartheid in South Africa, Atwood in The Handmaid’s Tale, conveys a society where oppression is accepted through forced collaboration and a fear of consequences if not followed. Offred 's internalised oppression is evident when she describes that the Handmaids are treated as 'two-legged wombs, that 's all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices '. This is a metaphor manifesting how the Handmaids come to accept that their purpose is to produce children and showing Offred 's personal oppression and her willingness to comply with the regime. Gillead also manipulates the Bible as a power tool to encourage the citizens to remain content with the theocratic nature of society. This is obvious

The setting of Alice Walkers short story” The Flowers” is important for us, the readers to obtain a perspective of how life was like growing up for a 10 year old African American girl by the name of Myop. The title of the story is “The Flowers.” When you think about flowers, you instantly compare them to being beautiful, pure, and innocent. The title of the “The Flowers” is a symbolism that correlates to Myop who is the protagonist of the story. Myop is just like a flower in the beginning of the story. She’s a pure and innocent child but that pure innocence changes when she discovers something that’ll change her life forever.

In this “Autumn” chapter, Claudia MacTeer uses flower imagery to describe how she and Frieda respond to their environment. This metaphor calls attention to the importance of nurture and environment for these young children, especially during these formative years of childhood. Like flowers, we depend on our environment for sustenance, so in turn, Pecola Breedlove, Soaphead Church, and Louis, Jr., inherit the legacy of self-loathing and Claudia and Frieda MacTeer inherit the legacy of self-worth.

The color red is used prevalently in Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale as a motif to emphasize the dystopia world. It also serves as a symbol to represent several meanings. Many connotations are associated with the color red. Red illustrates positive feelings from love and passion to negative feelings such as anger and hate. Not only that, as Moses (2007) describes, it is a color which represents blood and violence, creates emotional intensity, and to some extent also “evoke erotic feelings” (p.35). Overall it can be concluded that the color red is deeply related with humans and “epitomizes human vitality and most above all, power.” (Roland, 2013). The role of red successfully creates dystopia in The Handmaid’s Tale by incorporating several symbolic meaning including fertility and love—themes related to the core of the story.

In her novel The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood addresses the concept of different expression of romantic love through the eyes of Offred, a woman who has lost almost all her freedom to a repressive, dystopic society. Throughout her struggle against oppression and guilt, Offred's view evolves, and it is through this process that Atwood demonstrates the nature of love as it develops under the most austere of circumstances.

Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, used the demand “make them wait” to reveal a variety of different themes and to create interest throughout the novel. Atwood did this by having several themes, being continuously fragmented throughout the novel. These themes include identity in relation to names and occupation, the power of words through the dissection of phrases and labels, humanity by the comparison of Offred’s Commander to a WWII General, both unknown ‘monsters’ to their mistresses, and feminism which included protecting women and women together. Atwood uses the discovery of Offred’s name to slowly reveal the theme of identity throughout The Handmaid’s Tale. We know that the Handmaids have been striped of their real names

The Handmaids Tale, a novel written by Margaret Atwood, is about a dystopian work that exposes the themes of women in subjugation and the various means by which they try and gain agency. Atwood’s novel offers us insight into a strongly feminist vision of dystopia in her world. However, she destroys the hopes of all the female sex in the novel. These two female characters fall to the will of the much more dominate men. Feminists themselves are most clearly defined in the book by the characters Moira and Offred’s mother. The main focal point in this story is through the character named Offred. For my book cover, I wanted to make it all about her. After all, the story is told threw her eyes and she is considered the most expanded character throughout

Both Dawe and Atwood convey their strong belief in personal autonomy, however, due to their differing contexts these are presented in different ways, reacting to the current issues during their time. Atwood presents her perspective on personal autonomy in The Handmaid’s Tale, due to the impact of the rise of conservatism and changing role of women. There was a strong revival of conservatism in the 1980s, giving birth to new conservative ideologies president Ronald Reagan. Atwood was also influenced by the second wave of feminism as women’s role in society shifted, focusing on the workplace, family and reproductive rights. The prefix ‘Of’ is used in the novel for each handmaid’s name, with their commander’s name attached to the end of the prefix. This concept is symbolic of the complete loss of autonomy where the women are no longer allowed to individuals, including their name.The audience are able to see this idea with the ID Ankle Tattoo, representing the handmaids being stripped of their identity and as being an ‘important… national resource’. The Commander’s bedroom in The Handmaids Tale brings the audience’s attention to the loss of personal autonomy in regards to the subjugation of women within the Gileadean society. During the ceremony, the simile ‘Regular two-four marching stroke, on and on like a tap dripping’, emphasises the disengagement of all parties. A sense of detachment between body and mind is achieved through the lack of privacy and intimacy within the bedroom, indicating that sex has become a public property under the control of