The Handmaid's Tale of Food as a Control Mechanism

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

“Hunger” is an article published in 1989 by social justice activist Maggie Helwig. In this article Helwig discusses the stereotypes behind eating disorders, and gives real life examples of the impacts an eating disorder can have on someone. She is able to incorporate many ideas that smoothly flow together to capture the audience’s attention, while also making the audience consider their thoughts and views on eating disorders. She ends the article by giving insightful information as to what it was like for her to suffer from an eating disorder, and why she chose to starve herself for eight years. Helwig uniquely incorporates logos, pathos, and ethos in her writing to completely gain the audience’s attention and influence their opinions on eating disorders.

The words control and Gilead, the setting for the novel "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood, are interchangeable. Not only is control a pivotal feature of the novel and its plot, it consequently creates the subplots, the characters and the whole world because of its enormity in the Republic of Gilead. Resistance also features heavily, as does its results, mainly represented in the salvagings, particicution and the threat of the colonies.

Therefore 'oranges' symbolise 'hope.' Overall I have come to a conclusion, that Offred the handmaid, believe that one day she will be free from the Gileadian regime and that one day she will be rescued by her prince, who will take her away from all the trouble that she is facing. Margaret Atwood has used many ways in which the novel presents 'hope' to both Offred and the readers through, flashbacks of the past, characters that are rebelling- Serena Joy, Nick, Moira and the previous unknown handmaid, and possessions such as oranges. Offred never seems to lose 'hope' and if she does she has a flash back of her past, which causes her to yearn for the past and want things to be the way they were before the Gilead regime took over and snatched her away from her family and deprived her of the one thing that she had, which was love and affection. All Offred is left with is 'hope.' Hope for a better future, hope of a method to escape, hope to find her family and hope that one day things will be back to normal so that she can... ' Pick up from' where she left

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.

My mom always commanded, “Don’t take your emotions out on food.” In her essay “Young Hunger,” M.F.K. Fisher uses three anecdotes to prove her argument about the hunger young people have for love and attention. On the other hand J.J. Goode through “Single-handed Cooking” writes about the difficulties that a disability such as having no arms could introduce even with small chores such as cooking. Food represents struggles in the lives of both M.F.K. Fisher and JJ Goode. Fisher and Goode are both lacking something that they are trying to fill with food although the result they obtain is different.

“The food began to bother me, my stomach felt upset, and I would not be able to hold the food down very long.”(135) This suggests that, the narrator’s own physical body is refusing to settle with the food possibly serves as a metaphor that like the narrator, the food too doesn’t allow itself to adjust to the environment, and revolve around certain forces controlling their actions. The influence of society made the protagonist endure severe deprivation of food, the fact that living under a society that expects the protagonist to have a job and earn money forces the protagonist to live under a “cycle of life.” This being, the author represents the protagonist as with the irony of life, where the protagonists needs to work to eat, but has no food therefore works harder to eat more but continues until his sense of thoughts and his rational skills have been altered “but my brain sank deeper in chaos” (79).

Throughout the third section (chapter 25-35) of the book, The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood uses descriptive language, which express Offred's feelings about and attitudes to her environment and experiences. For example, as Offred walks into the kitchen to see that Rita is cutting radishes, they remind Offred of “Little Aztec hearts” (Atwood 259). Provided that, this description of the radishes illustrates Offred’s sinister side because Aztecs cut out the hearts of their sacrificial victims. This is effective in regards to the Atwood’s storytelling technique because it illustrates Offred’s temptations to escape Gilead, in order to experience freedom. Also, it reminds the reader about Offred’s master plan on how she would kill the

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.

Hungry for power. Metaphorically querulous. Weak. The Commander is the representation of male insecurity. This character is derived from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Atwood’s novel reveals that hunger for control can lead to the oppression of women, this is demonstrated through the Commander’s characterization, the Aunts attitudes, and some of the Gileadean rules/laws.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the author, Margaret Atwood, creates a dystopian society that is under theocratic rule. From this theocracy, each individual’s freedom is, for the most part, taken away. The Handmaid’s Tale creates a dystopia by placing restrictions on the individual’s freedom, using propaganda to control its citizens, and by having citizens of Gilead live in dehumanized ways. Furthermore, the creation of a hierarchal system in Gilead caused its citizens to lose the ability to feel empathy towards one another. In the search to create a perfect society, Gilead caused more harm and problems than expected which created a dystopia rather than a utopia.

Offred smoothly introduces this ruling by the government by describing each persons’ colored garments that symbolize their place in society. She states, “There are other women with baskets, some in red, some in the dull green of the Marthas, some in the striped dresses, red and blue and green and cheap and skimp, that mark the women of the poorer men. Econowives, they're called. These women are not divided into functions. They have to do everything; if they can” (24). With Offred’s narration, Atwood provides her readers with a hierarchical understanding of the city of Gilead. By providing different colors, the author is able to express the division within the dystopian society. Red is for Handmaid’s, who are prized for their fertility, a dull green is for domestic servants, to symbolize hard work and servitude, and a variety of colors are given to women who are owned by poorer men, as a symbol of no respect for women. It is apparent to the reader that the Gileadean regime believes in a society where people are only considered as a collective group rather than a society composed of individuals. With this belief, the regime tries to assimilate each citizen into certain social roles, and thus limit all individual identity. In an academic journal entitled, “Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaids Tale as a Multidimensional Critique of Rebellion”, Asami Nakamura

My topic is a comparison on the ideals of obedience and self-subordination in the handmaid's tale and Like water for chocolate. I would be choosing a passage from each novel that will reflect on one or both of these ideals. After fully analyzing those two passages, I would be write a compare and contrast essay on the the ideals of obedience and self-subordination in the handmaid's tale and Like water for chocolate

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

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