The Oppression Of Women In Handmaid's Tale

One of the many prevailing themes in literature is that power is gained and can be manipulated when restraints are placed on natural desires of the individual. This passage is significant because it is an example of this theme, for it shows how power and manipulation have completely changed and restricted the people, especially women, of Gilead. Due to this, the passage reveals the shared anger that the Handmaids possess, and the cruelty that has been brought upon the society. The use of similes, diction, syntax, and illustrate the impact that this event had on Offred, for she feels such anger towards the unknown man and the crime he has supposedly committed. These literary and rhetorical devices additionally serve to make this event seem as

Offred is a Handmaid in the republic of Gilead and while she seems unhappy about this, she is confused about her identity and even starts to accept the role that has been imposed upon her. It seems strange that one might accept such radical changes so easily. Offred has been manipulated into believing that this sinister system was designed for her own good. Peter S. Prescott says: " Offred at first accepts assurance that the new order is for her protection." (151) She must lie on her back once a month and hope that commander makes her pregnant because her sole purpose is to act as a vessel. She even starts to measure her self-worth by the viability of her ovaries and this negatively affects her self-image. This is how

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

Despite the little dependence on women, they are still objectified and subjected to injustice because of their gender, regardless if they were a female in general or as a poor female. As something as simple as what a person is born with affects the respect that is given to them. Margaret Atwood formulates Offred’s personality much like any other handmaid in the community. Offred becomes familiar with the functionality and role of women in the community, therefore she adjusts herself in order to be up to par with the unethical standard. “I wait. I compose myself. My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born. (Atwood, 75). To be what is required of her, Offred must act unhuman because the expectations of females exceed the

In Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, the idea of women’s bodies as political instruments and elimination of sexual pleasure is explored. The republic of Gilead “depicts a futuristic society in which a brutal patriarchal regime deprives women of power and subjectivity, enslaving them through a sophisticated, ubiquitous apparatus of surveillance” (Cooper 49). Offred is a “girl” who lives with her commander within Gilead. She is surrounded by girls at his house. When one becomes a woman they have had a baby. Any time before they have a baby they are just girls. They are valued only by their ovaries and wombs. They have no freedom

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

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

Throughout the novel, Offred demonstrates unorthodox behavior through her actions and her thoughts. One action that proves she is an unconventional character is when she meets the Commander in his office. Handmaids and Commanders are supposed to have strictly a business relationship. When Offred breaks that code of conduct, her life is left hanging in the balance. Not only did Offred commit this offense once, but multiple times: “The second evening began in the same way as the first. I went to the door, which was closed, knocked on it, was told to come in” (Atwood 155). Once Offred enters the room, the commander and she play games and start to get to know each other. Offred also has many unorthodox thoughts. During Offred’s walks accompanied by Ofglen, they exchange some information about the Underground Femaleroad: “’ It’s a beautiful May Day, ‘ Ofglen says. I feel rather than see her head turn towards me, waiting for a reply” (Atwood 43). Offred replies and she explains that as she sees Ofglen leave, Offred feels as though she is looking in a mirror. Offred and Ofglen are the same person. Offred shares many of her unorthodox activities with the

Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred’s accepts her role as a bystander of a perpetual atrocity as her struggle progresses. Offred’s experience exemplifies the pattern of devolution in women impacted by internalized oppression through her metamorphosis from a defiant agent to a complicity individual to an isolated victim of an extremely repressive society. When the story begins, the Republic of Gilead has already been established. Women lack autonomy of any kind, and Offred, a handmaiden of an influential family in the Republic, recounts how the society came to be. She remembers the revolution and the violence, but she also recalls the way life was before the Republic.

Offred says; “A Guardian detailed to the Commander does the heavy digging; the Commander’s Wife directs, pointing with her stick. Many of the Wives have such gardens, it’s something for them to order and maintain and care for” (13). The Commander’s Wife has the privilege to demand others, such as the Guardian, who takes care of the garden. Hence, the women who reside in the Republic of Gilead are treated differently compared to women in today’s society since women in Gilead are

so she is able to satisfy the mens needs. She says “I am a national resource.” (Atwood, 73) This quotation is seen as misogynistic because Offred is only valued for her fertility and her ability to have children. This can lead to the destruction of society because, women are a part of Gilead so oppressing these

For hundreds of years women had no choice and no power in their own lives. Women in America fought for the right to decide to lead a different life, but in Gilead all of that has been stripped away from them. Women have no individual identity and for handmaids even their real names are forbidden to Say. All handmaids dress in the same red and all econwives dress in the same blue. Offred and all other handmaids are not given the choice of when they have sex or children.

As society began to change in 1986 the novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood was published. Narrated by Offred an oppressed handmaid “The Handmaid’s Tale” presents the life of a neglected women in the unordinary Gilead society. A handmaid is a women that is owned by a commander. All women have assigned roles in the Gilead society. The handmaid’s duty is to have sex with the commander in order to produce a baby because the commander’s wife is not fertile. Handmaids have to wear red. In Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”, Offred uses degrading and descriptive language to establish her identity, create meaning for herself and to defy Gilead's authority.

In her renowned, dystopian feminist novel The Handmaid’s Tale, author Margaret Atwood illustrates a world where women are worthless as if they are pieces of thrash, infertility prominently exists, and The Republic of Gilead (where a group of Christians rule the state). In chapter 46, Offred waits for a van to take her to which is deemed to be a secret brothel, and Nick tells her that they are getting her out of Gilead. This scene explains how men manipulate women’s thoughts into thinking that they would be set free and would be given the same rights as men; however, the reverse would occur.

Throughout the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, a major recurring theme is the loss of identity through the power of sex. Offred once lived in a society that praised sexual pleasure. On the other hand, Gilead is a society without the pleasure and only for the means of reproduction. Offred struggles with this transition because she remembers the times when she had possession of her own mind and body. She could love whoever she wished. Offred compares the loveless sex with the Commander “as one composes a speech… a made thing, not something born” (Atwood 66). Atwood’s rhetorical use of a simile exemplifies the loss of self-identity within the people of the society. Offred makes it clear that she must play a role, hide her thoughts and emotions, and be “made,” allowing her to be “composed” or