Power In The Handmaid's Tale

795 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The power of roles in a handmaids tale

In “The Handmaids Tale” Margret Atwood’s, character was a Serena Joy playing the role as the head of the household towards the women. She gave orders, and did not want to be around the handmaids unless truly necessary. She made it noticeable to the handmaids by telling Offred, “I want to see you as little as possible,” (Atwood pg. 15). I felt as though Atwood had Serena act that way to show authority because she was the face of Gilead, for the women. Atwood wants the background of the story to seem strict, so we can understand how the dynamic of each role is. That’s why she has Serena show that the rules and traditional values are set in this household, and would be respected. If the girls did not respect her or caused any trouble, she would do something about it. “…this is like a business transaction. But if I get trouble, I’ll give trouble back,” says Serena (Atwood pg. 15). With her attitude towards the handmaid’s it shows she takes it upon herself to establish authority, which is an …show more content…

She becomes bolder and manipulative, when it comes to her authority over Offred. For reason that, she suggests that the Commander may not be able to reproduce, by saying, “Maybe he can’t,” (Atwood pg. 204). In this time, you cannot say a man can’t do something, it is against the law and also there is only unwomen. As she said that he can’t reproduce she even offers Offred a different solution, by offering Nick to have sex with her. Serena offered Offred something that, Serena knew she could resist, “A picture. Of her, your little girl. But only maybe,” (Atwood pg. 206). I felt as though Atwood did this to show to us that Serena Joy does not care for Gilead. If she did care she would never had said, that the Commander may not be able to reproduce, nor offer Offred a different way of getting pregnant. This all seems to be more about maintaining status, so no one can talk about how the Commander can’t

Show More
Related

  • How Does Margaret Atwood Use Power In The Handmaid's Tale

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    her point of power, order authority and freedom. In Gilead most women was overruled by power and

    Read More

  • The Handmaid's Tale Women

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    The women are divided into functions and are identified by the colour of their dress. In chapter 5, Offred is walking down the streets of Gilead, reminiscing about the days she used to walk down the street wearing what she wanted to wear before she got taken away, and also thought about simple things such as how she was able to freely walk to the laundromat to wash her own clothes with her own soap. She informs the reader of her analysis of the different types of women in the Republic of Gilead: “There are other women with baskets, some in red, some in the dull green of the Martha's, 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.” (Atwood, 5.5) The Handmaid’s— the bearer of children— wear red, the Martha’s, who are the housekeepers wear green, and the wives wear blue. Econ Wives are the only women who aren’t defined by the colour of their dress because they must do every function. Atwood is showing that the individuality and identities of these women have been completely taken away and are labelled by the clothing they are forced to

    Read More

  • Theme Of Apathy In The Handmaids Tale

    1519 Words  | 4 Pages

    Due to the fact that the Wives are not allowed to sleep with their husbands, the Wives are all extremely envious of the Handmaids. In Gilead, Serena is deprived of a life of genuine freedom and is forced to watch her husband sleep with his Handmaid. This makes her extremely bitter and jealous and so she takes this out on the Handmaids–including the main character–although it is not exactly their fault. Although the reader is sympathetic to her emotions, they are still completely unfair. The fact that Serena feels hostility towards the Handmaids is ignorant because she knows that they have not chosen their position in society, but rather they were forced into it. At the end of the novel, Serena finds out about Offred’s secret visit to Jezebel’s. She is mostly upset with Offred, which is completely unreasonable because the Commander had forced her to accompany him to Jezebel’s. This is a direct example of the feminist way of thinking: it’s always the fault of a women’s promiscuity, not a man’s. Serena’s attitude supports the order of Gilead, because she tortures the Handmaids, who cannot help themselves. She knows that these women are forced to become Handmaids, yet she still continues to envy them and punish them. Although she should, she has no sympathy for other women and plays the exact role that society requires her to. Women like her allow Gilead to function because they enforce the

    Read More

  • A Handmaid's Tale

    1650 Words  | 4 Pages

    The new law would follow God's law that all are brothers and sisters, and according to Aunt Lydia will cause women to live in harmony together and support each other. The wife of the commander, Serena Joy was an strong advocate for submissive female roles and gospel singer before the war and the formation of Gilead. Since the creation of Gilead, she was forced into the submissive role of a housewife. Serena spoke on television about the sanctity of the home and how women should stay in the home. After taking on her new housewife role, "She doesn't make speeches anymore. She has become speechless. She stays in her home but it doesn't agree with her. How furious she must be now that she has been taken at her word" (chapter 8, pg.46). Serena has failed in producing children which is the purpose of woman's life in the beliefs of the Gilead society. She is jealous of Offred because Offred serves as a constant reminder of her failure. She is also resentful of the sexual relationship that Offred must have with her husband.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Handmaid's Tale

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ability to create life is an amazing thing but being forced to have children for strangers is not so amazing. Offred is a handmaid, handmaid's have children for government officials, such as Commander Waterford. Offred used to be married to Luke and together they had a daughter but then everything changed; Offred was separated from her family and assigned to a family as their handmaid. The society which Offred is forced to live in shaped her in many ways. In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses cultural and geographical surroundings to shape Offred's psychological and moral traits as she tries to survive the society that she is forced to live, in hopes that she can rebel and make change.

    Read More

  • Gender Role In The Handmaid's Tale

    1029 Words  | 3 Pages

    Offred is consistently cautious when it comes to interacting with the Commander. She feels as though she has to present herself in a way that will allow her to gain his trust and utilize it in her favor. Offred says, “The Commander likes it when I distinguish myself, show precocity, like an attentive pet, prick-eared and eager to perform” (Atwood 183). When Offred poses herself in the way that the Commander expects, it shows how his power influences Offred’s actions. The connection of Offred to that of “an attentive pet” also shows how the Gilead Society has taken away her humanity. Without her humanity, Offred loses her sense of self-worth which leaves her vulnerable to the Commander’s power. Along with this constant fear of portraying herself in a manner that would upset the Commander, Offred is also afraid to give away too much information about herself which could potentially end with the Commander ceasing their private meetings together. Offred expresses, “And if I talk to him I’ll say something wrong, give something away. I can feel it coming, a

    Read More

  • Societal Resistance and Control in "The Handmaid's Tale"

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Feminism In The Handmaid's Tale

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    Feminism as we know it began in the mid 1960's as the Women's Liberation Movement. Among its chief tenants is the idea of women's empowerment, the idea that women are capable of doing and should be allowed to do anything men can do. Feminists believe that neither sex is naturally superior. They stand behind the idea that women are inherently just as strong and intelligent as the so-called stronger sex. Many writers have taken up the cause of feminism in their work. One of the most well known writers to deal with feminist themes is Margaret Atwood. Her work is clearly influenced by the movement and many literary critics, as well as Atwood herself, have identified her as a feminist writer. However, one of Atwood's most successful books, The Handmaid's Tale, stands in stark contrast to the ideas of feminism. In fact, the female characters in the novel are portrayed in such a way that they directly conflict with the idea of women's empowerment.

    Read More

  • Loyalty In The Handmaid's Tale

    689 Words  | 2 Pages

    She gives her the password of Gilead’s. She hasn’t used it for days. Also, Serena wants her to visit Nick because she know that the Commander, Fred is infertile. It doesn’t means that Serena is on her side, she’s doing this for herself. After the first night, Nick and Offred meet in his room, Offred continues sneak in his room every night. She stops visiting at the Commander’s place. Ofglen try to help again and give her the key to check the Commander’s office to see what they’re hiding. Offred silently declines her, she feel satisfied with Nick. (Atwood 270) This shows that she’s doing what she likes now. She refuses to break in Commander’s office. She was running out of the time and she decided to decline the opportunity of escaping the Gilead with Ofglen. That’s the symbol of non heroine where she only think about herself, not others.

    Read More

  • Rebellion In The Handmaid's Tale

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Handmaid’s Tale shows acts of rebellion throughout, but when we as an audience first see a sort of rebellion push through the strict control of Gileadean society is when the Commander and Offred have their first evening together. Offred’s metaphor “If I press my eye to it, this weakness of his, I may be able to see myself clear.” is a foreshadowing of the idea that maybe through these evenings with the Commander she may be able to ease her way out of Gileadean society. “It’s like a small crack in the wall, before now impenetrable.” Use of simile in her language gives the audience a glimpse into the hope she feels, that maybe she may be able to escape, maybe she has another chance at a normal life. Offred’s first time seeing the Commander’s

    Read More

  • Balance Of Power In The Handmaids Tale

    676 Words  | 2 Pages

    Balance of power in the Handmaid’s Tale almost always happens against the law to counteract the strict social hierarchy, while imbalance of power almost always indicates a dependence of someone lower on the social ladder on someone higher. People of different social levels aren’t supposed to interact, or they're supposed to have the least amount of interaction possible to keep Gilead going. However, some characters break this hierarchy by interacting, thus breaking the law. At one point in the book, Offred and Ofwarren realize they have found an ally in each other. They find out because Ofwarren said something that is considered treason, and Offred went along with it. Handmaids aren’t supposed to even look each other in the eye, let alone have

    Read More

  • Totalitarianism In The Handmaid's Tale

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Some societies extreme religious laws and rules is followed as a solution to problems. Allowing religious fundamentalists to run a regime can lead to injustice, for certain people in the regime. In the Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaids tale such things like these take place where freedom is revoked and nightmares are reality for the women of Gilead. The novel presents as a totalitarian society where there is a governing system in which a ruling command holds all power and controls everything in the society. The regime takes it laws very strict because these laws are said to be of god and by disobeying the government the people are disobeying God. The narrator reminds us that there are freedom but

    Read More

  • Power in The Handmaid's Tale

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...entioned forms of Offred’s power were not physical power. She also has the most physical power as she is the person who carries the baby and gets pregnant. Then later in the novel after Serena suggests about seeing Nick. Offred is given a cigarette and then a match and with that match Offred could burn the house down killing the Commander and Serena and then trying to escape. She could burn herself so that she no longer has to live or suffer the indignity of being continually raped by this society.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In The Handmaid's Tale

    970 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, the author Margaret Atwood gives the reader an understanding of what life would be like in a theocratic society that controls women’s lives. The narrator, Offred gives the reader her perspective on the many injustices she faces as a handmaid. Offred is a woman who lived before this society was established and when she undergoes the transition to her new status she has a hard time coping with the new laws she must follow. There are many laws in this government that degrade women and give men the authority of each household. All women are placed in each household for a reason and if they do not follow their duties they are sent away or killed. Atwood bases the irrational laws in the Gilead republic on the many

    Read More

  • Feminist Criticism Of The Handmaid's Tale

    1251 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though Offred is developed as a character through her opinions on female sexuality, she is further characterized by her individuality and willingness to defy her social expectations as a female, assigned to her by her government. In Atwood’s work, the narrative is told by an intelligent individual named Offred who is oppressed by Gilead’s female expectations but is not afraid to defy these assigned roles despite not being a traditional heroine (Nakamura). Even as Offred’s previous identity is stripped away from her, she retains small pieces of her womenhood and individuality through defiant actions such as manipulating men with her feminity from swaying her hips slighty in their line of sight to making direct eye contact with certain men, which she is forbidden from. On the other hand, a major act of rebellion from

    Read More

More about Power In The Handmaid's Tale

Open Document