In the book “The Handmaid’s Tale”, written by Margaret Atwood, Gilead is a totalitarian society shown as a dystopia. The government has oppressed the people, women specifically. Basic human rights taken away and women undermined. The book is terrifying because similar things are happening in modern day society. Gilead indoctrinates its citizens through fear and ‘re-education’. In the book, the reproduction rates are extremely low. Gilead’s government forces women, who are fertile, into being “Handmaids”. The Handmaids’ duties are to have emotionless, non-erotic sex with the Commanders to provide society with children. The Republic has created the “Red Center”, where the trainers, or “Aunts”, “educate”, train and monitor the Handmaids. In the The protagonist, Offred, is our witness of this 're-education' as the novel's narrator.When Moira, her friend from before Gilead when she still had a normal life, escaped from the Red Center, it didn’t spark her desire for freedom. Instead, the idea of freedom scared her. “Moira was like an elevator with open sides. She made us dizzy.” Offred had gotten use to her limited life, she couldn’t remember what it feels to be free, to have a job and wear a short dress anymore. Her old life has become something far away, unrealistic to her. In North Korea, the people are indoctrinated ever since they were little. Their life revolve around the Kims family, praising them and about how the US, Japan and South Korea are their enemies. The ultimate goal is to instill utmost loyalty, belief and commitment towards the government, and hatred against the US, Japan and North Korea. Through this, the Kims can rule a country where everyone has complete trust towards The people don’t have any freedom of speeches and expressions. In chapter 6, Offred and Ofglen walked past “the Wall”, where the government hangs the victims. The ones who were executed, they were punished for performing abortions, for science and for rebellion. In Gilead, abortions and birth-control pills are strictly forbidden, and those who dare to “violate” are killed. In one scene in the book, a priest and two men were also hanged. The priest was hanged for having conflicting beliefs with the government and the two men were hanged because they were gay. Gilead’s government hangs the victims on the Wall like some parades, a form of threatening and warning the people. They’re sending a message, that’s what is going to happen to those defy them. The government will use any way possible to shut down any defiances, protests. According to Offred, at the beginning of Gilead’s government, there were protests but “the police, or the army, or anyone would open fire” when any marches happened. Gilead would resort to violence and use force to control the people. They would do anything to punish anyone who defies them, not allowing them to express their thoughts and raise their voices. Gilead’s determination in this matter can be related to America. TED is a media organisation devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of talks. On TED, Will Potter, an award-winning
Angels who are warriors that defend the country. Guardians (of the Faith) who are explained as being not real soldiers but "used for routine policing and other menial functions. stupid or older or disabled or very young, apart from the ones that are Eyes incognito. " These social classes have been strictly put into place by the theocracy that rules over Gilead. They were formed after the revolution when an extremist group named “Sons of Jacob” took control and abolished the United States Constitution after they attacked the capital, killing the President and most of the Congress.
In the novel offred and others in that time was going through hardships, struggles and challenges.
A new society is created by a group of people who strengthen and maintain their power by any means necessary including torture and death. Margaret Atwood's book, A Handmaid's Tale, can be compared to the morning after a bad fight within an abusive relationship. Being surrounded by rules that must be obeyed because of being afraid of the torture that will be received. There are no other choices because there is control over what is done, who you see and talk to, and has taken you far away from your family. You have no money or way out. The new republic of Gilead takes it laws to an even higher level because these laws are said to be of God and by disobeying them you are disobeying him. People are already likely to do anything for their God especially when they live in fear of punishment or death. The republic of Gilead is created and maintains its power structure through the use of religion, laws that isolate people from communication to one another and their families, and the fear of punishment for disobeying the law.
...hat it was the women participation that allowed the government to regulate every aspect of their public and private lives. Women such as the Aunts especially Aunt Lydia where willing participants in the republic by indoctrinating women to the new way of life. The women became the eyes and ears to the government, condemning other women who don't follow the laws. If the women had the strength to rebel they might not have been able to change much but, at least they were taking a stand on what they believed in. The government had such control on every aspect through rules, conduct and rituals that were followed by the people with little to no questions by the people. That is why I feel that Societal Complacency played such a role in the success of the Republic of Gilead.
...rs, drinkers, a piece of the underground past jumps into Offred's life and she is astounded. Thanks to the commander she also meets Moira, her long time friend from before Gilead. This act of resistance from the commander brings Offred a lot and if he were caught, would face serious charges.
The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel in which Atwood creates a world which seems absurd and near impossible. Women being kept in slavery only to create babies, cult like religious control over the population, and the deportation of an entire race, these things all seem like fiction. However Atwood's novel is closer to fact than fiction; all the events which take place in the story have a base in the real world as well as a historical precedent. Atwood establishes the world of Gilead on historical events as well as the social and political trends which were taking place during her life time in the 1980's. Atwood shows her audience through political and historical reference that Gilead was and is closer than most people realize.
In Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, women are subjected to unthinkable oppression. Practically every aspect of their life is controlled, and they are taught to believe that their only purpose is to bear children for their commander. These “handmaids” are not allowed to read, write or speak freely. Any type of expression would be dangerous to the order of the Gilead’s strict society. They are conditioned to believe that they are safer in this new society. Women are supposedly no longer exploited or disrespected (pornography, rape, etc.) as they once were. Romantic relationships are strongly prohibited because involving emotion would defeat the handmaid’s sole purpose of reproducing. Of course not all women who were taken into Gilead believed right what was happening to their way of life. Through the process of storytelling, remembering, and rebellion, Offred and other handmaids cease to completely submit to Gilead’s repressive culture.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood creates a society of oppression in which she redefines oppression in common culture. Gilead is a society characterized by highly regulated systems of social control and extreme regulation of the female body. The instinctive need to “protect and preserve” the female body is driven by the innate biological desires of the men. The manipulation of language, commodification, and attire, enhances the theme of oppression and highlights the imbalance of power in the Gilead society.
Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaids Tale belongs to the genre of anti-utopian (dystopian) science fiction where we read about a woman's fictive autobiography of a nightmarish United States at the end of the twentieth century when democratic institutions have been violently overthrown and replaced by the new fundamentalist republic of Gilead. In the novel the majority of the population are suppressed by using a "Bible-based" religion as an excuse for the suppression. How does this work and why can the girls, the so called Handmaids, be considered the victims of society? Also, in what way does Gilead use biblical allusions? That is some of the questions this essay will give answers for.
The behavior of the women in the Red Center had their daily lives scheduled out, from taking a walk to going to the bathroom. As well as, their beliefs were ideologically restricted, and altered. Anything they previously believed was now seen as evil and unhealthy. In the Red Center the women were stripped of their old identities and given new ones that virtually looked like brainwashed obedient sex slaves. Offred reflects on the fact that the training seems to be working and changing the women when she said, “already we were losing the taste for freedom; already we were finding these walls secure” (Attwood 133). The Red center impacted these women’s mindsets so heavily they eventually just conformed to the way the Republic of Gilead expected them to be. They no longer needed to have assistance from the Aunts. Offred is thinking of her former life and says, “These habits of former times appear to me now lavish, decadent almost; immoral, like the orgies of barbarian regimes” (Attwood 113). Offred demonstrates how she is starting to think as the Aunts have instructed her to, and how Gilead expects her to think. This stemmed from Offred looking at a desk and having the ability to store books and pens in a desk, it shows how the indoctrination has truly changed Offreds way of
...t create a feeling of disorientation towards the reader. Atwood does this to enable us to understand just how disjointed life is in Gilead. Offred continuously involves the reader, she directly addresses us and anticipates our response and even feels she has to justify some of her actions, she is a self-conscious narrator. Atwood is also preparing us for the revelation in the Historical notes that Offred is recounting her story into a tape recorder. The story is open ended; we are not told what exactly happened to Offred, Atwood does this in order to have more of an impact on the reader.
The epigraph in The Handmaid’s Tale amplifies the importance of fertility in Gilead. The quotation at the beginning of the book ‘‘And when Rachel saw the she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said unto Jacob, Give me children or else I die...And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees,that I may also have children by her.’’ makes it seem that Gilead wants to go back to traditional values, thus manipulates its citizens that their ideology is correct since it corresponds with what the Bible says. Consequently, this state is telling its citizens that a woman’s worthiness only depends if she is able to produce or not. In fact women who are barren, and are not of a high class are sent to the colonies. The handmaids’s only purpose is further amplified through the rights Gilead abolishes; they can not communicate with others, in fact Offred says, ‘How I used to despise such talk. Now I long for it’ and are no longer able to go outside alone or without being spied...
"The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a dystopia about a world where unrealistic things take place. The events in the novel could never actually take place in our reality." This is what most people think and assume, but they're wrong. Look at the world today and in the recent past, and there are not only many situations that have ALMOST become a Gilead, but places that have been and ARE Gileadean societies. We're not in Kansas any more, Dorothy!
Within Gilead there is an authority that is much higher than is necessary or healthy for any nation. With such power comes corruption, which then spreads throughout the whole of society, slowly obliterating the nation’s people. This corruption of a powerful government can only be controlled by the force of the people which, in the Handmaid’s tale, is nearly non-existent, thus giving the militant Eyes – as well as the rest of the Gilead government – a stronger hold on the people by their indifference. The Eyes especially have an intimidating vigor which holds down the people by means of threat of punishment, in addition to the allusion of freedom to keep the people pacified. As stated in the novel, “A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.” (Atwood 165). This shows how the government keeps ultimate control over the nation by way of intimidation, allusion, and roles in society. Status and class is vital in Gilead, showing the world who one is by their uniform, speaking louder than any voice. Of course, Gilead has given these roles in the society as another way to control the people, but due to their passivity, everyone decides to go along with it, never questioning the power of this supposed republic. This goes to illustrate just how corrupt a government can be if not frequently checked by its
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