Abuse of Religion in The Handmaid’s Tale

955 Words2 Pages

Abuse of Religion in The Handmaid’s Tale Gilead is a society where religion is used to control people. Atwood has included many Biblical references and religious suggestions throughout ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ to demonstrate this. The name ‘Gilead’ is a place in the Old Testament which is named after a mountainous region East of Jordan which means ‘heap of stones’. This links in with patriarch Jacob and the prophet Jeremiah. It was a frontier land and a place where a country was at war so protected its boarders. This can relate to Gilead in the way that it took those ideas and heaped them together. They set up so many boundaries and rules so that they could illuminate the bad things like rape from the time before. However, they abuse this because women in Gilead have lost their freedom and are treated inferior to men. For example, when the handmaid’s were being trained they were shown films of women being raped and murdered to try and convince them that they are better off in Gilead’s regime. But, illuminating these things meant that they would loose their freedom and self respect. The Aunts say things like, “You see what things used to be like? That was what they thought of women, then”. They give the women no other choice into what to believe. Moira, who represents Offred’s guidance and hope tells her the film is probably a fraud so Gilead’s regime is trying to get the handmaid’s to feel as if they are privileged to be in their position because the time before was horrific. However, Atwood shows us how unhappy women are now that Gilead stopped them from having any freedom. For example, the fact that they have so many boundaries and laws is to keep the bad things out from the old society out such as rape and murder. To prevent rape in Gilead women have lost their freedom because in the time before women didn’t feel safe going out at night. However, Gilead is criticising itself because it could be argued that the handmaid’s are mentally forced into sleeping with the

Show More
Related

  • The Handmaid's Tale Women

    1185 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender inequality has existed all around the world for many centuries. Women were seen as property of men and their purpose of existence was to provide for the men in their lives. Men would play the role of being the breadwinners, whereas women played the role of being the caregiver of the family and household and must obey the men around her. The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood portrays how women in society are controlled and demeaned by men, and how men feel they are more superior over women.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis: The Handmaid's Tale

    1344 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every human being needs certain rights to survive. There are the fundamental ones; food, water, air, shelter, but there are also other ones that are equally important to survive: love, communication, compassion, freedom. In many dystopian societies one of these fundamental needs are missing because the society is afraid that they will break the control that they have over the people. In the novel The Handmaid’s tale by Margaret Atwood the society is no different. Narrated by a woman named Offred who once was happy who had a family and a job, she shows the reader that to keep people quiet the society takes away people 's freedom, their ability to choose, their ability to be with and talk to who they want, even their ability to read and write,

    Read More

  • The Handmaid's Tale as a Biblical Allusion

    1456 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine a country where choice is not a choice.  One is labeled by their age and economical status.  The deep red cloaks, the blue embroidered dresses, and the pinstriped attire are all uniforms to define a person's standing in society.  To be judged, not by beauty or personality or talents, but by the ability to procreate instead. To not believe in the Puritan religion is certain death.  To read or write is to die.  This definition is found to be true in the book, The Handmaid's Tale (1986) by Margaret Atwood.  It is a heartbreaking story of one young woman and her transformation into the Gilead society, the society described above. In the book, we meet Offred, the narrator of the story.  This story is not the first to create a society in which the only two important beliefs in a society are the ability to procreate and a strict belief in God.  It is seen several times in the Old Testament, the Bible.  The Biblical society is not as rigid as the Republic of Gilead, which Margaret Atwood has built, but it is very similar.  The Handmaid's Tale holds several biblical allusions.

    Read More

  • Power in The Handmaid's Tale

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    As you read through the handmaid’s tale you see the relationships of the characters develop and the fight for power, however small that glimpse of power may be. The images of power can be seen through out the novel, but there are major parts that stand out to the reader from the aunt’s in the training centre to the secret meetings between the Commander and Offred.

    Read More

  • Dystopian Reality: Gender Inequality in The Handmaid’s Tale

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    Whether women are equal to men or not this is an ongoing topic that brings to light many different opinions. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is a fictional yet plausible story that Atwood uses to warn us of the possibility of our society changing into her dystopian fantasy.

    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

  • The Canadian Criminal Justice System

    1961 Words  | 4 Pages

    In every society around the world, the law is affecting everyone since it shapes the behavior and sense of right and wrong for every citizen in society. Laws are meant to control a society’s behavior by outlining the accepted forms of conduct. The law is designed as a neutral aspect existent to solve society’s problems, a system specially designed to provide people with peace and order. The legal system runs more efficiently when people understand the laws they are intended to follow along with their legal rights and responsibilities.

    Read More

  • A Nation of Indoctrination: "The Handmaid's Tale"

    1475 Words  | 3 Pages

    The society established by the Republic of Gilead in “The Handmaid’s Tale” is founded on and sustained by false doctrine. They intentionally twist and skew the Bible in order to justify their actions and brainwash the women who are involuntarily participating in their indoctrinated society. The Gilead does not treat the Bible as the divine word of God. Instead, they exploit its authority and use it as a tool for their own benefit. The very framework of the Gilead’s social hierarchy is in sharp contradiction to everything the Bible teaches, but because they are so corrupt and only use the Bible for their own advantage, they seem not to care. Instead of abiding by the teachings in the Bible and letting them shape how things are done, they hand-select and contort certain parts of it to match the framework of their own aspirations and beliefs, which are by no means Christian. Every piece of scripture that the Republic customizes is specifically suited to help them achieve their ultimate goal: indoctrinating an entire society for the purposes of personal power and authority. The end product is the unethical, dysfunctional society that is depicted in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The Republic of Gilead is by no means a true religious group, but they do use religion and skewed religious text as a reference for the foundation, justification, manipulation, and enforcement of their new society.

    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

  • The Handmaids And Women In The Handmaid's Tale

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Handmaids Tale is a story that sets in the near future of the Republic of Gilead---a

    Read More

  • Oppression In The Handmaid's Tale

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Night, the Jews were confined and imprisoned in the concentration camps because they were destined to be murdered in a systematic manner by the Nazis. An example of the systematic murdering tactic used is the selection process. This was the process in which the Jews had their age and fitness checked to determine who was old and fit enough to work, and who was to be murdered. An example of this is when Elie and his father first arrived to Birkenau an inmate said, “Not fifty. You're forty. Do you hear? Eighteen and forty”(Wiesel 30). The inmate said this so the father and son could avoid death upon entry. In Night, The Jews represented resentfulness and disgust in the eyes of the Nazis. However in The Handmaid’s Tale the Handmaids are

    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

  • 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

  • Relationships and Religion in "The Handmaids Tale" by Margaret Atwood

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood the themes of Religion and inter-human relationships are the themes that are most evident in the text. This novel shows the possibility of the existence of an all-powerful governing system. This is portrayed through the lack of freedom for women in society, from being revoked of their right to own any money or property, to being stripped of their given names and acquiring names such as Offred and Ofglen, symbolizing women’s dependant existence, only being defined by the men which they belong to. This portrayal of women demonstrates the idea that individuals are unimportant, that the goals of the society as a whole are more pertinent. “For our purposes, your feet and your hands are not essential” (chapter 15) is a quote revealing that Gilead denies rights to individuals and to humankind. In The Handmaids Tale, handmaids are only considered of value for their ability to reproduce, otherwise they are disposable. Religion is an aspect very prominent in the society of Gilead. We see this in chapter 4, where Ofglen and Offred meet and th...

    Read More

More about Abuse of Religion in The Handmaid’s Tale

Open Document