Allusions In The Handmaid's Tale

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Written Task 2
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is one of many novels that are often considered part of a genre known as: Dystopian Fiction. Dystopian novels are often characterized by an extensive use of propaganda to control the populace, separation of society into multiple different castes and the presence of a unified, totalitarian government system that has complete control over the society. These characteristics are often used in dystopian novels in order to “make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system” (Dystopias: Definition and Characteristics). Other works that could be characterized as dystopian fiction include, but are not limited to: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, 1984 by George Orwell, and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. All of these novels share the common …show more content…

The most notable of these allusions are simply in the names of the different societal groups. The soldiers within Gilead are often known as “Guardians of the Faith” (Atwood, 20) and the women who work within the households are called “Marthas” (Atwood, 9), possibly a reference to the sister of Mary who served Jesus (Luke, 10:38-42). The use of the term “Handmaid” can also be seen as a reference to the Old Testament, specifically Genesis 30:1-3. Biblical allusions also extend to the names of shops within Gilead, namely “Loaves and Fishes”, “All Flesh”, “Lilies of the Field” and “Milk and Honey”. These biblical allusions are used as propaganda within Gilead to promote the idea of holiness and sacredness in a society that is rife with religious undertones. Atwood’s use of propaganda, specifically religious propaganda, is done in order to criticize the many religious groups that made up a majority of the opposition towards the feminist movement at the time and to warn of the dangers of interweaving church and

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