Handmaid's Tale Gender Roles

As our world evolves, mankind consistently has to overcome obstacles. These obstacles often pertain to the differences we have as human beings. One of the most primitive differences in humans is the differentiation between men and women. Many literary works delve into the components of the opposing sexes, such as The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, which explores the world of gender roles and how they affect individuals, as well as society as a whole. This exploration takes place in a distorted, but not unrealistic, prospective world. In the modern dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood utilizes symbolism, theme, and tone to portray how the current objectification of women in our culture will inevitably lead toward a totalitarian

The themes used throughout the story all coincide with the message of defacing traditional gender binaries for both sexes. In a deep contemplation whilst observing guards flash identification badges, Offred ponders, “Why don’t women have to prove to one another that they are women?” (Atwood 73). This thought process promotes the umbrella term of gender roles. Gender roles are so persistently referenced through the course of the story that they can be considered a theme. Atwood intends to use this theme to challenge typical gender roles in the real world. To identify a main theme of the novel, Gayle Green explains in her article “Choice of Evils”, “But the feminism of the novel is not simple, for feminism too is a target of Atwood’s satire” (Greene 14). Greene implies that a consistent theme in the novel is that of feminism. Feminism ties to gender roles in that it is the fight for equality between the genders. Feminism protests traditional binaries and allows for freedom amongst all people, which is another aim of Atwood’s writing. Another task of these themes is to end the romanticization of the continuously evolving world around us. Offred becomes nostalgic and denounces, “When we think of the past it’s the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that” (Atwood 30). In this quote, readers understand the implication that our present

By adding her opinion to the text through the use of tone, Atwood is able to set up a partially didactic atmosphere for the reader. Atwood’s antagonist Offred describes The Wall and asserts, “Now the gates have sentries and there are ugly new floodlights mounted on the metal posts above it, and barbed wire along the bottom and broken glass set in concrete along the top” (Atwood 31). The tone used in this dialogue can be described as militaristic. Atwood utilizes words with authoritative, dystopian connotations to portray the true horror of the scene she is describing. These words aid in setting the tone for the upcoming few lines and help the reader better connect to the story and visualize it in full detail. In addition to the harsh diction involved in militarism, Atwood also plays with romance. In her article,“Mothering Desire: The Romance Plot in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Susan Fromberg Schaeffer's The Madness of a Seduced Woman”, Sarah R. Morrison reviews Atwood’s writing style and proclaims, “Atwood, I believe, while well aware that the romance plot may incidentally reinforce ‘a culturally conservative message,’ views it as something other than a celebration of heterosexual romantic love” (Morrison 321). By placing romantic tones throughout the novel, Atwood is able to make an intense contrast between scenes. Atwood’s