Throughout the novel “ The Handmaid’s Tale” Margaret Atwood uses different forms of language to expresses her perspectives and ideas. Language is something that can be conveyed with power depending on the circumstances, in the novel it is used to explain that if you know how to use language in a literate way you have some form of power. Offred is given the privilege of knowing her previous knowledge of language from her life before Gilead. She is also given mentoring about literature by the commander several occasions throughout the story. Atwood makes sure that the main character Offred has the ability to use language to make her life in Gilead seem like fiction and, fantasy. Therefore, Atwood knows the way that language can be used
The Handmaid's Tale has been described as a scathing satire and a dire warning! Which elements of our own society is Margaret atwood satirising and how does her satire work ?
conditions force readers to recognize her book as a warning; against creating the realities of Gilead in
In The Handmaid 's Tale by Margaret Atwood, readers are introduced to Offred, who is a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. As this novel is
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
The women in this book are forced to believe that “there is no such thing as a sterile man anymore” and it is the law that “there are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren” (Atwood 61). The town of Gilead refers back “to the Old Testament in a reaction against abortion, sterilization, and what they consider to be dangerous kinds of freedom of the modern welfare state” (Staels 455). This is a perfect example of one of Gilead’s twisted ways of thinking. The people of the Republic of Gilead make only women feel responsible for their ability to reproduce or not reproduce when in fact men are just as important when trying to conceive a baby. The Aunts, who train the handmaids, along with everyone else in Gilead, make the women feel self-conscious about themselves. If they cannot produce babies, they are sent away to be killed. The women of Gilead go thr...
What is a part of human nature that everyone needs, wants, and cannot live without? The answer is intimacy, and when this basic human function is stripped away it creates a sense of unfulfillment in life. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a dystopian masterpiece, that takes a leap at explaining the role of intimacy in life. This simple four syllable word is quite ambiguous, so what does it mean to be intimate or have intimacy? To be intimate or have intimacy means to have affection, sexual intercourse, or a loving personal relationship with an individual. Intimacy takes many forms, and in this novel we have the opportunity to see all of these forms take place through the eyes of Offred. This simplistic word/action, intimacy, gives Offered a sense of power and vulnerability showing not only the flaws of Gilead, but also its purpose.
Women, are socialized to internalize a hatred of femininity and espouse the belief that they “aren’t like other girls” to separate ourselves from the generalizations. Phrases like “Women are catty” “Women constantly gossip, and are shallow” “Boys have less drama” homogenize the entire female gender down to a few negative stereotypes. When women perpetuate sexist stereotypes it is called internalized misogyny. Women are guilty of perpetuating misogyny as often as men. Often called girl-hate in colloquial media, society conditions girls and women to compete with each other, not for careers, or for accomplishments but for the attention and pleasure of men. In The Handmaid
In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood dissects words and/or phrases through the voice of the main character, Offred. Women are not allowed to read or write in Gilead, and Atwood uses this to prove just how valuable language is. Having the book narrated by a woman who grew up with freedom of speech and then having that right taken away from her, allows for the feelings of restriction. Offred would know that she was being discriminated against being a woman. Whereas, if Offred had grown up in the society of Gilead, she would have been ignorant of gender equality. Therefore, Offred wouldn’t have had the same thoughts of wishing to be free, since Gilead would have been all she’d known. Offred continues to express her language musings throughout the book, because one will never know how much they actually appreciate something until it’s gone.
Freedom. Everybody desires it, but not everyone has it. In third world countries, many people fall victim to slavery and many more do not have the freedom to seek what they want. In "The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood the main character, Offred, struggles to find freedom in her prison like home called the Red Center, her uniform chains her to the life given to her, and she carries a hope that she will one day escape the Red Center.
After reading the novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the author Margaret Atwood uses different types of language throughout the novel. Language had a huge impact on the entire novel. She conveyed her ideas to the point that a reader can understand that some of the methods of language, was used in a form of power. The author also introduced a way of using language as a mean of escape, especially with the narrator of the novel named Offred who was a handmaid. She was able to show that Offred used language as a tool to escape the reality that she existed in. Throughout the entire novel, power is created by freedom of speech, religious language, dialogue, Offred’s language, and key phrases or words. Power was also created for the Gileadean government, Offred use of power, and between individual characters.
The Handmaid's Tale presents an extreme example of sexism and misogyny by featuring the complete objectification of women in the society of Gilead. Yet by also highlighting the mistreatment of women in the cultures that precede and follow the Gileadean era, Margaret Atwood is suggesting that sexism and misogyny are deeply embedded in any society and that serious and deliberate attention must be given to these forms of discrimination in order to eliminate them.
In Margret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale a woman named Offred shares her experience in the Republic of Gilead as a housemaid. As the story begins, we find that the regime strategically encroaches the rights of women, independence and seizes anything they thought to be pleasurable deeming it contraband. This includes clothing, literature especially old magazines, and cosmetics. Offred, remembers a time when she was married to her husband Luke with a job and having her own financial backing. However one day it all changes when she get fired from her job and when she tries to go to the bank they won’t allow her to get her money out. She finds out from her best friend Moira, that it is possible to get the money by transferring it to a spouse or
The end of the book is not the usual ending as compared to most novels; Atwood decides it to end the whole story with some Historical notes which give information on the Gileadean regime and era. The ending of the book can be categorized as postmodern by its ambiguity, but this ambiguity also holds a strong approach into understanding the theme of the book. The ending allows the reader to question and know “what is the real essence and theme of the book?” Atwood’s use of Historical notes at the end forces that the reader understands the relation between history and stories and how both of them correlate to larger understanding of the themes in the story and in time. Questions arise within in a reader of “why they feel the way they do?” or the perspective given in the book, one can only judge from that perspective and the purpose of unusual ending in Handmaids tale allows the reader to re-examine and question judgements that are made in the story and life. Atwood’s ending puts question to the moral and philosophical issues that were also in the theme of the book, a vivid example of a postmodern text. The whole structure and form of the novel from beginning to end also reveals its themes in the relation between Offred and the reader. The first person point-of-view throughout
type of language she develops the story in a series of different character perspectives. She also
Atwood’s creation A Handmaid’s Tale is fueled by her political thoughts and ideals. It’s a horror story of what the world can become if we don’t change. She puts a spotlight on the issues and ideas of feminism, identity, freedom, sex, love and especially language. In this book it’s clear that she believes language is an very important part of society. Something that we should cherish before it’s taken away. In The Handmaid’s Tale, uses it as a tool of power. In Gilead, a theocracy reigns high. The regime creates an official vocabulary woven with religious references, gender roles and racial separation. These rules on the language serve Gilead’s elite.