Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale

The Historical Notes are important in the way we perceive the novel as

they answer many important questions raised by the novel and also

enhance some of the novels main themes.

The first question it answers is the one raised at the end of the

novel; that is whether Offred is stepping up into the,'darkness,' or

the, 'light.' The reader finds out that Offred escaped Gilead,

presumably into Canada, with the help of the,'Underground Femaleroad.'

The reader also learns that it was Nick who orchestrated her escape,

using his position as a member of the Eyes. This is important to the

novel as it means that the novel can feasibly be a transcript of her

story, a story she could not have told if she was dead. It is also

important in a much more simple sense, that it satisfies the readers

curiosity over what happens to the main character and brings the novel

to a more satisfactory close. Over the course of the novel the reader

has built up a close relationship with Offred through her telling her

story completely in the first person. This has the effect of making

the reader feel a close connection with Offred, and care what happens

to her.

The Historical Notes also place the novel in its historical context.

The notes tell the reader the story of why Gilead implemented the

Handmaids in the first place, with the widespread reproduction

problems caused by the,' AIDS epidemic,' and leakages from, 'chemical

warfare stocks.' This is important to the novel as a whole as it

outlines the reasons Gilead has for implementing the Handmaids and

shows that there was an actual reason behind the methods of Gilead.

This has the effect of making the society seem more realistic, which

adds...

... middle of paper ...

... The fact that Piexto criticizes Offred for

her account, 'she does not see fit to supply us with her original

name,' demonstrates his misunderstanding of the account, that Piexto

sees it purely in the context of what he can learn from it about

Gilead, and does not seem to care for Offred's, 'whiff of emotion,' or

what Offred seems to have suffered through. The fact that Piexto's

lecture is based on ,' Problems of Authentication,' again shows a

complete disregard for what Offred went through, and again

demonstrates his misunderstanding of the entire Tale. Atwood uses

Piexto's misunderstanding to again make a warning to society; again

that what happens in the novel could happen again. This could again be

a comment on society and university education by Atwood; that everyone

is so concerned with facts, figures and dates, they often forget, 'the

human heart.'