The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

At first glance, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaids Tale would seem like a straightforward feminist text. The narrative takes place in a hypothetical future where gender discrepancies are explored in a complete patriarchy in which women are exclusively domesticated in the house, used for the purpose of breeding, or otherwise banished to the Colonies. The women are categorized by their ability to reproduce children and participate in society according to such placement. Though The Handmaids Tale is supposed to promote awareness of such an oppressive society to women, Atwood demonstrates a more accepting culture of Gilead by women with an overarching theme of complacency. Instead of arguing against such a society, Atwood further oppresses women

For instance, Offred reminisces about a conversation where her mother tells Offred that it is “truly amazing, what people can get used to, as long as there are a few compensations.” (Atwood 242) Offred frequently reflects on the times before Gilead when she had the freedom to her own body, her own job, and her own money. For a short time in the novel, Offred envies these old times. After beginning her relationship with Nick, though, Offred becomes more complacent with the oppression she experiences, even though her relationship with Nick is strictly the freedom from other forms of oppression. Offred views the relationship she has with Nick as a slight portion of power because it resembles a small piece of what her life used to be like, and her rationale is that having a fragment of the past is better than not having it at all. Offred seems so content to the extent that later in the text she ignores Ofglen’s request to obtain information about the

Atwood depicts the women in her story more as liberators than she does as victims of oppression. The Handmaids willingly participate in the arrangements with the Commanders, Aunts readily instruct other women of Gilead to partake in the new culture, and the women at Jezebel’s freely take part in the sexual acts requested of them; all of this compliance reflects Atwood’s argument that Gilead “isn’t that bad” (Atwood 6). Atwood briefly exposes readers to acts of rebellion by the women of Gilead, but fails to acknowledge any progressive repercussions of such revolt. The reader is left to assume that Atwood is implying a sense of contentment from her female characters. Though the women are constantly oppressed in a patriarchal society, the little freedoms that they receive should be enough for them to continue living in Gilead. Atwood is understandably arguing that Gilead is the complete opposite of a world that favors women, but within her writing she implies that women of this time are ignorant and