The Handmaid's Tale: Rape In The Real World

We live in a world full of crime. Murder, war, robbery, and terrorism all happening in our world today. However to this day, the act of Rape remains to be one of the most controversial. Not that the others are not controversial, but rape has been around for a very long time and still to this day shocks the public. Something that The Handmaid’s Tale shows constantly throughout its intense plot. But how much does rape in the Handmaid’s Tale compare to rape in the real world? It is with no doubt that most of the details that the story gives us on the topic of rape culture is in fact true. Here I will compare scenes or quotes from the book with real life events related to rape. I will then go in details how the book compares or relates to actual rape in the world today and explain exactly how accurate the book is. The handmaid’s Tale is not shy at all at sharing graphic details on how rape is occurring in it’s dystopian world. In my opinion one of the most disturbing facts about it is how the narrator goes on to explain how in a

One of the most common acts in this novel is indeed manipulation. Here’s one example of this. There was a news report by the local 10 on abc on July, 3, 2015 about a so called ‘Voodoo” priest who raped an 11 year old girl. Although the little girls parents confronted the priest; the priest simply stated that he would put a curse on the family if they were to turn him into the police. Five years later, after being tired of the torment, the parents finally turned him in. So how does this relate to The Handmaid’s Tale? Well let’s look back at that scene I spoke about earlier. Janine was in denial to the claim that it was her fault that she was raped. But notice how aggressive the aunts were with her. They deliberately yell to her and finally convince her that it is her fault. The poor girl finally breaks down and ‘admits’ that she is to blame. So far we have found two comparisons to rape culture in one scene among many