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The handmaid's tale and society today
Handmaids tale and its relation to self and society
The handmaid's tale and society today
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Flaws and Purpose… The Importance of Intimacy 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.
Intimacy allows Offred to gain power in the novel, allowing for a sense rebellion from Gilead. In chapter 4, Offred as well as Ofglen travel in pairs into town in order to go shopping. On this journey there is a checkpoint where two Guardians are operating the post. When a Guardian checks for Offred’s pass he tries to look at her face and by the way he does this, it is assumed he is wanting a kiss, but is not permitted. As Offred walks away from the
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This theme of intimacy rings throughout the novel, not only through Offred, but through every character. Without intimacy in The Handmaid's Tale, the novel would not have allowed for such an emotional intriguing story. By removing this activity from the society of Gilead, it allows for the reader to not only understand the importance of intimacy on the characters in the novel, but also in the real world. As Offred would say “nobody dies from lack of sex. It’s lack of love we die from (Atwood
Margaret Atwood is famous for many things. She is a poet, novelist, story writer, essayist, and an environmental activist. Her books are usually bestsellers and have received high praises in the United States, Europe, and her native country, Canada. She has also received many Literary awards, like the Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the two Governor General’s Awards (“Margaret Atwood” Poetry). Through her books, she has written about what she sees in society towards women. She discusses how gender equality was corrupted in the past, but still is far from being reached, and women’s roles in society (“Spotty-handed”). Atwood also takes events in her life; like the Great Depression, Communism, and World War II; and applies it to her works. Margaret Atwood's works, including her novel The Handmaid's Tale, reflects women’s fight in equality, how society determines
She gives her the password of Gilead’s. She hasn’t used it for days. Also, Serena wants her to visit Nick because she know that the Commander, Fred is infertile. It doesn’t means that Serena is on her side, she’s doing this for herself. After the first night, Nick and Offred meet in his room, Offred continues sneak in his room every night. She stops visiting at the Commander’s place. Ofglen try to help again and give her the key to check the Commander’s office to see what they’re hiding. Offred silently declines her, she feel satisfied with Nick. (Atwood 270) This shows that she’s doing what she likes now. She refuses to break in Commander’s office. She was running out of the time and she decided to decline the opportunity of escaping the Gilead with Ofglen. That’s the symbol of non heroine where she only think about herself, not others.
Offred is a handmaid, in the novel The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood, who no longer desired to rebel against the government of Gilead after they separated her from her family. When Offred was taken away from her family the Government of Gilead placed her in an institution known as the Red Center where they trained her along with other women unwillingly to be handmaids. The handmaid’s task was to repopulate the society because of the dramatic decrease in population form lack of childbirth. Handmaids are women who are put into the homes of the commanders who were unable to have kids with their own wives. The Handmaids had very little freedom and were not allowed to do simple tasks by themselves or without supervision like taking baths or going to the store. There was an uprising against the government of Gilead and many people who lived in this society including some handmaids looked for a way to escape to get their freedom back which was taken away from them and to reunited with their families which they lost contact with. Offred was one of the handmaids who was against the government of Gilead before she was put in the Red Center, but she joined the uprising after she became a
In Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, women are subjected to unthinkable oppression. Practically every aspect of their life is controlled, and they are taught to believe that their only purpose is to bear children for their commander. These “handmaids” are not allowed to read, write or speak freely. Any type of expression would be dangerous to the order of the Gilead’s strict society. They are conditioned to believe that they are safer in this new society. Women are supposedly no longer exploited or disrespected (pornography, rape, etc.) as they once were. Romantic relationships are strongly prohibited because involving emotion would defeat the handmaid’s sole purpose of reproducing. Of course not all women who were taken into Gilead believed right what was happening to their way of life. Through the process of storytelling, remembering, and rebellion, Offred and other handmaids cease to completely submit to Gilead’s repressive culture.
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
Offred had been though many mixed feelings throughout this entire book. She has been able to feel, experience and thinks thoughts that she had not ever imagined that she would have. Offred can not escape the fact that in spite of the treatment from Serena Joy and the commander, that they both will have if not already have an impact on her life. Not to mention Nick also. Nick gave her the comfort and the security that she wanted, and at the end nothing done to her by the commander or his wife mattered to her. Living in the Republic of Gilead will always be a memory that she will probably try to forget.
...t create a feeling of disorientation towards the reader. Atwood does this to enable us to understand just how disjointed life is in Gilead. Offred continuously involves the reader, she directly addresses us and anticipates our response and even feels she has to justify some of her actions, she is a self-conscious narrator. Atwood is also preparing us for the revelation in the Historical notes that Offred is recounting her story into a tape recorder. The story is open ended; we are not told what exactly happened to Offred, Atwood does this in order to have more of an impact on the reader.
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.
This is illustrated in chapter one page 14 ‘’ we learned to whisper almost without sound’’ the use of first person plural ‘’we’’ emphasises that all handmaids cannot talk to each other openly hence, the use of the declarative tone along with the dynamic verb ‘’whisper’’ highlights that any sort of relationship with the handmaid is forbidden because it evokes freedom of expression thus, relationships such as this is central. An element of secrecy is shown which suggests the handmaids are forbidden to interact with other women so, forming relationship is not allowed because relationships in this dystopian fiction is seen as a sense of liberation. This is supported through Atwood’s views of the 1960s where traditional values were overlooked and social liberation was rising as women could have more choice on marriage and sexuality. In the novel Nineteen Eighty- Four by George Orwell forbidden relationship is presented with the protagonist, Winston and Julia likewise to The Handmaid’s Tale. As Julia and Winston privately meet in chapter 2 book 2 where they have a sexual relationship this is extremely rebellious in the dystopian society. The following line ‘’ He and Julia had only spoken in low whispers and it would not pick up what they had said’’ the narrative tone is used to accentuates the fear of being caught of having a forbidden relationship between Winston and Julie as it threatens Big Brother love from party members. A similarity is the use of vocabulary in both novels for example the dynamic verb ‘’whisper’’ in Nineteen Eighty-Four conveys that they had to speak secretly in which this suggest that their relationship is forbidden as dystopian novels consider that this interaction will strengthen the hate towards the
This is the way Atwood gets across her feelings about the future world that Offred lives in. She forms a close relationship with the reader and the character, and then shows the reader Offred’s feelings about different aspects of the world. This is not to say that everyone reading the book will get the exact same thing from it.
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
we can believe that we will some day get out, that we will be touched again, in love or desire” (96). Offred tries to take care of herself as much as she can by maintaining her beauty in hopes of one day going back to her normal life. Gilead has deprived handmaids of many personal necessities, one of them being basic face lotion. Offred has to steal butter to moisturize her face and when she does this it gives her some type of faith that one day she'll be able to feel the love she once had. The control over handmaids is very extreme, and shows how low they must be perceived in society to not be able to have the necessities they used to have before these strict laws.
As The Handmaid’s Tale is considered an allegory of the social injustice women face against traditional expectations of their role in society, the symbolism of the Handmaids and other women as a whole for repressed feminine liberty and sexuality allows Atwood to connect her work to the theme between gender and expectations in her society. As Handmaids in the Republic of Gilead, females are stripped of their previous identity and are defined as a tool of reproduction for the men who is assigned them. At its core, these females are forced against their will to be mere tools, experiencing unwanted sex at least once a month, which Gilead names “The Ceremony”, hiding its true nature as a form of rape. Offred
Offred’s journey is a prime example of the appalling effects of idly standing by and allowing herself to become a part of the Gilead’s corrupt system. This woman is a Handmaid which was recently placed within a new
... is only alive in her dreams, she aches for her and fears that her child will not remember or even she is dead. Atwood writes about motherhood, and the irony lies in the fact that Offred did not have an ideal relationship with her mother even though Gilead’s system was not established, yet Offred who is separated for her daughter shows affection towards her child by constantly thinking and dreaming about her. Even though Offred felt pressured from her mother, she still misses her, ‘I want her back’ and she even reminisces about when she used to visit her and Luke.