Handmaids Tale Setting

The novel starts in a unfamiliar, unexplained world, using unknown terms like “Handmaid,” “Angel,” and “Commander” that make sense later on in the story as it progresses. The story takes place in a fictional country called the Republic of Gilead. The Republic of Gilead is in the territory of what had been the United States of America, specifically In Cambridge Massachusetts. The novel does not give lots of information on this in the first section but we find out more about the Republic of Gilead as the book progresses. The Republic of Gilead is the major setting for this novel. This is what the book is mainly built up around. A fictional country created with a complete different lifestyle. The whole country is built up in a different way then it is
today. Individuals are divided into different categories and dressed according to their social functions. Women must dress according to dress code that divide them up by their occupation
The country is very religious, and has a complete different lifestyle. Not much information is given in the beginning of the book on details about how the country is, but more detail is given as the book progresses.
Through out the book, the main character Offred always gives us flashbacks and information about her past. She narrates these flashbacks which are before Gilead was completely formed in the past tense, which tells them apart from the main body of the story which is what is happening in Gilead while she is a Handmaid, which she tells in the present tense. The first setting takes place in the past in a gymnasium. We don't get much information on what this gymnasium is for, or why the Offred and other women live there, but a few details about what it looks like we're given. The women in the gymnasium are always under surveillance by the Angels and the Aunts, and they cannot interact with one another. The whole situation in the gymnasium almost seems like they are in some sort of prison. The scene changes, and the story goes from the past to the present. The scene is of Offred in a room. the rook is, "Fitted out with curtains, a pillow, a framed picture, and a braided rug. There is no glass in the room, not even over the framed picture. The window does not open completely, and the windowpane is shatterproof. There is nothing in the room, and the door does not lock or even shut
completely." The novel flashes back from past to present constantly changing scenes and setting quite often. Much detail isn't always given about these locations the story takes place in. Many other scenes take place outside, in the grocery store or other insignificant locations. Not much detail is given on these locations as they may seem less important. The overall major setting of this book takes place in a completely different fictional country with a religious way of living, complete different rules and lifestyle. The authors choice of setting is very creative and different the most books. The author has created something that has never really been done before, but at the same time touching aspects and historical events that have happened in the country such as women rights and slavery and combing the two to come up with something completely new to tell this tale. He used this in a way that people in the real world can relate to some of the book even though it is so different. There will probably be many more settings later on in the book, but the most important setting is where the book always takes places, which is in The Republic of Gilead.