The Supression of Women in the Color Purple and the Handmaid's Tale

Both Celie and Offred are extremely subservient throughout the novels as a result of being brain washed to believe that the abuse committed against them is acceptable or a result of lost hope. An Example of this in Atwoods novel is “Chapter 5 (line 10-11) Now we walk along the same street, in red pairs, and no man shouts obscenities at us, speaks to us, touches us. No one whistle’s. There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from, In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it.” Here Aunt Lydia as well as the Gilead society argue that the women should be thankful that they are now granted freedom from sexual harassment from strangers and this ‘protection’ should make up for all the women have lost, the fact that they have to endure sex slavery and the horrifying rules of Gilead. The Gilead’s society at first seems to use religion to define all aspects of life and define women as a nation resource. The truth is the entire structure of Gilead, including its state religion, is built around one goal; to control reproduction and they have done this by using fear as motivation. Also what they really mean when they say women are natural resources is that their reproductive parts are national resources. “I wait. I compose myself. My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born. (Chapter 12 line 25)” Here Offred talks about totally disregarding herself by play the role of a handmaid to avoid the consequences of disobedience. Just like Celie and most of the female characters in The Color Purple, Offred and the reds in The Handmaids Tale are not treated as individuals with independent selves, but as tools to benefit the male’s need for power and control. In both Novels the authors choose to group the women into different social classes. Although these classifications have some differences, there are definitely similarities between Celie’s and Offred’s identity or role in the novel as they are both subjected characters by male characters and have had offspring ripped away from them to benefit someone else. While Celie’s role is to look after a household, Alberts children, Albert and do what ever Albert says to do, Offreds role is to have a child for Serina Joy by the Commander and to embrace the Gilead society. Despite doing everything she is told to do and more Celie is still abused and her efforts go unappreciated for a longtime. Just like Celie, handmaids go unrewared for their duty. They have to endure sex with another woman’s husband in their presence, jealously from that woman and no freedom or rights.Unlike the women in The Color Purple who have a special sisterhood, the reds are forced to push Gilead’s belief on each other. An example of this torture is when Aunt Lydia tells the reds that Janine was rapped by a gang of thugs, as a consequence Aunt Lydia tells her that it was her fault and has the other handmaids chant hurtful words towards her.