Offred lived a normal, American life when all of the sudden, her family was taken from her so she could go have somebody else’s baby. The Handmaid’s Tale is about a woman’s tale of her life, her story, and her struggles in a new society and how she got there. This story by Margaret Atwood tells the life of Offred, a handmaid for a wealthy couple and her daily struggles trying to adapt to her new world. Offred tells how she makes deals with her Commander and his Wife with hope of getting out and how that changes her life. The progress in this book is not as one would probably describe progress, but it is as follows: the government and society had to make major changes in order to bring about the new system and laws, Gilead is thinking of and executing ways to raise the birthrate in their country, and handmaids and women in general are protected at all costs.…
In Offred’s world, she is oppressed and controlled. She’s forced to live in a society that’s controlled by a religious regime that forces its citizens to live under a strict set of rules. Over the course, there are a series of events and allusions that show that the world Offred lives in is similar to an event of history. The novel The Handmaid’s Tale connection to colonial-age America is due to the existence of old religions relevant at the time and the events within the books. The strongest connection to the colonial age are the religions that were in power in the novel and the time period.…
Author Margaret Atwood’s writing has been shaped by one particular movement- the push for women’s rights in the 1960s and 1970s. When Atwood was a college student, “a woman was expected to follow one path: to marry in her early 20s, start a family quickly, and devote her life to homemaking” (“The 1960s-70s”). Employers assumed that the females who did work would soon become pregnant, so ladies were unlikely to advance in their careers. What money they did earn was controlled by their husbands, or their male wardens, as females are legally subject to them. With the development of the birth control pill a few years later, women could now chase professional careers and “the double standard that allowed premarital sex for men but prohibited…
A motif in The Handmaid's Tale is the color red and Handmaids in Gilead wear red. The biggest and obvious example is the Red Center where handmaids are trained. Red symbolizes oppression since the women are being forced to become handmaids. The great thing about literature is everything is up for interpretation, therefore red could mean various things. Salvagings take place by The Wall, which is described on pg.…
Quote- “My heart racing, I drive fast on the paved town roads, heading for the colored part of town. I’ve never even sat at the same table with a Negro who wasn’t paid to do so. The interview has been delayed by over a month.”(167)…
In her novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margret Atwood uses symbolism to illustrate the handmaid’s role in the society of Gilead. The handmaids are the women who had broken law of Gilead, and were forced into the role of a surrogate mother for a higher ranking couple. The handmaids had no rights or free will. They were under constant surveillance and this caused them to be very cautious. The author characterizes most handmaids as a tentative and distrustful, which is perhaps why Offred never puts in words the magnitude of her discontent with her new life, because it’s possible she doesn’t truly trust the reader. The author uses symbols such as the handmaid’s dress-code, a pigs ball, and even the handmaids names to give the reader a sense of the handmaid’s imprisonment.…
The issue that has been persistent for as long as one can remember is Misogyny in the society. The belief that women are inferior to men has been contaminating the human mind. The issue can be commonly seen in the society in form of domestic abuse, violence, objectification in name of advertisements, and especially in the music industry where the lyrics are filled with hateful messages towards women. Even though the governing laws consider men and women as equal, but the mistreatment of women continues to be the headline of every newspaper.…
The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood takes place in the Republic of Gilead, in which women are placed in certain groups and stripped of their identity. Gilead focuses on bringing back old religious aspects into life by dividing individuals into biblical groups. The women especially the main character Offred is completely stripped of her name and possessions as well as being forced to not be able to talk, read, or write. In Handmaids Tale, by Margaret Atwood, the government of Gilead uses religious fear tactics in order to turn women against each other and strengthen their power.…
Feminism has always been an incredibly relevant issue in all societies and is still no exception in today’s day and age. One of the most highly acclaimed writers of today that tackles the plaguing issue of feminism and the unfortunate belittling of women is Margaret Atwood. Among her many successful novels, poems, and other works, her masterpiece of a novel The Handmaid’s Tale emphasizes the dangers of downplaying women and their roles in society. Set in a future dystopian society, Atwood’s novel is best understood and interpreted from a critical feminist viewpoint; if the reader adapts this perspective, the novel comes to life and its message to protect women’s rights is unmistakable.…
After analysing Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid's Tale and Alia Dharssi’s ‘Completely failing women’: Why the Zika epidemic is really a women’s rights crisis, it is clear to see the detrimental effect that external factors like state leaders and environmental conditions have on women's’ freedom and independance. Government’s like Gilead and Brazil claim to find proper solutions to different crises, but ultimately use them as an excuse to seize power for their own benefits at the expense of people they deem disposable. Gilead strips away all the rights of women in the name of recovering the population after an environmental disaster left most of the population infertile. In reality, it is just a ruse to cover up the fact that “There was nothing…
A rebel is defined as a person who rises in opposition or armed resistance against an established government or ruler. In Margaret Atwood’s book, The Handmaid’s Tale, I characterized Moira to be a rebel. She showed much resistance against Gilead and wanting to be treated like the old ways, before the city was taken over. She also shared many of the same qualities as Offred’s mother, Janine, and Aunt Lydia.…
Figurative language was used by Margaret Atwood, through the persona of Offred, to illustrate The Handmaid’s Tale. Figurative Language consists of similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, hyperbole and idioms.…
When any substantial power is taken from people, they still have the capability to maintain control over themselves and have the power to rebel. Even though the handmaids appear to be hopeless, Offred sneakily uses her sexuality to gain power and control over the commander. There is a scene in the novel where Offred uses her body and sexuality in order to tease the men, she gains attention and a feeling of rebellion, letting her feel powerful and in control over men. "I move my hips a little, feeling the full red skirt sway around me.” Which shows that the only power Offred has left is her own body and her body language along with it, evidently displaying that even small actions like this allows her to feel…
Alliteration and personification of the ‘wandering womb’ when referring to a condition affecting women - women defined by their womb, their womb as a separate entity due to its power.…
In the novel The Handmaids Tale, author Atwood creates a world where access to all forms of language is a privilege. The oppressive society of Gilead strips women of their engagement in forms of language such as, reading, writing and even restricts how they speak. Which, naturally made language a desire by women, because it's degrading to not have freedom of speech. Atwood utilizes literary elements point of view, dialogue and diction, to convey how powerful language is in this world.…