Power In The Handmaids

One of the many prevailing themes in literature is that power is gained and can be manipulated when restraints are placed on natural desires of the individual. This passage is significant because it is an example of this theme, for it shows how power and manipulation have completely changed and restricted the people, especially women, of Gilead. Due to this, the passage reveals the shared anger that the Handmaids possess, and the cruelty that has been brought upon the society. The use of similes, diction, syntax, and illustrate the impact that this event had on Offred, for she feels such anger towards the unknown man and the crime he has supposedly committed. These literary and rhetorical devices additionally serve to make this event seem as

Adding to this theme of oppression in the novel is the symbol of Aunt Lydia’s words resonating in the narrator’s head every time she questions Gilead’s rules. Aunt Lydia was one of the figures of authority during handmaids’ training at the Red Centre. For example, when Offred thinks about knowing what is happening in Gilead, what has happened with those whom she loved, with her family and friends, she says: “Knowing was a temptation. What you don’t know won’t tempt you, Aunt Lydia used to say. Maybe I don’t really want to know what’s going on. Maybe I’d rather not know” (233/234). She is supposed to follow rules and live as the government wants her to: as a carrier of babies and nothing else. Handmaids are not allowed to comment on what

In today’s news we see many disruptions and inconsistencies in society, and, according to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, humankind might be headed in that direction. The deterioration of society is a concept often explored biologically in novels, but less common, is the effect on everyday social constructs such as the position of women as a item that can be distributed and traded-in for a ‘better’ product. The Handmaid’s Tale elaborates the concept that, as societal discrimination towards women intensifies, gender equality deteriorates and certain aspects of societal freedoms are lost. Offred’s experience with serving Gilead demonstrates a victim’s perspective and shows how the occurring changes develope the Republic.

In “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Margaret Atwood exaggerates the situations that people are facing in present time. In this novel, Margaret created a world named Gilead that seems to have rules and regulations for everybody; but in reality, they are not applied equally. Narrator of this story is a handmaid. Her name is Offred. She shares her experience, that she was brought into a house as a handmaid by the commander to give birth to his child. This novel explores many themes, and one of them is that the world is ruled by people with money and power.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the Gilead regime oppresses women in many different ways; they take complete control over their bodies, they

It isn't just handmaids, or even only women that have forfeited their personal identity; men have lost theirs as well. Their loss of individualism is symbolized by their generic titles. There are three classes of men in Gilead: the 'Commanders,' the Doctors, and the 'Eyes.' Like the color-coded uniforms of the women, the generic titles of the men announce their function. The Commanders are supposed to fertilize the handmaids; the Doctors examine the handmaids monthly to check for possible problems with their reproductive organs; the Eyes are the spy network of Gilead and are responsible for enforcing discipline. Also like the women's color coded-uniforms, the men's generic titles deprive them of their individuality and reduce them to mere task objects.

Within the totalitarian society created by Margaret Atwood in the Handmaid’s Tale, there are many people and regimes centred around and reliant on the manipulation of power. The laws that are in place in the republic of Gilead are designed and implemented so as to control and restrict the rights and freedom of its inhabitants.

In the Republic of Gilead, children are seen as lawful possessions of wealthy, powerful couples like the Commander and his wife. As such, women called ‘handmaids’ have been reduced to two basic functions, breeding and buying groceries. Moreover, since women are prohibited to vote, write or read, the grocery store labels all of the products

The handmaids are one of the many social groups in Gilead. Their main purpose in Gilead is to bear children for the infertile,

Gilead is ruled by a theocracy; a government in which God is its supreme ruler. Through the eyes of its central character, Offred, a handmaid, we are given a glimpse of a world where men and women are plagued by infertility, men have become the superior sex and handmaids, concubines used for childbearing,

Fear is power. Fear is ever-present in Gilead; it is implemented through violence and force. It is through fear that the regime controls the Gileadian society. There is no way Offred, or the other Handmaids can avoid it. What used to be Harvard University, a

The Handmaids Tale is a poetic tale of a woman's survival as a Handmaid in the male dominated Republic of Gilead. Offred portrayed the struggle living as a Handmaid, essentially becoming a walking womb and a slave to mankind. Women throughout Gilead are oppressed because they are seen as "potentially threatening and subversive and therefore require strict control" (Callaway 48). The fear of women rebelling and taking control of society is stopped through acts such as the caste system, the ceremony and the creation of the Handmaids. The Republic of Gilead is surrounded with people being oppressed. In order for the Republic to continue running the way it is, a sense of control needs to be felt by the government. Without control Gilead will

The government of Gilead does not allow women to read, write, hold property or jobs, vote, or anything that might allow them to subvert their husbands and the government. Women are of no use besides to keep the government functioning. Offred, the protagonist, is commissioned to serve the commander Fred and his wife Serena Joy. A commander is a man of elite status whose wife is sterile. Each commander is designated a

The future lays in past decisions, such as the decision to end segregation, the decision to organize population growth, or the decision to separate blood family. These choices have come from past generations’ failure and future generations’ desires. The Republic of Gilead in Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale must focus on the reproduction of offspring and nothing else. Men and women do not “make love” anymore. They only have sex for reproduction purposes. Every loved one is taken away from them—husbands, children, parents, etc. One right that can never be taken away from them is their opinions. Offred rebels against her government with the use of thought and alliance. She believes she will one day see her husband and daughter again, and while Offred dreams of her family, Aunt Lydia dreams of a world where everyone in the Republic of Gilead “will live in harmony together,” and once rebellion by the suppressed women is stopped and population levels are

In the Handmaiden’s tale, the interference with their society’s freedom of thought give’’s Gilead’s authorities an advantage on what thoughts it’s citizens are capable of. Glancing back at the beginning of the plot, GIlead’s initial