Power In The Handmaid's Tale

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” by Margaret Atwood, there is the addressing of freedom, abuse of power, feminism, rebellion and sexuality. The audience is transported to a disparate time where things normalized in our current society are almost indistinguishable. Atwood uses each character carefully to display the set of theme of rebellion within the writing, really giving the reader a taste of what the environment is like by explaining detailed interactions, and consequences as well as their role in society.

There wasn't a lot of choice, but there was some and this is what I chose’’ (Atwood 105). This quote from The Handmaid’s Tale shows that Offred is becoming convinced that it was her own choice to conform to her social role and that she starts to accept the system and the violations that are being committed against women. However, there is no actual choice for Offred, because if she would refuse to accept her social role it would have severe consequences. ‘’The social requirement to conform to gender norms […] often reinforce women’s inequality and powerlessness and limit the capacity for individual autonomy’’ (Anleu

In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the Handmaids are controlled through the use of force or intimidation. Many of those tactics include: training the Handmaids to conform, ceremonies of rape, and threats of death. These practices instill uncertainty in the Handmaids and create fear. They are trained to accommodate for others because they are merely only “two-legged wombs, that’s all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices” (Thomas 92). The Ceremony is their chance to prove their worth, because only the women who can bear a child are of worth. The women who are not of worth, well, they are sent to work in a toxic wasteland until they die. The Handmaids are aware of what

The words control and Gilead, the setting for the novel "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood, are interchangeable. Not only is control a pivotal feature of the novel and its plot, it consequently creates the subplots, the characters and the whole world because of its enormity in the Republic of Gilead. Resistance also features heavily, as does its results, mainly represented in the salvagings, particicution and the threat of the colonies.

Despite the little dependence on women, they are still objectified and subjected to injustice because of their gender, regardless if they were a female in general or as a poor female. As something as simple as what a person is born with affects the respect that is given to them. Margaret Atwood formulates Offred’s personality much like any other handmaid in the community. Offred becomes familiar with the functionality and role of women in the community, therefore she adjusts herself in order to be up to par with the unethical standard. “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. (Atwood, 75). To be what is required of her, Offred must act unhuman because the expectations of females exceed the

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.

As you read through the handmaid’s tale you see the relationships of the characters develop and the fight for power, however small that glimpse of power may be. The images of power can be seen through out the novel, but there are major parts that stand out to the reader from the aunt’s in the training centre to the secret meetings between the Commander and Offred.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is set in a future time period where the United States is under the control of the Gileadean regime. A terrorist attack leads to the collapse of Congress, the suspension of the Constitution, and the establishment of a theocratic totalitarian government. Men and women are given roles within society; they are Commanders, Eyes, Handmaids, and Marthas. In this novel, Atwood explores a prominent social issue, feminism. The suppression and power of women are examined through the setting and characterization of the novel to help understand the meaning of the novel as a whole.

Hungry for power. Metaphorically querulous. Weak. The Commander is the representation of male insecurity. This character is derived from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Atwood’s novel reveals that hunger for control can lead to the oppression of women, this is demonstrated through the Commander’s characterization, the Aunts attitudes, and some of the Gileadean rules/laws.

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a disturbing novel that displays the presence and manipulation of power. This is displayed throughout the novel and is represented significantly in three ways. As the book takes place in the republic of Gilead, the elite in society are placed above every other individual who are not included in their level. Secondly, men are placed at the top of the chain and they significantly overpower women in the society (elite or not). Finally the individuals within the elite society also overpower each other and have their own separate roles. This can be interpreted as a chain. Men of the elite are placed at the top, the men who less elite

While observing her body, she thinks, “My nakedness is strange to me already. My body seems outdated. Did I really wear bathing suits, at the beach?” (63). While most of the women around her are resisting the Gilead rules, Offred never seems to rebel. Even during the most traumatic experiences, such as the Ceremony or beating a man to death, her moral judgments cease to exist, as if she has accepted her fate as a handmaid. It is only until her knowledge of the resistance when she finally decides to participate and even then, it is still kept on the down low. She gives into discreet affairs only under the request of her Commander and Serena Joy. She participates at the Jezebel club under the request of her Commander. Her most daring acts of rebellion are her stealing butter, the thought of stealing from the living room, or her talking to Ofglen. During all of this mutiny, she still binds herself to the color red and her duty as a

In paragraph twenty nine of Handmaid's Tale the author explains that the influence of power and appreciation is a tool used in theocratic societies to gain control over the masses. Particularly Artwork is very intrigued by the relationship of society with men and women. In the book women are placed below men in every respect in society having no rights and being in a lower social caste than men. To conclude Margaret Artwork in her book Handmaid's Tale uses power and oppression to censor women and to keep the status quo.

How is the regime in Gilead able to establish and maintain power in The Handmaid’s tale?

Though the English language has its roots in a male-dominated society where the true meaning of words are now taken for granted. In The Handmaid’s Tale, language facilitates power. In order to effectively rule over class and gender the level of censorship on literature and control of discourses runs high. Atwood uses word choice to expose the shocking structures of the Gilead society and how faulty its foundations are as it was built upon gender inequality. The repercussions of gendered language are evident throughout the novel, implying that the sexist structure of Gilead is a result of oppressive language modern Americans accept and use in every day talk.