The Characteristics Of Handmaids In Gilead: A 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.

This is exemplified when Offred hears Aunt Lydia say, “Ordinary is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary” (Atwood 33). The repetition of ordinary is used to reinforce how harsh realities (e.g. public execution) are perceived and justified as normal by the citizens of Gilead; however, in Offred’s previous life, she would have been repulsed to see a public hanging of an innocent person. With Aunt Lydia’s presence and words casting a shadow in Offred’s mind, she begins to have a sense of normalcy about life in Gilead. The Aunt Lydia’s words are so powerful and influential that Offred begins to transform her way of thinking, which mirrors the lack of individuality that she displays. Not only can Offred not think for herself, but her vision is also controlled by Gilead. For instance, Offred and other handmaids must wear white wings, which are a headdress to restrict their vision. This is shown when Atwood writes, “There remains a mirror, on the hall wall. If I turn my head so that the white wings framing my face direct my vision towards it…[I see] myself in it like a distorted shadow” (9). The white wings are symbolic of her not being able to see reality and only what Gilead wants her to see; therefore, her vision is restricted and so are her thoughts. Furthermore, her vision is not

In Gilead the social relationship that once existed between men and women is a thing of the past. In the former society women had value and felt good about themselves and how they looked. However, in the new society the men have stripped the women of their freedom and equality and lowered them to varying degrees of status. The young healthy women are labeled handmaids and are "issued" (24) by the government to various high-ranking officials in order to offer them the opportunity to create offspring. Getting pregnant is their only hope of survival. Females who are not of childbearing age are called Marthas because their purpose is to work and serve the men. A third category of women is labeled Unwomen because of their worthlessness in this male dominated society. All three categories are divided into colonies to prevent their rebelling against the system. Also, within each colony communication is limited and higher education is denied. In order to enforce this kind of oppressive social structure, the government uses various forms of intimidation.

The women who have become sterile are fit into other classes within Gilead’s society and are differentiated by the color of their dress.. The women who are high on the class list are the wives (Blue Dress) who are married to the commanders. In this case the wife of the commander is Serena Joy, who is unable to bear any children. She was able to escape the oppressive chains of the Republic due to her devotion to serving God and spreading the word of God prior to the collapse of the U.S. However, her life is no more joyous than that of a Martha or a Handmaid as she must watch the handmaid's enter her home to attempt to bare her husband's children. The next on the list are the Aunts, they are staff members who blend the prim role of academy schoolmarms with the sadism of prison matrons. These women ‘teach’ the Handmaid’s about the role they have had the privilege of their positions within the new Republic of Gilead. The Martha's (Green Dress) women who are older or sterile and have the task of being the commander’s housekeepers. The Econowives (Striped Dress)who are working-class women who lack maid service and thus must "do everything." The Unwomen (Dress color never specified) are females that were remanded to the Colonies to serve in clean-up crews removing toxic wastes. Both the class and dress code of the women symbolizes that they are no longer individuals; they

Offred recalls an outfit she wore, similar to Unwomen, (before Gilead), that allows her to truly recognize her mother’s beauty regardless

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

In Gilead, women are treated like objects and all of their rights are taken away from them. They cannot vote, hold property or jobs, read, or do anything else that might cause them to become rebellious or independent, and undermine the men, or the state. Even the shops where the handmaids go to buy food do not have names on for them to read, just pictures. The only thing important about a woman now is her ovaries and her womb, as they are reduced to just their fertility.

In the republic of Gilead, there are many rules and restrictions within all levels of the community, wives, econowives, common men and handmaid’s included, which limit the goings-on of the people. These rules were all created by the men in charge, going by the name of ‘The sons of Jacob’ and are forcefully implemented by the angels, the male soldiers and ‘protectors’. The roles of those in charge all belong to a

The Handmaid's Tale, a film based on Margaret Atwood’s book depicts a dystopia, where pollution and radiation have rendered innumerable women sterile, and the birthrates of North America have plummeted to dangerously low levels. To make matters worse, the nation’s plummeting birth rates are blamed on its women. The United States, now renamed the Republic of Gilead, retains power the use of piousness, purges, and violence. A Puritan theocracy, the Republic of Gilead, with its religious trappings and rigid class, gender, and racial castes is built around the singular desire to control reproduction. Despite this, the republic is inhabited by characters who would not seem out of place in today's society. They plant flowers in the yard, live in suburban houses, drink whiskey in the den and follow a far off a war on the television. The film leaves the conditions of the war and the society vague, but this is not a political tale, like Fahrenheit 451, but rather a feminist one. As such, the film, isolates, exaggerates and dramatizes the systems in which women are the 'handmaidens' of today's society in general and men in particular.

I noticed that the Handmaids exclusively wear red this reminded me of the book The Scarlet Letter because in the book the protagonist is forced to wear a red “A”. She is forced to wear a scarlet A because she had an affair, they did this to publicly humiliate her. The Handmaids are not necessarily being ostracized but they do commit adultery because the commanders are married. Offred is isolated, she eats alone can not see her family and the only people she regularly talks to are the marthas and Ofglen.

In Gilead Handmaids are seen as adulterous, harlots and are hated by everyone because of their role, “But the frown isn’t personal: it’s the red dress she disapproves of, and what it stands for.”(pg.19 ) they are especially hated by the wives of commanders.

of the veil is to conceal and hide women as well as to prevent women

The laws of Gilead dehumanizes women and takes away their rights as citizens to society. Gilead wasn’t always like that until the revolution overcame the town and took away women's rights. “In Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, women are totally under the control of male members of the patriarchal society; she describes a patriarchal society and reflects the political ideology in America of that time.” Women are downgraded without any authority and control by men. “Women are like birds that are kept in cages to stop them from flying. And the authorities make women believe that this society is very secure for them and they are protected in this way of living. They also make women believe that the new way is a better freedom and God will save them if they follow.” They are taking the laws made by Gilead and comparing

In the Republic of Gilead, Wives are simply wives, they are there for their husbands, whether it means being loyal to them, taking care of their children, and being their cohort. But, when they can’t carry their husband’s descendants, they are assigned a Handmaid, one of the few fertile women able to bear children in the poisonous environment full of toxic waste. This is what happens to the Wives in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Indubitably, some devoted Wives, like Serena Joy, have a tough time adapting to their new lives in Gilead so they decide to put all their anger towards the people around them.

To begin, the red color of the handmaid’s dresses represents the immorality of the services they provide to the powerful commanders and their wives. In Gilead handmaids are mandated to have sex with their commanders in the hopes of baring a child. Giving birth to a healthy child is the ultimate goal of the handmaids that they must devote themselves entirely to in order to be safe under authoritarian rule. The red color of their dresses is a constant reminder to themselves and others that their importance is their fertility. Offred the protagonist states, “everything except the