The Handmaid's Tale

Over the past 200 years sexual liberation and freedom have become topics of discussions prevalent within western culture and society. With the recent exploration of sexuality a new concept of sexual and gender identity has emerged and is being analyzed in various fields of study. The ideology behind what defines gender and how society explains sex beyond biology has changed at a rapid pace. In response various attempts to create specific and catch all definitions of growing gender and sexual minorities has been on going. This has resulted in the concept of gender becoming a multi- layered shifting hypothesis to which society is adapting. Since the 19th-century, philosophers and theorists have continued to scrutinize gender beyond biological and social interpretation. Margaret Atwood 's The Handmaid 's Tale captures the limitations and social implications forced upon a set gender based on societal expectations. Gender is a social construct that limits the individual to the restrictions and traditions of a society, or if it’s an individually formed self-identification of sex and sexuality that is formed autonomously. Evidence of gender establishment can be seen within literary works and supported by various schools of gender and sexuality theory.

At first, The Handmaid’s Tale (1986) may purely seem like a reconstruction of events. However, when examined more closely the reader can see that Atwood has used many narrative and poetic techniques. Each of these devices develop the novel into so much more than just a simple reconstruction of events, it becomes a precise and planned piece of work; a documented life experience that slowly unfolds. The reader becomes involved in the story and in Offred’s life; they go through her pain, suffering and occasional joy and trusts what she is telling them to be the truth. Yet, when the novel

Parents typically don’t want their children reading in depth books about sex; however, The Handmaid’s Tale offers great fictional examples that teach sexism and the mistreatment of women, yet these examples can lead some in the wrong way. Therefore depending on the view in society, The Handmaid’s tale should be banned or kept to certain areas of the world because of the unfair treatment of women.

Margaret Atwood 's The Handmaid 's Tale is a interesting novel that will have you confused but also have you bitting your nails with intrigue. So many questions might go in your head, at the same time; Atwood wrote this novel so her readers can have curiosity, even after reading the last word of the last paragraph of the last page of the book. One of the main topics of this novel is the effect on society when a women 's fate is taken away from and replaced by a label of their own. The social hierarchy in the novel categorizes its citizens in a way to hold different social norms for each to enforce patriarchy in the society. Even when power is taken away

Are you happy mother? You’ve done it; you’ve finally taken from me the one thing I hold so dear. You always used to wonder why I forbade Luc from seeing you. You were always convinced that it was because I thought you were a bad influence on him, because you read dirty books, ate and drank what you wanted and swore like a solider on the battles grounds of war. But no mother it was because I knew that this would happen; I knew that one day you’d leave him; leave us, and all because you were too naïve, too proud to admit you needed the help that le mortwa

And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?' And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her”(Genesis 30:1-4). Unlike, Rachel the handmaids in the novel had no choice whether they wanted children or not. Reproduction was forced upon them. Due to the envy she had toward her sister Rachel desired to have children, but she wasn’t able to have them herself. In return, she gave her husband Jacob a maid to procreate with. Now Gilead gives Commanders and their Wives a handmaid, which is adultery. A man should only have intercourse, but bare children with only his wife.

In which ways and with what results do the ideologies of the dystopian society, Gilead, create an atmosphere that encourages the need for feminism? A dystopian society is a society where humans are dehumanized. A utopia, on the other hand, deals with everything perfect and good. In order for a society to turn into a dystopia, there needs to be a motive, for the said society, to make drastic changes to try and capture the idealistic utopic society. The substantial measures that Gilead takes to achieve perfection results in a dystopian society instead of a utopian one. The dystopian society has detrimental effects on the women of Gilead, both emotionally and physically. In the novel, The handmaids tale, by Margaret Atwood, the author utilizes the setting of the novel and its characters to communicate the themes of oppression and control over the female population of Gilead.

Freedom to and Freedom From In Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, much of the power held by the authoritarian government lies in its control over women’s bodies. The government uses the birthrate decline as a tool to create a society where politics and sexual reproduction go hand in hand. While Gilead does show absolute control on women, there are various instances when Offred narrates about the women who were brave enough to fight the regime. For example, when Offred talks about Moira’s escape, she portrays Moira’s embodiment of resistance. Gilead had taught women to walk “with heads bent down, [their] eyes on [their] hands or the ground,” but when Moira escaped the Red Center she “stood up straight and looked firmly ahead

In the story “The Handmaid's Tale” by Margaret Atwood use certain language throughout the novel to express the meaning of the story. Margaret makes the reader imagine the setting of the story by providing imagery as a way of expressing her view points. However even though some scene are unclear she makes her central idea very clear to the reader. She goes on to make the characters language meaningful and full of power.

This art piece is based on a famous illustration by Benjamin Franklin during the revolutionary war. He created this as a symbol for the thirteen colonies, in hopes to create unity during the war against England. After seeing this on my american government field trip I was immediately inspired to create a distorted version of it for the Gilead. One of the main themes in Gilead is unity and coming together for the common good so this image is a perfect inspiration for that. Furthermore, the Gilead evolved from the “time before,” or America as we know it and the United States evolved from the colonies. Both represent an evolution from a previous nation that had a core issue.

Imagine knowing that a group of people are attempting to take full control of society and the way to live life, but there is nothing that can be done to stop them from accomplishing it. That’s exactly what has been occurring to societies around the world for centuries: Hitler in Germany, Stalin in Russia, and Idi Amin in Uganda, but still continues due to a leader or Regime’s clever techniques to gradually attain power in society without the acknowledgement of citizens. Similarly, in the dystopian novel “The Handmaids Tale,” a staged terrorist attack kills the President, which leads to the government being taken over by the Republic of Gilead, who ultimately transforms the state of Gilead into a women’s nightmare. The women in the novel are forced to be sex slaves in society, in order to produce babies for the infertile men in the state of Gilead, where fertility rates are significantly low. However, the Republic of Gilead forces citizens to follow their theocratic ideology through misleading the entire population with their clever techniques to accomplish their goal of having full power and eventually form a totalitarian society. Thus, in “The Handmaids Tale,” by Margaret Atwood, misinterpreted references to the bible’s scriptures and manipulative techniques are used by the Regime of Gilead to form a totalitarian society.

Nolite de Bastardes Carborundorum: Feminism in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory, and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar Feminist literature encompasses a wide range of issues concerning gender equality and the many waves and movements of feminism that have arisen throughout history and across generations. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory, and Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar are three works which deal with a broad range of feminist issues, each involving a different form of feminism. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood uses an overbearingly patriarchal society as a means of critiquing Radical Feminism, illustrating the various ways in which woman can actually contribute to and facilitate their own oppression.

Dane turned on the television inside his spaceship, distracted by his musings as walked towards his bed. The cold sensation of the cooling system did not annoy the Ausar - who was half-dog and half-human - as the fur that lined his arms kept his body warm. The hulking man plopped his body against the mattress with a sonorous sound; the impact of his four-armed fierce body, larger than eight feel tall, shook the fixture as he strove to find the most comfortable position to lie in.

With much effort, Bahauddin jumped up and grabbed the weathered wooden rungs attached to the shaft. The raging flame of the oil lantern was Bahauddin’s only source of light as he fingered his long, spindly hands across the rusted iron rungs. With much effort, Bahauddin raised himself up through the shaft, trying not to have his loose white garb with the seven keys slip off of his emaciated shoulders. Oh, why did priestly garb have to be so inefficient!

As Ben searched the woods with his flashlight and wooden pocket-knife, He remembered his last encounter with the Magic Shanker. He was 12 years old. It was dark and stormy, and the wind was howling. While on his way through the woods, he saw a yellow object about 15 meters away. Ben walked closer and he noticed more details. It had orange arms, and a pencil in its hands. Ben was now 5 feet away from it. “Who are you,” Ben asked. The yellow creature slowly turned around. It had three eyes, a curly mustache, and a short pointy beard. Suddenly, the creature stabbed Ben in the arm with the pencil it was holding. The stab launched Ben 10 feet away. With blood covering his arm, and the creature running towards him, Ben ran as fast as he could. He