The Handmaid's Tongue By Margaret Atwood

The Treatment of Women in Literature Since the beginning of time, women have always been considered less than or inferior to men. Although, the treatment of women has improved tremendously and women are seeing more opportunities than ever before, we still have a long way to go. Until recently, the majority of published writers were men and the depiction of women in literature was mainly one sided. No matter what time period or culture, women in literature usually take the back seat to men. The once popular TV drama series, Twin Peaks, which was created in 1990, and Joyce Carol Oates’s short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?,” which was published in 1970, but was probably written in the 50s or 60s, are perfect examples of this.

While Gilead is trying to dehumanize the handmaids they are trying to hold on to their individuality and freedom. The fear of losing what they have from a time when they were free causes them to hold onto them instead of conforming to the new society of

Hook: Not all women can be treated the same in a dystopian world; only the ones lucky enough to stay in place and do as they are told have a chance of surviving. Thesis: Margaret Atwood's book, "The Handmaid's Tale" shows us different motifs in her book such as gender roles and to show how social status/gender impacts power structures. Along with fertility and women without children or unable to get punished, killed, or some consequences to harm them and their lives. Showing how women with children get special treatment and are at a higher level than the other girls. Claim: No matter the role of a woman they should all be treated with a level of respect and kindness not pushed away and tossed aside.

The novel about the handmaid's tale is a book writer Margaret Atwood is about the when a religious movement that force all women to be treated unfairly. The women were in a low class to men. The women had different classes in which they were treated for which class they were in. The ecowives where wives they were wives to poor men. The handmaid are the people who are the one the are able to have a child.

Offred is suspicious of what the handmaid 's did. She looks at their hands, and a clue is given to her when she sees “black gloves”(Atwood 275). She ponders what they could have possibly done to have warranted such action from the authorities. Her speculation shows how the society of Gilead functions. The government of Gilead wants the handmaids to see that the prisoners are being hanged, as their suspicion is how Gilead gains control of them.

Margaret Atwood began writing one of her most famous novels, The Handmaid’s Tale in the Spring of 1984 while she was living in West Berlin. The Berlin Wall was still in place at this time. As she visited several countries, she experienced firsthand the wary feelings of being spied on, the oblique ways of conveying information, changes of subject in conversation, as well as constant fear and paranoia. These emotions she felt at this time had an impact on Atwood as she continued to struggle in her writing of this novel. Atwood was born in 1939, so she was conscious of what was going on in World War II.

Adrianne Bunch Ms. Steuer English IV 18 February 2023 A Man’s World It is a man’s world, but that is nothing without a woman. Margaret Atwood, a feminist author, believes it is truly a woman’s world. In a society where names have vanished, families are separated, and women are brainwashed, main character Offred tries to find a way back to reality from the oppressionist leaders that have captured her. Often times when utopian societies are sought after, oppression is a main side effect because perfect is unattainable and not the same for everyone.

Throughout history, women have made a name for themselves. By rising up and fighting for something that they believed in, the Mirabal sisters made a name for themselves in the Dominican Republic and in Julia Alvarez’s novel In the Time of the Butterflies. By applying a theory to a novel, readers can relate the book to the world they are living in today (Davidson). Feminism can be defined as a dynamic philosophy and social movement that advocates for human rights and gender equality (“Feminism”). Feminist Theory involves looking at how women in novels are portrayed, how female characters are reinforcing stereotypes or undermining them, and the challenges that female characters face (Davidson).

A Tale of a Handmaid’s Oppression The Handmaid’s Tale, directed by Volker Schlöndorff in 2017, is a Hulu original adapted from a book by author Margaret Atwood. It analyzes a society where resources, hierarchy, and traditional organizational structures are deeply engrained. Following a nuclear incident society has changed and the United State’s government has been toppled. The main character, Offred, works as a handmaid for a general and his wife. Her role is to act as a surrogate for the couple as the nuclear incident has made reproduction extremely difficult.

Authors, especially female authors, have long used their writing to emphasize and analyze the feminist issues that characterize society, both in the past and the present. Kate Chopin, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Susan Glaspell wrote narratives that best examined feminist movements through the unreliable minds of their characters. In all three stories, “The Story of an Hour”, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and “A Jury of Her Peers”, the authors use characterization, symbolism, and foreshadowing to describe the characters’ apparent psychosis or unreasonable behavior to shed light on the social issues that characterized the late 19th century and early 20th century. Penning many stories that demonstrate her opinions on the social issues of the era,

Imagine a nation in which its government commands by a religion where women are separated into different titles and must conceive children for their commander. Their rights from before this regime, and anything deemed unholy by the government, are a thing of the past. This situation is the one represent in the Republic of Gilead, where the rules of society and its traditions are not taken lightly if broken. In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood shows that an oppressive government leads to the inevitable neglect and remiss of the rules through Offred’s characterization, irony, and flashbacks. Offred 's character development can show that her actions change .

Offred initially feels a sense of loss due to her position as a fertile woman since the independence and individuality she once enjoyed has since been stripped from her by the Republic of Gilead. It is only through rebellion that Offred is able to slowly regain her sense of self and reject the role that Gilead forces her into. By rebellion, however, it is often more dangerous for the perpetrators than to the government’s grip on the people. Offred’s societal role as a handmaid in Gilead forces her to first obey, then causes her to question, which finally allows her to realize her

Gilead is ruled by fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state, and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate. In the opening chapters, the handmaid’s lives are presented as just property of the state. The start of chapter one begins with The Handmaid 's Tale, The novelist Margaret Atwood presents the life of handmaids as protagonist who live in such fear and solitude. The first chapter begins with the narrator describing the old gymnasium as being peaceful such as ‘Powdering the dancers with a

The Handmaid 's Tale is one of Margaret Atwood most famous novels written during the spring of 1984, when the Berlin wall was still standing. Atwood creates a dystopia, which mostly consists of gender gap and oppression. The Handmaid 's Tale effectively portrays the United States as the modern-day totalitarian society of Gilead, which was illustrated as perfect by using the book of Genesis. Although the authors ideas are inherently and completely fictional, several concepts throughout his book have common links to the past and present society which the author herself calls a speculative fiction. The author uses a totalitarian system which includes aspects of Soviet system, to describe, deprivation, repression and terror with the use of

Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, argues that women are instruments of the patriarchy, that women know this, and that women allow the system of oppression to live on. Her fictions ask, “What stories do women tell about themselves? What happens when their stories run counter to literary conventions or society’s expectations?” (Lecker 1). The Handmaid’s Tale is told through the protagonist, Offred, and allows readers to follow through her life as a handmaid while looking back on how life used to be prior to the societal changes.