Preview

Why Is The Handmaid's Tale A Dystopian Society

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
622 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Is The Handmaid's Tale A Dystopian Society
Introduction: The Handmaid’s Tale is a very popular novel written by Margaret Atwood. Published in 1986 a lot of the novel is focused on feminism and the rights of women.
Thesis: Margaret Atwood creates a dystopian society for women in Gilead by taking away their rights and using them for their bodies and fertility. The role of females in the society of Gilead is much different than the role of females in society today.
(Why you chose this certain IOP)
The novel is set in Gilead. Gilead is a dystopian state that has replaced all of the US. In Gilead females are not considered equal. They are unable to vote and are mainly confined for their bodies. One of the main reasons Atwood writes this book is to remind people how important the feminist movement was.
…show more content…
This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary." Chapter 6
In this quote Aunt Lydia gives us one of the first signs of a dystopian society. This shows us that the society lived in now is much different than the one before Gilead. Females now need to be accustomed to the new society that has been given to them. With this quote Atwood hints the reader to keep a feminist mindset rather than being passive while reading the book.
From this quote the narrator Offred will always remember how life in Gilead will soon “become ordinary”. This statement shows the power of a dystopian totalitarian state. The quote advocates that Gilead will succeed my making people forget what a real world feels like and not by making people believe that the things being done a right.
Explanation
Paragraph

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The author offers that Handmaids Tale, “Atwood’s novels became part of a new wave of fiction writing by feminist who wrote both to entertain and to dramatize the plight of women.” He goes on about all the contributing factors that inspired the new fiction writing. He covers the plot and gives quotes from the book specifically from the women and their perceptions. He goes on to explain the different categories of women and their roles. The confinement and objectification of women are evident in the analysis. Government and religion are discussed in great detail and their part in Gilead societies. The religion influences the government entirely and women pay the price. Rape is discussed is perceived as being provoked that women ask for it. The…

    • 137 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The feelings of the ladies in Gilead is parallel to the emotions of the females in the 1960s and ‘70s. Both report to a male “guardian” who have no legal right to property or money. Also, in each society, it is difficult or forbidden for women to hold an occupation. By creating a realm of female suffrage in The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood was able to criticize the social issues of anti-feminist viewpoints that she witnessed growing up. Although women have more liberties today, the message of The Handmaid’s Tale should not be forgotten- no gender alone can run the…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    She may have very little control over some aspects of the creation of Gilead, but she ignores signs and changes which signaled the beginning of the totalitarian regime. Offred refuses to fight for her rights like her mother; therefore, she condemns her daughter to a life with very little freedom. She also accepts her circumstances and, in the end, will do anything to live another day. Offred completely contributes to the demise of free society through her actions, or lack thereof. Margaret Atwood uses Offred as an example of the results of apathy. She does not want us to make the same mistakes as Offred and then live in a world with no freedom. Atwood wants us to be aware of proposed laws or legislation that could limit the rights of both men and women. She challenges us to always stand up for our rights and never take them for granted. Atwood wants people to know that they can make a difference, even if the penalty is death. Freedom is worth…

    • 1590 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “The beginning of the feminist movement in the 1960s changed her attitude toward a self-destructive mindset that she later labeled a "post-Romantic collective delusion” (“The Handmaid’s Tale”).…

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The novel, The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood focuses on the choices made by the society of Gilead in which the preservation and imprisionmeny of mankind is more highly regarded than freedom or happiness. I think that Ms. Atwood believes that the possibility of our society becoming as that of Gilead is very evident in the choices that we make today and from what has occurred…

    • 2095 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    By studying the major characters in a text, readers are able to get a better understanding of the authors own view and meaning behind their construction. This text explores the effects of the creation of a patriarchal society such as Gilead from a first-person point of view that elicits the reader’s sympathy. Offred’s tale is used as a criticism of women’s oppression, in Offred’s flashback to the time before Gilead was created, we learn how the Gilead regime took away women’s financial independence. In the space of a single day, Offred is denied the right to work and to access her financial assets, this immediately demotes Offred and all other women to the status of second-class citizens, making them dependent on the men who now control all household income, “something had shifted some balance, I felt shrunken…He doesn’t mind this he doesn’t mind it at all. Maybe he even likes it. We are not each other’s, anymore. Instead I am his.” Reading these quotes as a feminist I feel sorry for Offred as she becomes a character the reader grows a close bond to throughout the novel. While reading the text we learn that Offred was a successful educated woman with a career able to look after herself, the idea that she would need to rely on a man for financial stability even one that she loved upset me and the fact that this all happened in the period of only a day shows how easily…

    • 357 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood takes place in the Republic of Gilead, in which women are placed in certain groups and stripped of their identity. Gilead focuses on bringing back old religious aspects into life by dividing individuals into biblical groups. The women especially the main character Offred is completely stripped of her name and possessions as well as being forced to not be able to talk, read, or write. In Handmaids Tale, by Margaret Atwood, the government of Gilead uses religious fear tactics in order to turn women against each other and strengthen their power.…

    • 620 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood depicts a dystopian society where the United States has been taken over by a monotheocracy and transformed into the country of Gilead. The majority of the woman in this society have been split into three basic categories: Wives, Marthas, and Handmaids. There are also Econowives, Aunts, and Unwomen. The main character, Offred, is a Handmaid. The Handmaids’ sole purpose in this society is to provide babies for powerful households where the wives are deemed infertile. Throughout the novel a struggle can be sensed between most of the women. In The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood demonstrates the way that oppressors will use tension between minoritized groups to distract from their oppression.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Handmaid's Tale

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In The Handmaid’s Tale, the issue of infertility prompts the establishment of Gilead, a totalitarian regime which abuses its power in…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women got stripped of their voices and were left with nothing to say. The situation turned into mindless people having meaningless conversations. The definition of words were also changed from before Gilead. Women had to try and keep up and learn what everything means now that their world changed completely. Atwood uses language to show how Gilead takes away the woman's identity.…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Gilead there were many women that were willing to be Aunts; either for traditional values or for the benefits they would require. They would be given a position of command over other woman. Even Serena Joy, who has no power in the world of men, wants to feel that she is in control over something, her household and her tyranny over Offred, to make her feel important, even though her power doesn't really exist; “She likes to keep him waiting”. Serena Joy also wants to have control over the handmaid; “if I get trouble, I'll give troube back.” She jealously guards what little power she has and wields it…

    • 719 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Handmaid's Tale

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages

    For centuries, “the pen is mightier than the sword” has been the adage du jour. Words do more damage than swords, spreading ideas instead of killing people. One dangerous little idea, passed among individuals, does more damage than any blade could ever do; few armies can hold out against strong ideas. In the state of Gilead, words mean everything, and they have the ultimate power. The women in Margaret Atwoods’ dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale have very limited avenues of communication. Of course they can speak amongst themselves somewhat; there are certain greeting rituals they perform whenever they meet, and sometimes they are allowed to respond to direct questions. But they are forbidden from reading and writing, identifying stores by the various pictures of the stores’ fare instead of by written names. The only contact with the written word that is allowed is during household ceremonies, where the man of the house reads a passage of the Bible. In tandem with this, the women are fed an endless cycle of ideas and words delineating what their roles are in this Gileadean society; whether Econowife, Handmaid, Martha, or even a Wife, women are exposed only to the propaganda drilled into them by the ruling male class. In the world of The Handmaid’s Tale, language and verbal communication are the manifestations of power, representing to the women both a tool of repression and an aspect of freedom.…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This shows that Offred sees her writing as a rebellion to Gilead, even if she is writing to no one. Gilead tries to keep all women quiet, but her writing this book,…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The novel also portrays a government which is lacking a distinct line separating church and state. Gilead used theological beliefs to back up their laws, which made it more difficult for people to stand up against them. The reader sees a clear picture of what a totalitarian government may look like and in order for there to be a totalitarian stance, a large group of people will suffer greatly. The lesson taken away from The Handmaid’s Tale is that while change within a government and politics is a good thing, a drastic “all or none” approach leads to inequality, hatred, violence and…

    • 1585 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Memory - Handmaid's Tale

    • 1824 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Memory and its loss is one of the main characteristics of dystopian literature. This concept is essential for writers to effectively portray the way in which a totalitarian state attempts to gain absolute control over society through the psychological manipulation of its citizens. In the dystopian novel, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, Margaret Atwood discusses the important issue of women’s rights, by offering a strong feminist vision in order to warn its readers, especially women, not to take their rights for granted and to appreciate them since they could be very easily lost. In fact, at that time certain religious fundamentalists were advocating a reversal of such rights since some believed that these were posing a threat to society’s traditional values. The importance of memory comes out very clearly in this post-modern novel, since the first-person narrative of Offred, a Handmaid in Gilead, gives the reader an insight of her stream of consciousness, which not only presents us with her current situation but which also presents us with several memories from the past. In fact, a major part of this novel seems to be based upon these memories which are often divided into two; her recent past, which deals with the time in which Gilead first came into being, and her distant past, which deals with the time in which Gilead still did not exist. As a result, the whole novel is presented to us in an achronological order, based on time-shifts in which the reader is being constantly thrown backwards and forwards in time.…

    • 1824 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays