Literary Analysis of the Handmaids Tale
Erica Clark
Professor Kachman
WR 121
20 February 2013
Adverse Effects of Oppressive Dystopias A genuine identity and individuality is not possible in an oppressive environment especially when one’s daily life, actions, and thoughts are dictated by domineering societal expectations. Oppressive environments such as regimes controlled by a dictatorship and that run off a totalitarian government system strip an individual of their civil rights as a human being in order to gain ultimate control over its citizens. A government such as the Republic of Gilead in Margaret Atwood’s work, The Handmaid’s Tale, controls their citizen’s lives to the extent to where they must learn to suppress their emotions and feelings. In the Republic of Gilead, the main character Offred is a handmaid, which is a fertile woman who is assigned to be a surrogate mother for a woman that is no longer fertile, but is wealthy in society. This occupation was not Offred’s choice as it is seen as a responsibility for a fertile woman to reproduce for the sake of society. Through the character Offred, Atwood demonstrates that if one chooses their own life over society then they will be liberated and gain the freedom to express themselves; however, if they choose to follow society then they will be stripped of their identity and individuality due to overwhelming societal expectations. Atwood utilizes the motif of inanimate objects such as furniture, vessel, and resource through the use of similes to highlight how Offred’s independence is robbed from her. Offred works for Serena Joy who is the Commander’s wife and thus sits at the throne of Gilead; however, she is unfertile so she hopes that Offred will make her a child even though she perceives her as a lowly human being. This is exemplified while Offred waits for Serena Joy to come talk to her one day, she views herself as she were “a piece of furniture [for Serena Joy] to steady herself on” (Atwood 79). This simile of comparing Offred to a
Professor Kachman
WR 121
20 February 2013
Adverse Effects of Oppressive Dystopias A genuine identity and individuality is not possible in an oppressive environment especially when one’s daily life, actions, and thoughts are dictated by domineering societal expectations. Oppressive environments such as regimes controlled by a dictatorship and that run off a totalitarian government system strip an individual of their civil rights as a human being in order to gain ultimate control over its citizens. A government such as the Republic of Gilead in Margaret Atwood’s work, The Handmaid’s Tale, controls their citizen’s lives to the extent to where they must learn to suppress their emotions and feelings. In the Republic of Gilead, the main character Offred is a handmaid, which is a fertile woman who is assigned to be a surrogate mother for a woman that is no longer fertile, but is wealthy in society. This occupation was not Offred’s choice as it is seen as a responsibility for a fertile woman to reproduce for the sake of society. Through the character Offred, Atwood demonstrates that if one chooses their own life over society then they will be liberated and gain the freedom to express themselves; however, if they choose to follow society then they will be stripped of their identity and individuality due to overwhelming societal expectations. Atwood utilizes the motif of inanimate objects such as furniture, vessel, and resource through the use of similes to highlight how Offred’s independence is robbed from her. Offred works for Serena Joy who is the Commander’s wife and thus sits at the throne of Gilead; however, she is unfertile so she hopes that Offred will make her a child even though she perceives her as a lowly human being. This is exemplified while Offred waits for Serena Joy to come talk to her one day, she views herself as she were “a piece of furniture [for Serena Joy] to steady herself on” (Atwood 79). This simile of comparing Offred to a
Cited: Malak, Amin. "Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and the Dystopian Tradition." Canadian Literature 112.916 (1987): 139-48. Stillman, Peter G., and Anne S. Johnson. "Identity, Complicity, and Resistance in The Handmaid 's Tale." Utopian Studies 5.2 (1994): 70-86. JSTOR. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. Feuer, Lois. "The calculus of love and nightmare: 'The Handmaid 's Tale ' and the dystopian tradition." CRITIQUE: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 38.2 (1997): 83+. General OneFile. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid 's Tale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Print.