The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

Ottawa native Margaret Atwood, born in 1939, is a famous author known for her works of feminism, where she often questions herself about being a “true feminist” as she shows feminism is a different manner. This is something that is clear to see in one of her more famous novels titled The Handmaid’s Tale which has raised a lot of question over whether this book is actually intended to be a feminist novel or not. According to the author herself, the answer is no, this book is not meant to highlight feminism, but rather to enhance the troubles that women might face through a hyperbolized dystopia known as Gilead. Rather, this novel covers multiple issues that have the ability to be discussed in depth in a school setting, allowing it to serve educational
This develops the idea that present actions can create an unknown future that is unable to be changed. Atwood does this for educational purposes to enhance the downward spiral that our society could fall into. Issues such as polygamy, gender roles, abuse of power, anarchy, and social rankings are developed through the dystopia that the novel is based around. Everybody is forced to where a different colour based on social ranking, forced to follow a specific role, and cut off from their old lives. Polygamy is exaggerated through the commanders, the men who rule the house, are given several women who all serve different purposes, whether it be “wifely duties” such as cooking and cleaning, having babies, or raising these babies. Gender roles are also established throughout these roles that each member of the household is given, based off of the colour that they are assigned. These colours ultimately establish the social ranking as you are treated with a certain level of respect based off of the colour that you wear. The plot of the story is organized in an order that allows each of these issues to come in at the right time, allowing the exaggeration of the social quirks to flow without becoming too much for the reader to
Gender inequality is stretched with the idea of women being trained to only carry a child and then move on to have a different baby with another man. In the novel, the protagonist states that “we are containers” which is turning these women into a concrete object to symbolize the disrespect and objectification that they are facing. This is an issue that many schools would cover in some way shape or form, which is a main reason that Atwood’s novel is so respected throughout the school systems. With such a sensitive topic being so stretched to form this dystopia, it allows teachers to highlight the importance of gender equality and the issues that many women face, although they might not be as bad as what Atwood portrays them as, they still exist in our society and degrading women in such a way can lead to further more advanced problems. When Offered is describing her previous life, she elaborates on issues that she faced as a women that would be more realistic within our society such as “don’t open your door to a stranger, don’t stop on the side of the road to help a motorist pretending to be in trouble, keep the locks on the door, if anyone whistles don’t turn and look, don’t go into a laundromat by yourself at night, and don’t jog at night or by yourself” to