Final Post

Part of what makes The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, so alluring is that it explores issues central to our society today. Atwood's book is based in ideas of feminism—or rather, feminism gone wrong. Before Gilead, Offred's world was very much like ours, in which sexism was rampant. The Commander described to Offred the reasons for the establishment of their new republic:
           "Don't you remember the singles' bars, the indignity of high school dates? The meat market. Don't you remember the terrible gap between the ones who could get a man easily and the ones who couldn't? Some of them were desperate, they starved themselves thin or pumped their breasts full of silicone, had their noses cut off. Think of the human misery" (283-284).
Today, we are plagued by such issues, and as women (and men) struggle to achieve beauty and express their sexuality, the result is often issues such as rape, condescension, and prejudice. It seems that a society in which these problems are eliminated would be a utopia; however, Gilead is clearly much worse than America's current state. Gilead was formed not only on the ideals of feminism, but also on conservative Christianity, which seems to be where much of the trouble stems from. Through this, Atwood suggests that using religion for governmental control leads to injustice and oppression. Throughout history, religion has often been used to control the masses, such as the caste system with Hindus in India. In this way, some of the citizens of Gilead don't just simply their government; they believe in the religious fundamentals behind it. Because of this possibility, Offred and the other rebellious Handmaids must use the utmost caution when speaking to others. When thinking about Ofglen, her walking partner, Offred states that "she has never said anything that wasn't strictly orthodox...she may be a real believer, a Handmaid in more than name" (26). Offred's afraid that Ofglen's possible loyalty to her religion may prompt her to report Offred to the government for inappropriate behavior.

Another subtler theme that connects in with the idea of totalitarian control is that people can be easily controlled and restricted if given some small semblance of power. In my third post, I discussed how Offred copes with her restricted life through remembering the past and maintaining her femininity with buttering. Eventually, through sleeping with Nick, Offred grows even more comfortable about her new life: "I no longer want to leave, escape, cross the border to freedom. I want to be here, with Nick, where I can get him" (348). By feeling like she has enough control to break the law and sleep with someone, she's found a parallel to her old reality, and accepts the new one.

I also wrote about Moira, the spunky, independent character who took charge of her own life. Eventually, she grew lazy in fighting back, and accepted the small amount of power she was given as a prostitute at Jezebel's. This lack of fight startles Offred, and made her lose hope for the future: "she is frightening me now,  because what I hear in her voice is indifference, a lack of volition. Have they really done it to her then, taken away something—what?—that used to be so central to her?"(324). This also shows how humans are incapable of resisting oppression indefinitely: if there's no end in sight, sooner or later, one will give in to others' control.

In reading this book, I used the wisdom of the writers we've studied in class to help decode Atwood's meaning. Perhaps the most important skill I utilized was to read word-by-word and pay attention to details. I was careful to notice Atwood's word choice, which helped me to pick up on patterns in her structure and diction. Atwood uses many words with associations to fertility, such as through flowers, eggs, and vessels. Reading closely also helped me to isolate key passages in which her tone or structure shifted, which yielded quite a few quotes to use for my blog posts.

I definitely recommend this book. I was a bit skeptical at first: the topics of sexism, feminism, religion, and totalitarian governments conjure ideas of heavy, pedantic, and overly complex text. However, Atwood brilliantly weaves her themes into an intriguing dystopian science fiction tale. She whisked me away into a world of red and blue dresses, of tulips and Lily of the Valley, of forced greetings and hidden names. The first person narrative from Offred's perspective places the reader directly into the story, and Atwood's tone is candid and personal so one can easily get caught up in the plot and poetic language without being halted by confusing wording. Furthermore, the political themes are illustrated from an individual perspective, so the book doesn't feel overly focused on politics or government. The characters are also highly developed—I fell in love with Moira, the spunky rebellious lesbian, and loved reading Offred's flashbacks to their moments before Gilead. Personally, as a lover of plot and characters, this book was perfect for me.