Gilead

Margaret Atwood did not set out to be a “feminist author”. Despite this, her books are seen as some of the most significant and relevant feminist novels of the twentieth century. Atwood has accepted her reputation as a feminist author, but has said that many of her books are actually pointing out other significant societal issues as well, such as those of environment, religion, and race. Atwood’s mash-ups of reality are always going to be considered feminist, she says, because they contain real…

Atwood, in the dystopian society of Gilead, the oppressive system forces its citizens to follow assigned roles and rules by being highly critical and manipulative. Throughout the story, Atwoods presents the characters through a series of events which show the impacts on the society. The characterization of Offred, the Aunts, Janine and the other Handmaids reveals how an oppressive community leads to women objectifying themselves. Throughout the story, women in Gilead live under strict rules…

down some paths we are going. One of the main issues Atwood shows in this book was fertility and how important it is to the town of Gilead. Men have most of the power in this world and women are doing all the “typical” women roles. Women are not valued for the right reasons in Gilead, I think they are being used for their ability to reproduce. In the town of Gilead, fertility is big issue. Fertility is what the world is focused on in this story and fertile women are only wanted for their…

In the world before Gilead, Offred felt uncomfortable with her mother’s feministic ways, and she had an affair with a married man named Luke. Luke then divorced his wife and married her, and they had a child together. When Gilead started they took their daughter as they tryed to escape across the border into Canada. Instead, they were caught and Offred hasn’t seen her husband or daughter since. After her capture, she continues to mentally resist Gilead, but she submits to Gilead. Afterwards,…

In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, crisis is upon them: the population is declining and there are very few fertile people in Gilead. Consequently, the women in the novel are reduced to their reproductive ability and categorized based on that. In the article that is written by Jennifer Wagner-Lawlor, she discusses the ironies that are present in the novel. There is a freedom from dangers where women are helpless, but there is also the freedom from being legitimately free.…

intentionally. This whole society of Gilead is based on principles from the story of Jacob, Rachel, Leah, their servants , and the arrangement they had. Rachel was unable to have children, and so she had Jacob sleep with her servant Bilah, so that she could bear a child for him. Jacob then did the same thing with Leah’s (Rachel’s sister) servant. The servants were then able to bear children for them. And thus the system of using Handmaid’s is established. Gilead is a male dominated society where…

themselves to have a great status such as wealth where as some others come unfortunate and have the status of gay and lesbian which as the republic of Gilead does not accept and also many societies today. The types of statuses include having a superior religion, Being LGBT and finally jobs that women had. Religion is a very important factor in the society of Gilead, they respect it a lot and from that society we learn that they are Christians because they refer to the book “bible” (Atwood 206)…

which connects to how its a form of charity and self sacrifice towards not only the Commander and his wife but also Gilead as a whole showing Offred’s selfless and giving character traits to the readers. The simile which connects egg to look “like woman's torso” which symbolizes egg to be a symbol of fertility and birth emphasizing Handmaid's such as Offred’s role they play in the Gilead society. This shows the readers how Offred’s worth and value have been only valued by the society only…

Power is the first word that comes to my mind when I think of The Handmaid’s Tale. This whole story is based off the power of the government and what they did to Gilead. They wanted women to stay “safe” and protected. When given power, even the nicest of people with take advantage of it because everyone likes to feel like they’re in control of something. The men were given all the power, while the women were controlled like puppets. The women were separated into different groups such as…

In the Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, there is a presence of extreme feminism as compared to the Gilead regime. The men are in leadership positions of the regime with them fulfilling roles such as Commanders, Eyes and Guardians. Due to the gender roles described in this book, it can be argued that it is an extremely misogynistic and patriarchal society and that there is an absence in feminism. However, radical feminism is established throughout this society. It leads to the establishment…