Essay about Dystopia Society in the Handmaid´s Tale by...

In Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood writes about a dystopia society. Atwood used situations that were happening during the time she began writing her novel, for example, women’s rights, politics, and in religious aspects. Atwood’s novel is relevant to contemporary society. There are similarities between Atwood’s novel and our society today, which lends to the possibility that our modern society might be headed to a less intense version of this dystopia society. In the novel Atwood writes how Offred the main character transitions from her life before to a Handmaid. Offred wasn’t her real name but the name that was given to her when the Gilead society formed. Prior to the Gilead forming Offred lived with her husband and†¦show more content†¦In the Gilead society the handmaids have to cover up their bodies, wear long dresses, and cover their faces with vial’s and wings. These rules for the women are the same if not similar in Afghanistan, India, and some south Asian countries. In Pakistan women can be raped and if no evidence is found to prove it was rape the men could get away with it and the women could be charged with pre-marital sex and sentence to prison. This is similar in The Handmaid’s Tale; the handmaids go through â€Å"the ceremony† as they call it. The handmaids had to lay on their backs once a month in hope to become impregnated by the commander. The handmaids are valued only for their womb, ov aries, and reproducing. If their ovaries were no good or if they couldn’t have children for any other reason, then the handmaid was not valued or not needed and was sent to â€Å"the club† where all the unclean, no use of handmaids are. The handmaids with valuable ovaries are alive only to serve a purpose which is to reproduce. The women in Gilead have no rights. They have to obey the rules and commands that are given by the commanders in charge or from the Aunts who also get their orders from the commander. They are forbidden to read and write. The handmaids are allowed to leave the home of the commander and his wife once a day to go to the market. Iranian women were subjected to similar laws to those in Gilead. Iranian women are not allowed to choose or control various aspectsShow MoreRelatedThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1249 Words   |  5 PagesDystopian Research Essay: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood In the words of Erika Gottlieb With control of the past comes domination of the future. A dystopia reflects and discusses major tendencies in contemporary society. The Handmaid s Tale is a dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood in 1985. The novel follows its protagonist Offred as she lives in a society focused on physical and spiritual oppression of the female identity. Within The Handmaid s Tale it is evident that through the explorationRead MoreMargaret Atwood s The Handmaid s Tale Essay1309 Words   |  6 Pagesmeans worse, for some† (Atwood 211). Almost all attempts at a utopia eventually evolve into a dystopia because of the class that ends up being oppressed. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, this is exactly the case, and the oppressed caste is the handmaids. The United States has been transformed into The Republic of Gilead. This change was stimulated by the increase in rape and violence against women, as well as the dropping fertility rates. The story begins with a handmaid named Offred. She hasRead MoreThe Handmaids Tale By Margaret Atwood And Catching Fire By Suzanne Collins1522 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Dystopia is an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad typically in a totalitarian or an environmentally degraded one† (www.oxforddictionaries.com).The text, The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins deal with the main idea of societal restraint. Both authors portray a protagonist who is living in a totalitarian society. The protagonists in both novels have harsh limitations which they must abide to. The authors use setting, oppression, andRead MoreLiterary Analysis of the Handmaids Tale1863 Words   |  8 PagesOppressive 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’sRead MoreCritical Analysis Of The Handmaids Tale1229 Words   |  5 Pagesin my head.† In Margaret Atwood’s futuristic dystopia The Handmaid’s Tale, a woman named Offred feels she is losing control over everything in her life. Offred lives in the Republic of Gilead. A group of fundamentalists create the Republic of Gilead after they murder the President of the United States and members of Congress. The fundamentalists use the power to their advantage and restrict women†™s freedom. As a result, each woman is assigned a specific duty to perform in society. Offred’s husbandRead MoreHandmaids tale1446 Words   |  6 Pages3rd, 2013 Hierarchy in The HandMaid s Tale Margaret Atwood s The Handmaid s Tale is a interesting novel that will have you confused but also have you bitting your nails with intrigue. So many questions might go in your head, at the same time; Atwood wrote this novel so her readers can have curiosity, even after reading the last word of the last paragraph of the last page of the book. One of the main topics of this novel is the effect on society when a women s fate is taken away from and replacedRead MoreThe Handmaids Tale Essay1215 Words   |  5 Pagesin my head.† In Margaret Atwood’s futuristic dystopia The Handmaid’s Tale, a woman named Offred feels she is losing control over everything in her life. Offred lives in the Republic of Gilead. A group of fundamentalists create the Republic of Gilead after they murder the President of the United States and members of Congress. The fundamentalists use the power to their advantage and restrict women’s freedom. As a result, each woman is assigned a spec ific duty to perform in society. Offred’s husbandRead MoreThe Handmaids Tale1234 Words   |  5 PagesSeptember 20, 2017 The Handmaids Tale Margaret Atwood s novel, The Handmaid s Tale, is a future version of the United States. Atwood introduces Offred as a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. Handmaids are assigned to bear children for couples who have trouble conceiving. Offred serves the commander and his wife, Serena Joy. Offred s freedom is completely restricted. She can only leave the house on shopping trips, the door of her room cannot be completely shut, and the Eyes, Gilead s secret police forceRead MoreMargaret Atwood s The Handmaid s Tale Essay1624 Words   |  7 Pagesautonomy has been impaired by sexual control and dominance. By painting dystopian societies that heavily restrict reproduction and sexuality, Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, her poem A Woman’s Issue, and George Orwell’s 1984 all convey that sexual repression undermines individual identity and autonomy. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood uses her description of the Ceremony to emphasize how Gileadean society controls sex in order to manipulate its citizens and force the women of Gilead intoRead MoreMargaret Atwood s The Handmaid s Tale Essay1724 Words   |  7 PagesEnvision a society where a woman’s sole purpose for being alive is her functioning uterus. If that woman fails to bear a child she can be killed. If that woman disregards the law she can be tortured, or even terminated. In the dystopian future of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale women’s bodies are used as political instruments. Because if the harmful pollution in the United States, a new Constitution has been made to address and correct the decline in birth rates. To do this the government