A Handmaidens Tale takes place the near future from when it was written in the early 1980’s and portrays a dystopian society which has evolved from a movement to return to more traditional roles for women and men based on the patriarchal structure of the Bible. Through a violent coup, blamed on Islamic extremist, the President, and Congress are killed, the Constitution suspended, the central government is essentially abolished and the military takes control, slowly censoring the news sources, and eventually transforming into a theocracy. Is there any realistic possibility of events like the text happing in America today given the current social, economic and political realities? Atwood describes The Handmaidens Tale as speculative fiction,
…show more content…
I now have a large clippings file of stories supporting the contentions in the book. In other words, there isn 't anything in the book not based on something that has already happened in history or in another country, or for which actual supporting documentation is not already available.”(Random House for High School Teachers). In this same interview, Atwood says that Gilead is a regression to the Puritan period and the text represents that with present-day characteristics. She states the Puritans did not only come to escape religious persecution but to establish a theocracy where dissent would be dealt with harshly. (Random House for High School Teachers) Much like we see in Gilead, Moira’s beating after her attempted escape and the “Salvaging” are examples of this. Additionally, at the time the Text was written, there was a backlash against the feminist movement. With the election of Ronald Reagan, conservatives began attempting to dismantle the gains made by the feminist movement through the political objections and negative context of the Equal Rights Amendment, the legal fight over Row V.s Wade and the religious rights gain in popularity as with Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority organization (Johnson Lewis). Atwood creates Gilead as a continuation of the tone and social movements of the time. The Character of Serena Joy and the …show more content…
Would you say, "I 'm a socialist and we 're all going to be equal"? No, you would not, because it wouldn 't work. Would you say, "I 'm a liberal and we are going to have a society of multiple tolerations"? You probably wouldn 't say that if you wanted mass support. You would be much more likely to say, "I have the word from God and this is the way we should run things."” (Random House for High School Teachers) In this quote, Atwood speaks to the probable path to the overthrow of the democratically elected government in the United States. Even though there is a separation of church and State, we are historical and cultural a Christian country. The faith and beliefs of Christendom can be more binding than that of any political party. We have seen more vulnerable countries with weaker democratic institutions recently fall to religious fundamental movements, The Islamic rebellion in Iran, the disabling affect the ISIS is having in the Middle-East. Is example of religious bases political movement in the 20th century? The formation of the Islamic State of Afghanistan is somewhat different. The democratic government was overthrown by Communist and the citizens revolted, the Soviet –Afghan war ensued and radical Islam filled the power vacuum created. ( "A Historical Timeline of Afghanistan." PBS) At wood gives us a glimpse of what a radical Christian revolution may look like with the formation of Gilead, as
I now have a large clippings file of stories supporting the contentions in the book. In other words, there isn 't anything in the book not based on something that has already happened in history or in another country, or for which actual supporting documentation is not already available.”(Random House for High School Teachers). In this same interview, Atwood says that Gilead is a regression to the Puritan period and the text represents that with present-day characteristics. She states the Puritans did not only come to escape religious persecution but to establish a theocracy where dissent would be dealt with harshly. (Random House for High School Teachers) Much like we see in Gilead, Moira’s beating after her attempted escape and the “Salvaging” are examples of this. Additionally, at the time the Text was written, there was a backlash against the feminist movement. With the election of Ronald Reagan, conservatives began attempting to dismantle the gains made by the feminist movement through the political objections and negative context of the Equal Rights Amendment, the legal fight over Row V.s Wade and the religious rights gain in popularity as with Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority organization (Johnson Lewis). Atwood creates Gilead as a continuation of the tone and social movements of the time. The Character of Serena Joy and the …show more content…
Would you say, "I 'm a socialist and we 're all going to be equal"? No, you would not, because it wouldn 't work. Would you say, "I 'm a liberal and we are going to have a society of multiple tolerations"? You probably wouldn 't say that if you wanted mass support. You would be much more likely to say, "I have the word from God and this is the way we should run things."” (Random House for High School Teachers) In this quote, Atwood speaks to the probable path to the overthrow of the democratically elected government in the United States. Even though there is a separation of church and State, we are historical and cultural a Christian country. The faith and beliefs of Christendom can be more binding than that of any political party. We have seen more vulnerable countries with weaker democratic institutions recently fall to religious fundamental movements, The Islamic rebellion in Iran, the disabling affect the ISIS is having in the Middle-East. Is example of religious bases political movement in the 20th century? The formation of the Islamic State of Afghanistan is somewhat different. The democratic government was overthrown by Communist and the citizens revolted, the Soviet –Afghan war ensued and radical Islam filled the power vacuum created. ( "A Historical Timeline of Afghanistan." PBS) At wood gives us a glimpse of what a radical Christian revolution may look like with the formation of Gilead, as