Privacy In The Handmaid's Tale

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The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood shows an imaginative attempt to conceive a future where women have lost their autonomy and rights, and where the American government is run by conservative moral and religious ideals. Atwood creates a dystopian story which frames itself through Michel Foucault’s Panopticon. The panoptic establishment relies upon complete visibility, a hierarchical organization of power, and an enclosed space. These three concepts are all prevalent throughout the novel. The lack of privacy is shown through Offred’s inability to lock her door, and the class of the Eyes. The hierarchy can be seen in the patriarchal organization of the classes. In this system the Eyes have the most power as they are the one’s who watch and …show more content…
This permanent state of visibility stems from the idea that a person in charge is always capable of watching someone’s actions. This is seen most prevalently through the constant observation and lack of privacy of the Handmaids. The narrator, Offred, states: “The door of the room- not my room, I refuse to say my- is not locked. In fact it doesn’t shut properly” (Atwood 8). This is one of the first signs that the females do not have any privacy. The lack of ability to close their own doors corresponds to the Panopticon environment where people are under constant surveillance. This constant surveillance and visibility also means that people are more likely to censor themselves. This can be seen in the early interactions between Offred and Ofglen. Offred is afraid to say anything outside of the allowed phrases as she fears retribution. She states, “The truth is she is my spy and I am hers… During these walks she has never said anything that was not strictly orthodox, but then, neither have I. She may be a real believer, a Handmaid in more than name. I can’t take the risk” (Atwood 19). This practice of self-policing is important for the panoptic structure. The characters know that their actions are being watched and recorded by the Eyes and by the true believers of the movement. This means that though Offred does not …show more content…
This is because the Panopticon is “this enclosed, segmented space, observed at every point, in which the individuals are inserted at a fixed point, in which the slightest movements are supervised, in which all events are recorded” (Foucault 2). Once again, this shows that visibility is the most important the panoptic environment, and that can only happen if the subjects are contained and observed, similar to a

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