Essay question: The handmaid’s tale reveals that people are controlled by fear, abasement, and ignorance. Assess the validity of this statement.
Arguments:
1. The regime is taking away any means of education other than the education they wish for the women to learn. Reading and writing are banned in order to maintain an ignorant population, Knowledge is power….critical thinking
2. By making the women ignorant, it shows how complacent the women have become. (which in a way reflects the success of the regime)
3. The regime uses fear as a powerful tool to manipulate the people of Gilead.
4. Abasement- The regime strips away the women’s identity – their families, their memories, their names, it is all taken away… The testifying
I am Ofglen," …show more content…
Fear is ever present in Gilead and it is implemented through various different ways, including violence and force. The bodies hanging outside are a ruthless reminder that all those who wish to revolt or engage in any dispute against the society will suffer the same fate. This abuse of power is also existent in the novel when the reader learns that Moira, Offred’s best friend, and fellow handmaid in training, has to face extreme consequences for her failed escape attempt from the red center. Offred conveys “They didn’t care what they did to your feet and hands, even if it was permanent…Moira lay on her bed, an example” (104, Atwood), Moira was taken to the science lab where she gets her feet beaten with steel frayed wires and is then left on her bed, she cannot walk for a week and her feet are swollen and deformed. She is an example of the cruel and inhumane consequences that rebelling will result in, which reflects the Regime’s ability to manipulate individuals by letting not just the women but the people within the society know that any contradictory action towards the regime will result in these harsh
Arguments:
1. The regime is taking away any means of education other than the education they wish for the women to learn. Reading and writing are banned in order to maintain an ignorant population, Knowledge is power….critical thinking
2. By making the women ignorant, it shows how complacent the women have become. (which in a way reflects the success of the regime)
3. The regime uses fear as a powerful tool to manipulate the people of Gilead.
4. Abasement- The regime strips away the women’s identity – their families, their memories, their names, it is all taken away… The testifying
I am Ofglen," …show more content…
Fear is ever present in Gilead and it is implemented through various different ways, including violence and force. The bodies hanging outside are a ruthless reminder that all those who wish to revolt or engage in any dispute against the society will suffer the same fate. This abuse of power is also existent in the novel when the reader learns that Moira, Offred’s best friend, and fellow handmaid in training, has to face extreme consequences for her failed escape attempt from the red center. Offred conveys “They didn’t care what they did to your feet and hands, even if it was permanent…Moira lay on her bed, an example” (104, Atwood), Moira was taken to the science lab where she gets her feet beaten with steel frayed wires and is then left on her bed, she cannot walk for a week and her feet are swollen and deformed. She is an example of the cruel and inhumane consequences that rebelling will result in, which reflects the Regime’s ability to manipulate individuals by letting not just the women but the people within the society know that any contradictory action towards the regime will result in these harsh