Examples Of Power In The Handmaid's Tale

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 Martha’s or Handmaid’s, which had different jobs that they had to fulfill. They had to wear certain clothes that showed no skin, they had to walk by two’s to the stores, and were not allowed to read or write. “ You can see the place, under the lily, where the lettering was painted out, when they decided that even the names of shops were too much temptation for us.” (pg.25)In order to go to the store, they had pictures of the food on the side of stores and on paper in order to know what food to …show more content…
They started telling each other secrets and they were almost like friends which was unusual in Gilead because there wasn’t a lot of talking allowed. One day, while Offred was suppose to meet Ofglen to walk to the store, she did not show. Instead it was a different “Ofglen.” This took Offred by surprise, but she knew what it meant. Ofglen had killed herself before the Eyes had gotten to her. “ I feel, for the first time, their true power.”(pg.286) People were now killing themselves instead of wondering what would happen to them. By this time, Offred felt the governments true power, and she went to the Eyes with almost no remorse. Power is a hard thing to control, and often gets out of hand faster than anyone can handle. We have to be careful who we give the power to. If it ends up in the wrong hands, our society will be destroyed, like Gileads. We have to make sure we use power for the greater good, and not the