In a striking novel of a society that has had to grow and adjust to the threat of ending due to a sexually transmitted disease that denies women the ability to conceive, Margaret Atwood takes up writing a fictional dystopia of how our society would one day turn out to be under the same circumstances. In this totalitarian theocracy, a female’s status is assigned to her by the Republic of Gilead. This government is categorized as such for its “regime that reduces its female subjects to mere voiceless, childbearing vessels [in the name of God] … vividly display[ing] the dehumanizing effects of ideological rhetoric, biological reductionism, and linguistic manipulation.” (Jeffrey and Hunter 1) In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, the importance of
…show more content…
“The Republic of Gilead defines the Handmaid’s solely in terms of the condition of their ovaries, commodifying them as objectified livestock with the sole purpose of repopulating North America.” (Hogsette 264) Considering the circumstances that the country has to undergo, it is vital for a woman to be able to reproduce and repopulate but in this community it is taken to an extreme when women have to be used as sex slaves and vessels instead of just human beings. Still, in the sector of the government that controls reproduction in the community, it is biased towards males. “‘Most of those old guys can 't make it anymore,’ he says. ‘Or they’re sterile.’ … There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, not officially.” (Atwood 61) It is obvious here when the doctor explains to Offred how the commanders are never blamed for any faults in reproduction how biased the government is towards men. Although it is rather clear to see that a majority of the problem with conception comes from their age and lack of ability to provide sperm. The government tries to protect the commanders as much as possible, it never sends them to doctor check-ups and always keeps sending handmaids accusing the women of their failure in conception. Handmaids are allowed up to three houses, if by their third house they do not conceive a child, they are sent to the Colonies with the rest of the unwomen to clean up toxic waste until they eventually die. Men in Gilead are praised whereas women are torn down. Even in the smallest ways Gilead protects the men, they give them small stupid jobs such as driving the commanders’ car, rather than getting rid of them. In some way, Gilead views women as dispensable, although they are the only hope for creating a new future and keeping the country
“The Republic of Gilead defines the Handmaid’s solely in terms of the condition of their ovaries, commodifying them as objectified livestock with the sole purpose of repopulating North America.” (Hogsette 264) Considering the circumstances that the country has to undergo, it is vital for a woman to be able to reproduce and repopulate but in this community it is taken to an extreme when women have to be used as sex slaves and vessels instead of just human beings. Still, in the sector of the government that controls reproduction in the community, it is biased towards males. “‘Most of those old guys can 't make it anymore,’ he says. ‘Or they’re sterile.’ … There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, not officially.” (Atwood 61) It is obvious here when the doctor explains to Offred how the commanders are never blamed for any faults in reproduction how biased the government is towards men. Although it is rather clear to see that a majority of the problem with conception comes from their age and lack of ability to provide sperm. The government tries to protect the commanders as much as possible, it never sends them to doctor check-ups and always keeps sending handmaids accusing the women of their failure in conception. Handmaids are allowed up to three houses, if by their third house they do not conceive a child, they are sent to the Colonies with the rest of the unwomen to clean up toxic waste until they eventually die. Men in Gilead are praised whereas women are torn down. Even in the smallest ways Gilead protects the men, they give them small stupid jobs such as driving the commanders’ car, rather than getting rid of them. In some way, Gilead views women as dispensable, although they are the only hope for creating a new future and keeping the country