A young woman walks down the street, completely covered in cloth from head to toe. As a female, she is considered beneath all of the men around her. She is only permitted to leave the house under certain restrictions, such as retrieving groceries. Most importantly, conceiving a child is considered the most valuable contribution she can make to society. While the scenario sounds familiar, she surprisingly does not reside in Gilead. As a dystopian novel, “A Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood delivers the genre justice by warning it’s readers over the regressive society they could possibly live in. A few countries located in the Middle East seem to have emulated the structure of the fictitious society. On the other side of the globe, the book
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There are notable parallels between the formation of the Republic of Gilead and the current state of Iran. Both countries drastically changed their governing policies through a religious influence. In the beginning of the book, Atwood describes the downfall of the United States and the shift of attitudes towards women: “Women were not protected then. I remember the rules, rules that were not spelled out but that every women knew: Don’t open your door to a stranger. . .Don’t go into a laundromat by yourself at night” (Atwood 24). One major difference Atwood described was how women in Gilead are now considered protected. On the surface, it may seem beneficial that citizens are going out of their way to protect women. However, protection essentially leads the women to become objectified, with men seeing fertile women as valuables rather than people. Since the Iranian Islamic revolution beginning in 1978, it led for a complete shift in roles for women. The government rewrote laws to force women out of the workforce, being seen as incapable to have a job. Both of these changes happened because of religious fundamentalism. Gilead formed due to religious influence from a skewed from of Christianity. Similarly, the Iranian Islamic revolution occurred due to a dictator excusing Islam as the reason for the regressive …show more content…
“Many of the Wives have such gardens, it's something for them to order and maintain and care for. . .I once had a garden. I can remember the smell of the turned earth, the plump shapes of bulbs held in the hands, fullness, the dry rustle of seeds through the fingers” (Atwood 27). On the surface, Offred seems to simply reminiscent on when she had her own garden before the rise of Gilead. However, Atwood is using the word “garden” as underlying meaning for something else. When someone maintains a garden, they grow all of their plants on their own. The plants in a garden are supposed to represent a woman’s children, who they grow and nurture on their own. Now that Offred has lost her garden, servants are now taking control of the garden. It essentially symbolizes how society is taking control of what Offred does with her
There are notable parallels between the formation of the Republic of Gilead and the current state of Iran. Both countries drastically changed their governing policies through a religious influence. In the beginning of the book, Atwood describes the downfall of the United States and the shift of attitudes towards women: “Women were not protected then. I remember the rules, rules that were not spelled out but that every women knew: Don’t open your door to a stranger. . .Don’t go into a laundromat by yourself at night” (Atwood 24). One major difference Atwood described was how women in Gilead are now considered protected. On the surface, it may seem beneficial that citizens are going out of their way to protect women. However, protection essentially leads the women to become objectified, with men seeing fertile women as valuables rather than people. Since the Iranian Islamic revolution beginning in 1978, it led for a complete shift in roles for women. The government rewrote laws to force women out of the workforce, being seen as incapable to have a job. Both of these changes happened because of religious fundamentalism. Gilead formed due to religious influence from a skewed from of Christianity. Similarly, the Iranian Islamic revolution occurred due to a dictator excusing Islam as the reason for the regressive …show more content…
“Many of the Wives have such gardens, it's something for them to order and maintain and care for. . .I once had a garden. I can remember the smell of the turned earth, the plump shapes of bulbs held in the hands, fullness, the dry rustle of seeds through the fingers” (Atwood 27). On the surface, Offred seems to simply reminiscent on when she had her own garden before the rise of Gilead. However, Atwood is using the word “garden” as underlying meaning for something else. When someone maintains a garden, they grow all of their plants on their own. The plants in a garden are supposed to represent a woman’s children, who they grow and nurture on their own. Now that Offred has lost her garden, servants are now taking control of the garden. It essentially symbolizes how society is taking control of what Offred does with her