The Handmaid's Tale Research Paper

The Handmaid’s Tale The Handmaid’s Tale is a science fiction novel written by Margaret Atwood in 1983. Margaret Atwood is a Canadian author who is most known for writing the books The Edible Woman, The Robber Bride, and Alias Grace (Atwood, 1983, p.311). The Handmaid’s Tale takes place in a world where the United States has been overthrown and replaced by a new nation called Gilead. Gilead is a place where women have been subjected to a new role in society. They are no longer allowed to have a job or do a lot of things that they used to be able to do (Atwood, 1983, pp. 23-24). In this society, the main character, Offred, has to go through many hardships and tough situations throughout this novel. In these hardships, there are many psychological concepts that are also present throughout the novel. To begin, Offred is the main character of this story. She tells the reader that Offred is not her real name and that her real name has to be kept a secret. All handmaid’s names have to do with the name of the man they are assigned. Offred is 33 years old, she has brown hair, and she is five feet and seven inches tall (Atwood, 1983, p. 143). She is a typical women her age. However, there is nothing …show more content…
The first role that a women can be in is a wife. Wives that are married to the men generally wear the blue to reflect their role. The second role in society for women is a Martha. Marthas are domestic servants and wear the color green to reflect their role. The third role for women in society is to be a handmaid. Handmaid’s wear the color red to reflect their role in society. This is the role of Offred in this novel (Atwood, 1983, p.23). In this novel many wives have gone infertile due to pollution and diseases. Because of this, many women that are fertile are forced to have sex with the men in order to further continue the human race. This is the role of Offred in this story. She is only used for her ovaries (Atwood, 1983, p.