When reading The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood capitalizes on the uses and misuses of language in Gilead, as well as our society. In the book, she demonstrates that language is vital for any form of power, whether in the privacy of a bedroom, or in the public streets of the republic. Atwood demonstrates how language can undermine the human condition, namely self identity, community and self expression. However, the use of language that can enrich lives, can revitalize memories or communities and redefine what it means to be an individual. Essentially, as shown in the novel, language and power are very much connected, because authority can silence and restrain. To translate any sense of isolation to solidarity in Gilead, is a hopeless venture.
