The creation of men and women of God is considered to be equal. Amongst each other, men and women should have the same range of rights and freedom. However in society, men are predominantly seen as more superior in ranking than women. In fact, as Oscar Wilde states, “women have a much better time than men in this world; there are far more things forbidden to them” (quotery). Likewise, in countries like Saudi Arabia and Vatican City women are restricted to vote and forbidden to maneuver around without the presence of a man. Such situations grant men to have authority over women as well as making men the government’s first priority, oppressing the women’s privileges. Therefore, in The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood illustrates the government
…show more content…
The young healthy women are labeled as handmaids and are "issued" by the government to various high-ranking officials in order to offer them the opportunity to create offspring. Getting pregnant is their only hope of survival. From the beginning of the novel, the protagonist, Offred makes it is conspicuous that the women’s freedom to achieve higher education is denied. When going shopping the handmaids are given token with “pictures on them, of the things they can be exchanged for: twelve eggs, a piece of cheese, a brown thing that’s supposed to be steak” (Atwood, 11). The handmaids are only given permission to decipher pictures, not words. By minimizing their access to education, the government is able to manipulate the handmaids by reducing their trust in people as well as reducing their human instinct to rebel. Likewise, “newspapers are censored”, the Bible is locked up and they are hardly shown television, which results in the handmaids to be obscure about the circumstances transpiring in Gilead, and thus, diminishing the chances for them to rebel (Atwood, 174). Furthermore, the handmaids yearn for the freedom to be able to read or write. When Offred is writing down the hidden message in the commander’s office she states, that “the pen between [her] fingers in sensuous, alive, [she] can feel its power, the power of the words it contains. Pen Is Envy” (Atwood, 186).
The young healthy women are labeled as handmaids and are "issued" by the government to various high-ranking officials in order to offer them the opportunity to create offspring. Getting pregnant is their only hope of survival. From the beginning of the novel, the protagonist, Offred makes it is conspicuous that the women’s freedom to achieve higher education is denied. When going shopping the handmaids are given token with “pictures on them, of the things they can be exchanged for: twelve eggs, a piece of cheese, a brown thing that’s supposed to be steak” (Atwood, 11). The handmaids are only given permission to decipher pictures, not words. By minimizing their access to education, the government is able to manipulate the handmaids by reducing their trust in people as well as reducing their human instinct to rebel. Likewise, “newspapers are censored”, the Bible is locked up and they are hardly shown television, which results in the handmaids to be obscure about the circumstances transpiring in Gilead, and thus, diminishing the chances for them to rebel (Atwood, 174). Furthermore, the handmaids yearn for the freedom to be able to read or write. When Offred is writing down the hidden message in the commander’s office she states, that “the pen between [her] fingers in sensuous, alive, [she] can feel its power, the power of the words it contains. Pen Is Envy” (Atwood, 186).