The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” has recently been made into a Hulu series, and like most popular novels, it has been altered in the process of being transferred to the big screen. This will be an in-depth analysis of episode four of the series. Although many elements from the novel are included precisely as they were written, this paper will highlight some scenes from this episode that were changed but able to be incorporated into the series while remaining consistent with the types of events that occur in this dystopia through the use of horror. The fourth episode of the series starts off with Offred remembering her family, but then the scene cuts to her being banished to her room. This scene is peculiar because at the end of the …show more content…
The aunts leading them are at first perceived as calming by explain that they will be loved by their new family because of their blessing that God gave them, which is the same type of brainwashing done in the novel to believe that they are serving God. Although, the atmosphere changes when a handmaid asks the question, “So what is this like practice for labor, I mean if we get pregnant?” The response given to the maid is sent back with authority and tells the girl that they raise their hands, and lets another aunt answer the question. These Aunts are meant to repetitively instill this terror and tell the handmaids the bare minimum of what they need to know. This sense of confusion and the unknown seems to instill panic among the girls, based on their body language of chewing on their fingernails and asking questions. Then, the aunts give a clearer of the position and what the ceremony entails. This scene ensues even more horror in these women because the camera pans over to Offred and another maid, both sharing the same expression of fear based on their opened mouths and gawking eyes, and captures their reaction. Meanwhile, Janice looks at Moira and says, “We’re flowers,” thus conveying her complete disconnect from reality. Moira responds to her by saying urgently, “Lay down,” and displaying her fear of the consequences for Janice, if she does not comply with the orders of the aunt. “Are you saying that we will be having intercourse with the men between the wives’ legs?” Aunt Lydia give Moira back this answer, “When Rachel saw that she bear Jacob no children, she said unto Jacob, give me children, or else I die. And Rachel said, behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children