Society In The Handmaid's Tale

The United States of America is thought to be one of the superpowers of the world. It has a strong military, influence in trade, and is the place where everyone wanted to live because of its characteristic of freedom. Over the years the United States has furthered developed its government from the time of the American Revolution to the current day. The government has been influenced by events occurring in the world and political leaders. Some changes have been positive such as women's right to vote, the end of slavery, trade growth, and military domination. But other changes, however, have not been positive such as gun violence, terrorism, and racism. In the dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, Atwood displays the worst …show more content…
The real fall of the country was caused by The Sons of Jacob, a conspirator group, who killed leaders of the democracy and established martial law. The United States Constitution was suspended, and women's right were taken away. The society quickly changed into everything the United States was not supposed to be. The Sons of Jacob gained their power through violence and terror. Violence then started to become normal to the citizens of Gilead as they would flock to the wall and see what dead bodies are hanging from it and what crimes they have committed. Rita, a martha, says, “Nothing safer than dead...She was minding her own business. No call to shoot her" (20). In Gilead it is almost considered better to die than live for some women because they live a dangerous and tortuous lifestyle. “The new oligarchy uses Old Testament injunctions to justify extreme repression” (Diane S. Wood Criticism). The United States has had its fair share of war, crime and violence but in recent years these terrors have become prevalent. Everyday there are shootings and massacres of innocent people in the United States. There is now high security in airports, malls, schools, and movie theaters to prevent a mass shooting or an act of terrorism. People everyday must now be aware of their surroundings more than ever. In order to put a stop to terrorism, many politicians and citizens are calling …show more content…
This is ironic because in the 1800’s the American citizens fought for freedom of speech and for an uncensored media. In the being of the 45th president's term there was controversy in the media as to how many people were at his inaugural speech. The president and some new sources were saying one number, but other news sources were saying another. In the end the president was lying. This event mortified America because it is suppose to be the land of freedom of speech and no lies, and having their president lie was contradicting American peoples whole philosophy. In Gilead the government takes censorship to the extreme. Commanders and Wives are the only people that are suppose to watch television in Gilead; though they don’t know if anything they are watching is completely