Power In The Handmaid's Tale

Edmund Cooper, a prolific speculative fiction writer, writes in one of his books, “I am rebelling against imprisonment. I am rebelling against tyranny of the mind. I am rebelling against a collection of machines with interchangeable faces. Above all, I am rebelling against my own ignorance and your deliberate deception.” Similarly, in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the theocratic republic of Gilead has created a controlled society where Offred and her friend Moira, along with other fertile women, are being used as surrogate mothers for childless Wives and Commanders, who belong at the top of the hierarchy. The failure of the Gilead regime’s attempt at controlling society is proven by the handmaids’ trying to maintain a sense of power, …show more content…
Firstly, when Serena Joy finds out about the previous Offred’s affair with the Commander, the handmaid chooses to commit suicide rather than allowing Serena Joy to decide her fate. Similarly, Ofglen hangs herself once the Eyes find out that she is part of the resistance and are coming to capture her. Both handmaids commit suicide in order to preserve authority over their bodies and decisions, which show that Gilead’s control system may have been able to temporarily control the handmaids’ outward actions, but they cannot change the way the handmaid’s think. Moreover, during the Particicution, Offred states that Ofglen “pushes the Guardian down sideways, then kicks his head viciously, one, two, three times, sharp painful jabs with the foot, well-aimed”(Atwood 322), which demonstrates her barbaric behavior. As opposed to hurting the Guardian for revenge, Ofglen is doing it to save him of his misery; an act of rebellion which the Eyes soon find out about. This act shows that Ofglen not only finds a way to uphold authority over herself but for other individuals too. The actions of the handmaids break the laws of the system, proving its