The Rights Of Women In The Handmaid's Tale

A frequent question asked in The Handmaids Tale is if the needs of society should be allowed to trump the rights of the individual. The Historical Notes highlight the fact that the Giledean society was going through extreme pressures and so had to take severe precautions since their population was shrinking and they would disappear. Women were marginalized from society and valued only for their viable ovaries as it was a solution to their problems. The leaders of this new institution have changed everyone's names to redefine their social roles and views. In the first few chapters, names, just like the narrative, are very hazy and not concrete through the way the Commander's Wife is introduced, "Serena Joy was never her real name, not even then. …show more content…
Even though Offred is not the perfect heroine, she still manages to maintain some of her identity through her small acts of rebellion, her escape with the help of flashbacks and memories and even through her double vision. Through Offred's narrative, it can be seen how she insists on voicing her own point of view when the regime demands total silence, even though it's not told within the Gilidean contact but later on when she escapes. This storytelling is linked with her survival, as her priority is to physically survive in the dangerous political climate of Gilead, where everyone is under constant surveillance and death is an everyday possibility. In addition, the storytelling is an act of resistance against oppression. Offred's memory is more than a breath of nostalgia, it is her most significant mechanism of escape "The night is my time out. Where should I go". Atwood introduces the 'Night' sections as her time of solitude and a time where she can be herself, showing how even though during the day, she goes along with the corrupted system's ways, at night she escapes when no one is aware of it. She defies the state in these small ways, showing how even though it has overpowered most of the individualism, she still maintains from time to time her own coherent thoughts that bring to life the past life, she took for granted. The flashbacks she has, also connected with the double vision she has, are used to show contrasts between life in Gilead society and the United States society from the past. Through these flashbacks, she is struggling to maintain control over hew own life by holding tight to the past, in order to keep her