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Why Is The Handmaid's Tale A Dystopia

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The novel The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is a dystopian novel in which the protagonist Offred is cut off from any outside information and is supposed to assume that she is constantly being spied on. Offred is a handmaid and is only valued for her ability to produce offspring as the world she lives is suffering from declining birth rates. Atwood incorporates several features of dystopia such as the idea of power, totalitarianism, and war. Atwood also includes the features characterization, change and time, binary oppositions, the idea of dream-nightmare. Firstly, totalitarianism and power are very prominent dystopian features throughout the novel. The Republic of Gilead is a totalitarian and theocratic state that has overthrown the United States government. The creators of Gilead used military as they assassinated the United States president and launched a coup. Everyone in the Republic of Gilead believes that they are constantly spied on. For example, Offred tells Ofglen, “’Under His Eye’” (page 45) The “Eye” are the spies of this society constantly monitoring Gilead. This creates the assumption that everybody is being watched. …show more content…
For example, Offred constantly falls into her flashbacks before the Republic of Gilead overthrew the United States government. Remembering one of her flashbacks, Offred says, “I want Luke here so badly. I want to be held and told my name.” (Page 97) This illustrates how life before Gilead was very emotional for Offred because she had a companion and her daughter whom she showed affection to. These flashbacks show that Gilead has made Offred like feel like a robot, because in this society being in love is illegal. Margeret Atwood incorporates binary opposition in The Handmaids’s Tale in order to show a struggle or tension between two opposing

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