Margret Atwood’s novel "The Handmaid's Tale" published in 1985 is a brutal and unimaginable prediction of America’s future as a totalitarian state. The Republic of Gilead resorts to old fashion traditions in order to get the population back to where it once was. By recruiting fertile women as handmaids who's sole purpose is to carry children for the social elite.
The government of Gilead stripped the women of any right to education, forbidding all women the ability to read and write. Instead, the use of picture was introduced for the women to distinguish one shop from another. Disruption of social order then occurred when “[Offred and The Commander] play two games [of Scrabble]. Larynx, I spell. Valance. Quince. Zygote… The feeling is voluptuous. …show more content…
As society forces an identity upon a Handmaid by placing them in training and grooming every single women to become identical to their neighbour in order to take on societies ideal image of a feminist. This forced identity creates conflict in the development of offred’s character, “Falling in love... It was the central thing; it was the way you understood yourself; if it never happened to you, not ever, you would be like a mutant, a creature from outer space. Everyone knew that.” (Atwood, 261) Many believe that falling in love is a critical stage in the development of a person in order for them to form their own identity. Throughout the story, Offred struggled to form her own identity as she was constantly bombarded with the ideal morals of a Handmaid, she was never given the opportunity to discover more about herself until introduced to love. Finally was she able to reclaim her freedom and attempt to …show more content…
The difference between the two Moria and Offred is that “Moria has power, she had been sent set loose, she was now a loose woman… Nevertheless [she] was our fantasy”(Atwood, 154) This is significant because both characters have the desire to escape and be free but Moria takes faith into her own hand and with her bold and rapid actions to be set free which highlights Offred’s slow conformity to the social norms and lack of action. Moria role in highlighting Offred lack of action is extremely important as it directs the audience's attention to Offred’s character and the qualities that set her apart from all the rest of The Handmaids.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” upon further analysis reveals another theme, imprisonment. Gilead being surrounded by thick brick walls a figurative image that physically confines the citizens to live their lives under strict supervision like a prison. This physical demonstration of imprisonment suggests the power and authority a single group in power in which a religion has to control and brainwash us to believe their method is the only successful way of going about the
The government of Gilead stripped the women of any right to education, forbidding all women the ability to read and write. Instead, the use of picture was introduced for the women to distinguish one shop from another. Disruption of social order then occurred when “[Offred and The Commander] play two games [of Scrabble]. Larynx, I spell. Valance. Quince. Zygote… The feeling is voluptuous. …show more content…
As society forces an identity upon a Handmaid by placing them in training and grooming every single women to become identical to their neighbour in order to take on societies ideal image of a feminist. This forced identity creates conflict in the development of offred’s character, “Falling in love... It was the central thing; it was the way you understood yourself; if it never happened to you, not ever, you would be like a mutant, a creature from outer space. Everyone knew that.” (Atwood, 261) Many believe that falling in love is a critical stage in the development of a person in order for them to form their own identity. Throughout the story, Offred struggled to form her own identity as she was constantly bombarded with the ideal morals of a Handmaid, she was never given the opportunity to discover more about herself until introduced to love. Finally was she able to reclaim her freedom and attempt to …show more content…
The difference between the two Moria and Offred is that “Moria has power, she had been sent set loose, she was now a loose woman… Nevertheless [she] was our fantasy”(Atwood, 154) This is significant because both characters have the desire to escape and be free but Moria takes faith into her own hand and with her bold and rapid actions to be set free which highlights Offred’s slow conformity to the social norms and lack of action. Moria role in highlighting Offred lack of action is extremely important as it directs the audience's attention to Offred’s character and the qualities that set her apart from all the rest of The Handmaids.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” upon further analysis reveals another theme, imprisonment. Gilead being surrounded by thick brick walls a figurative image that physically confines the citizens to live their lives under strict supervision like a prison. This physical demonstration of imprisonment suggests the power and authority a single group in power in which a religion has to control and brainwash us to believe their method is the only successful way of going about the