Colleen Atwood

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…

Margaret Morse Nice took an interest in nature at the young age of 13, and soon after became even more intrigued by the patterns, social aspects, and lifestyles of birds. Later in life this led to her becoming an ornithologist. Margaret was born on December 6, 1883, in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was born to her mother Margaret Dungan and her father Anson D. Morse who was a professor at Amherst College. Nice was one of six brothers and sisters. After graduating from high school Margaret got a…

issued a woman, not even one” (Atwood 18), a statement echoed in the…

In a typical post-apocalyptic work, the world has crumbled into a state of survival that varies within each story. In the novels Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, both of the main characters are survivors in different situations. Both Snowman in Oryx and Crake and Lauren in Parable of the Sower take their surroundings and do what is necessary to thrive in what is now society during their time. In Oryx and Crake, one of the main characters named Jimmy,…

psychologists and identified in literary works. The Handmaid’s Tale is a shockingly realistic representation of the extent of oppression of women and how it can alter their psyche. By using strict religious ideals and a totalitarian government, Margaret Atwood is able to portray a society in which women are forced to not only abide to certain rules, but to perform acts against their will. Women are stripped from their families and forced to conceive children for wealthy couples. Atwood’s…

Dystopian Critical Analysis “Whether this is my end or a new beginning I have no way of knowing” (Atwood 295). In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale a young women named Offred is trapped in a dystopian microcosm being forced to do the unthinkable. In the United States an outbreak of syphilis occurred causing many people to become infertile. The population is declining and the country is scared as a whole. Then, a group of extremists break into the congress building during a session and…

Unorthodoxy In The Handmaid’s Tale In a world where everything is in order, individuality will not go unnoticed. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is set in a totalitarian theocracy called the Republic of Gilead. The main character and narrator, Offred, presents her story as an audio diary, which is transcribed into book form by Professor Pieixoto. Offred tells of her life before Gilead, when she has a steady job and a loving family; during the revolution, when she loses her job, money,…

In the novel The Handmaid's Tale by Margeret Atwood, the narrator, Offred, lives in a dystopian government which uses violence and totalitarianism to control the people. She is chosen to be a handmaid, a "baby -maker", for the Commander and his wife. In the the novel Offred expresses her emotional state and her deep desires to escape the society she lives in. She does so by mentioning the color red multiple times throughout the novel. In literature the color red is often associated to many…

The Handmaid’s Tale is an effective satire in which Atwood underlines specific themes and issues present in society. Throughout the extensive reading and analyzing of the Handmaid’s Tale, the satirizing of many elements in our society becomes increasingly obvious throughout the progression of the novel. Margaret Atwood uses her literature to express her opinions towards the way society is run through the use of satire. Although most satirical works are meant to be humorous, we can clearly see…

Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”, Atwood changes her language many times throughout the novel. The language shows a form of power and it is a means of escape. Offred, the protagonist, uses her language as a tool to escape the plight of her existence. After reading this novel, it is obvious that atwood wanted to show the reader’s the different ways characters throughout the novel use their language to show their emotions. All throughout the novel, I noticed that atwood uses a very descriptive…