The Handmaid's Tale

DREAM-CATCHER “You look terrible,” she said, handing him another cup of coffee. Edgar looked exhaustedly with blood-shot eyes at the waitress who handed him his piping hot drink. “I feel terrible,” he said, “Haven’t gotten sleep in almost five days already.” “Why? Somethin’ bugging you?” the waitress asked in her old, raspy voice. “Oh, it’s nothing,” Edgar lied. He’d been having nightmares endlessly since the incident. “Come on,” the waitress begged, “You can tell me. I never hear anything…

When power is abused, society crumbles. This is demonstrated through the two different texts between the futuristic, dystopian, totalitarian society portrayed in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and the seventeenth century Elizabethan era monarchy of William Shakespeare’s King Lear. Firstly, throughout both of these respective texts, power is established through the rankings, government, and social structure of society. Additionally, the fierce power of women’s sexuality is clearly evident…

efficient technicians, not human beings, because human beings become dangerous to the government” (Jiddu Krishnamurti) This quote by the public speaker, Jiddu Krishnamurti, is often reflected in the novels Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. The novels both deal with the recurring theme that the government is willing to remove humanity for an efficient, conflict-free society. We see this in both government's use of conditioning the society, their…

The Handmaid’s Tale is an anti-utopian (or “dystopian”) fiction and feminist political novel written by Margaret Atwood. The novel is set in the not-too-distant future where a group of right-wing fundamentalists take over and establish the Republic of Gilead, a theocratic state of absolute control. One of the main goals of the government is to have control over reproduction, as the state’s entire structure is threatened by the crisis caused by the decrease in birth-rates. Unfortunately, the…

Margaret Atwood uses a variation of figurative language to reveal the underlying sexual and manipulative ways of the Commander’s desires. In the Handmaid’s Tale, Gilead is a society where power is imposed entirely from the top. Atwoods characters demonstrate that even if substantial power is taken away from them, they will find a way to manipulate others. Atwood compares positional power to warfare and animal confrontations and emphasizes reward power with sexual language. Figurative language is…

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian author mostly known for another of her titles, The Handmaid’s Tale, but she has also written pieces that explore the other fundamentals of writing and how to approach and subvert the craft to expand its horizons. This particular short story, “Happy Endings,” is in the genre of metafiction, where a writer breaks what is called “the fourth wall” and destroys the barriers between the world that is created and its creator. Examples of this have been seen throughout the…

how to best serve their leader persists. This is an idea that is instilled into them from birth. But what if it was not? What if they grew up with the principles of individualism, would they so willingly give it up to serve society? In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, one bears witness to the establishment of a new totalitarian society where plummeting birth rates cause women to be forced into sexual servitude. The protagonist, Offred, is one of the women who lived in the society…

demonstrating their rightful ownership to the leader of the household through their service. This submission is rightfully deserved, as women lack the strength necessary to match the great power of the male gender. Throughout the dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, author Margaret Atwood embarks on the mission of detailing the life of a female in a futuristic society in which such dominating ideals are valued by incorporating a restriction in regards to a freedom of language, demonstrating the…

themes in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) as well as Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985). Written soon after the Second World War, Nineteen Eighty-Four was a novel which portrayed the experiences of Winston Smith, the protagonist and other significant characters who are bound to live within a totalitarian regime in which the powerful forces are punishment and fear. The Handmaid’s Tale, published in 1985 and set in the Republic of Gilead is also a novel which utilizes…

unethical and dishonest acts that can be done by a government or a powerful being. There are many corrupt government and powerful leaders out there are taking control of all their citizens without giving the population what they want. The novel, A Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is about a totalitarian government who uses their power to completely control the lives of women in society, but the protagonist finds a way to overpower the government and get back her human rights and…