The government in the Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood - Essay Example

The main character Offred is forced and scared into her role as a Handmaid assigned to her by the state. Fear can control a society into obeying a common law, but fear cannot control or stifle human nature completely. The Goal of Gilead The goal of Gilead is to oppress its citizens by taking more and more from them. However, the government still feels that it has not yet taken enough, compared to what it has offered the society of Gilead. This is illustrated by the commander’s utterances. The commander says that they had given the society more than they had taken.

Before then, there were many problems and human misery like singles’ bars, undignified meat markets, blind high school dates, a wide gap between those who were able to get men and those who could not. He says that the problems were so many that people seriously starved themselves, cut off their noses, or fully pumped their breasts with silicone. However, the government wants to alleviate women from the misery of running households. Despite their efforts to run households without the right to earn property or education, women are much oppressed.

This is well portrayed by the commander’s statement saying that women cannot be expected to carry out all the necessary household functions because it is neither reasonable nor humane. The Gilead also express hope in the future by pointing out that the daughters of women who were suffering would have greater freedom. The Gilead also wants to deprive off the society more and more. That is why the commander goes ahead to say that they could demand too much before it was ready but now they can (Atwood 163).

How Fear/Manipulation Controls The Citizens The people of Gilead are controlled by the government by being scared into following their rule; the most used tactics are public displays so that everyone can see the pain being inflicted. This is illustrated on Atwood (169-70), where pictures of a man suffering under the hands of Gilead are shown, so as to inflict fear on people. The man is grabbed by men from a van, who slam him beckon the backside of the van and brutally mishandles him, after which they pick and leave him at the vans back like a mail sack.

Additionally, six more bodies are seen hanging with their hands ties by their necks, while their heads are tipped in bags, and sideways onto their shoulders (Atwood 32). Looking at the pictures, Helena asks whose fault it was, and the crowd says it was the government’s fault in unison (Atwood 72). This has made the women to be disillusioned, as they say that their purpose is only for breeding because they are not courtesans, geisha girls, or concubines. They say there is nothing to entertain about them, there are no special favors, and they are not given room for the secret lust and flowering.

They regard themselves as sacred vessels, two-legged wombs, and ambulatory chalices (Atwood 116). Atwood (127), shows how the woman is misused but her only reward is that she can never be declared not to be a woman. How Offred Copes With Being Controlled Offred says that she just wants to believe that al this is just a story, because those who can believe that it is a story have a much better chance (Atwood 39). She also copes with being controlled through prayers (Atwood 90). She believes that as long they can pray, butter their skin so as to keep it soft, one day they would get out and be touchable