Critical Analysis of Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale - Research Paper Example

?CRITICAL ANAYLSIS OF ‘A HANDMAID’S TALE’ Submitted By Prepared For Teacher’s Teachers Today’s Date Critical Analysis of ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’ Throughout history there has been a battle for equality between a man and a woman. Women’s rights are where they are today not because of mass rebellion, but by every woman standing up for herself and what she believes in, subtle yet firm. Such is the tale presented in Margaret Atwood’s “A Handmaid’s Tale”, which whisks the reader away to a dystopian futuristic society; the horrific setting of the dictator government and the oppressed subjects is narrated from the perspective of ‘a handmaid’, offred. Atwood’s use of literary devices combined with a strong and daring plot make ‘a handmaid’s tale’ a roller coaster of emotions, with horror in the present and comfort in the memories of the past The U.S. is engulfed in a bloody revolution involving the murder of the president and then all members of Congress and falls from the place of the leading nation which is representative of a free society (Brians). The murderous revolution is followed by the setting up of Gilead, a dictatorial conservative government that believes in the suppression of women; and in the belief to make society a better place to live; annihilates homosexuals and all religions and sects apart from their own; Jews, all non-white population and old women who cannot breed are relocated to the ‘colonies’ (Brians). The plot follows no futuristically innovative theme when it comes to technology, laws, dictatorship, treatment of women, or the way religion is exploited to coax the women into becoming ‘two-legged wombs’ (Atwood 57). All the harsh realities which the world has already witnessed in one society or the other are depicted in the novel; which was intended to present the readers with what such humans are capable of when they have immense, unaccounted power in their hands, and not at becoming an instrument of misrepresentation or providing sadistic ideas (Atwood “Haunted by the handmaid’s tale”). By reiterating historical events of such disdainful human behavior, the writer has throughout the novel tried to convey the possibility of such events occurring and that it is not at all farfetched. Like any dictatorial government Gilead thrives on the power of its fear tactics and true believers of the cause, and sadly all the measures are taken on the pretext of being the divine law. Most women comply out of fear of death or exile. The protagonist, Offred, appears to be a “wimp”(Atwood 222), by accepting her new position as a “two legged womb” (Atwood 57), however her subtle acts of rebellion show that she has neither denied nor accepted her assigned place in society because she ultimately escapes the regime. The Red Centre is where the women are taught how to submit and brainwashed. The Aunts, who are their brains washing instructors will ensure their conformity and unquestioned obedience. They use humiliation, brain washing, guilt trips and violence on the Handmaids to show them the importance of submission and the consequences of refusing. Offred recalls one of her first nights at the Red Center “the lights were turned down but not out. Aunt Sara and Aunt Elizabeth patrolled, they had electric cattle prods slung on thongs from their belts” (Atwood 2). Unlike Offred there are also women like Moira, who outwardly rebel. However they endure a wrath of physical abuse from the Aunts. Offred notes “It was the feet they’d do, for a first offense. They used steel cables, frayed at the ends. After that the hands. They didn’t care what they did to your feet or your hands, even if it was permanent.” (Atwood 91) The importance of submission is taught inside the Red Center however it is also where Offred’s subtle acts of rebellion began. Although the Aunts make clear the importance of submission as well as the consequences of rebellion, Offred through subtle acts rebels within the Red Center. Handmaids are not allowed to talk or develop friendships with one another yet Offred shares “we learned to whisper almost without sound. In the semidarkness we could stretch out our arms, when the Aunts weren’t looking and touch each other’s hands across space. We learned to lip-read, our heads flat on the beds, turned sideways watching each other’s mouths. In this way we exchanged names, from bed to bed” (Atwood 6). Offred and the other women know what will happen to them if they get caught but the need for affection supersedes it. A Handmaid’s tale is often considered as a typical feminist dystopia, which does not allow women any freedom of education, jobs or personal possessions, rather presents the fertile women in the society as possessions of the elite male’s they have been assigned to; like ofFred, ofGlen. Though it is interesting to note that only Moira, offred’s Friend from before the establishment of Gilead, is addressed with her real name in the novel showing that she has maintained her identity and is not given in to the Dictatorial regime (Justine). Offred shows courage when she accepts responsibility for the state of events and indirectly blames herself and all those who chose to ignore the way things were headed, for their current circumstances. But she also says that “Ignoring isn't the same as ignorance, you have to work at it ....We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories” (Atwood 24). OfFred believes that they understood where things were headed and still they chose to ignore just to retain some degree of freedom and avoid becoming visible to the emerging regime; and now have paid the price of choosing to ignore that they are left with no choices at all. Although the handmaids believe that they “aren't concubines, geisha girls, courtesans. On the contrary: everything possible has been done to remove us from that category. There is supposed to be nothing entertaining about us.” (Atwood 57); but in actuality the commander does treat Offred that way when he provides her with a ‘shiny satin gown’ (Atwood 105) and takes her to a place like Jezebel’s, which is not even suppose to exist as per Gilead Laws. On the other hand by making such a move as to accompany the commander to such a prohibited place Offred has rebelled against the system as she this reminds her of her freedom and enjoyment which once used to be a part of her life. Offred’s rebelliousness can be viewed in her unauthorized sessions with the commander when she plays scrabble with him as ‘it's something different. Now it's forbidden, for us. Now it's dangerous. Now it's indecent. Now it's something he can't do with his Wife’ (Atwood 59). It gives her a sense of power and being in control especially with the knowledge that the commander is a party to it. The protagonist of the novel is no hero like figure to take courage from; rather she is among the people who have accepted the order of events as they are, unlike her friend Moira, who rebels against the regime (Greene 14). Offred like many of the people serving Gilead choose to ignore events as they are and go on compromising their freedom and identity just because they do not have enough courage to stand up for themselves. But at the same time the protagonist also seems at odds with her current identity and the assigned identity and finds solace from her sordid circumstances in her past life (Callaway 4). Offred admits that “there is something powerful in the whispering of obscenities, about those in power. There’s something delightful about it, something naughty” (Atwood 222). The act is significant in showing that Offred has been unable to accept her demeaned position in society. Also in her acts of hiding her moisturizer from the commander in hope for a better future and her affair with Nick highlight her rebellion against the system and that she would not accept the way things were. It is at Jezebel’s that Offred again meets Moira and hears about her failed escape attempt; but during the whole story the only time she feels sad and shocked is when she hears that Moira has finally accepted the way of life at Jezebels’, which in a way meant that she had given in to the ways of Gilead. Offred’s high regard for Moira’s rebelliousness towards Gilead is felt as she thinks that ‘I don't want her to be like me. Give in, go along, save her skin. That is what it comes down to. I want gallantry from her, swashbuckling, heroism, single-handed combat. Something I lack’ (Atwood 110). In Moira’s rebelliousness the protagonist found courage and hope of a better future. Her distaste for Gilead’s hypocrisy and rebelliousness takes a new light when she wishes that Moira would blow up ‘Jezebel’s, with fifty commanders inside it’ (Atwood 110). The authoress in the last part of the book shows that the ultimate quarrel for power resulted in the U.S being thrown away from the seat of being the world leader and all its cultural, social and moral values declined; while the countries who had not been so much overcome with power of greed and resource exploitation have risen as the world leaders (Otto). But there will always be people like Moira, Offred and her mother who would show courage and stand up against injustice and inequality of the system. References Atwood, M. The Handmaid’s Tale. New York: Anchor Books, 1986. Print Atwood, M. “Haunted by The Handmaid’s Tale.” Guardian, 2012. Web. 27 February 2013. Brian, P. “Study Guide to Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid’s Tale.” Washington State University. Washington State University, 2013. Web. 27 February 2013. Callaway, A. Allana. “Women Disunited: Margret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale as a Critique of Feminism.” San Jose State University Scholar Works: Master’s Thesis, 2008. Web. 27 February 2013. Greene, Gayle. “Choice of Evils.” The Women’s Review of Books, 3.10 (1986): 14-15. JSTOR. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. Justine. “The treatment of the Female Protagonist in The Bodily Harm and The Handmaid’s Tale.” Literature-study-online, 2002. Web. 27 February 2013. Otto, T. Diana. “Sexual Oppression and Religious Extremism in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.” Yale, 2013. Web. 27 February 2013. Read More