A Handmaid's Tale
In the novel The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, the author creates a fictional utopian society in which women are enslaved to the idea of procreation. In the "Republic of Gilead" women called "Handmaids" are forced to bear children for sterile couples. To emphasize the absurdity and horror of a society of enslaved women, Atwood incorporates the ideologies and techniques of both totalitarian societies of Communist China and Nazi Germany. The "real life" atrocities help the reader see how plausible Atwood's dystopian society might be. In The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood uses the Nazi idea of tattooing in order to dehumanize the women who are most affected by the new regime. " I cannot afford seeing, now, the small tattoo on my ankle. Four digits and an eye, a passport in reverse," (Atwood 65). She also uses dehumanization towards the Handmaids by not revealing their true names. Instead they receive names that refer to their commanders, such as "Offred". This shows the women as property and second class citizens. In our society there is also a restriction on women, such as in the work force. Women who work in major corporations make seventy cents of a dollar compared to men. This shows women as inferior in our pr
We're suppose to look: this is what they are there for, hanging on the Wall," (Atwood 32). Margaret Atwood emulates the idea of "Testifying" in her novel with Communist China's idea of Rectification. Women today are not considered equal to men. With this idea Atwood attacks the way our society looks down upon women if, for instance, they are sexually active before they become involved in a marital relationship. A huge and extensive example is our government's feelings towards homosexuals. She stresses this concept in her novel to show that women who live in constant humiliation can, eventually over time, be less respected to an extreme point where they are forced to embarrass themselves in public. If this continues, a massacre of all homosexuals can take place in the future, creating genocide, much like in the Holocaust. Atwood condemns the idea of our government, which denies certain people from having fundamental rights, and blames them for the many problems that take place in our society. Our government believes that if a person did not act accordingly to the laws then he must forfeit his basic rights, such as his right to live. Truly amazing what people can get used to, as long as there are few compensations," (Atwood 271). Atwood attempts to show that if we try to create a utopian society, then some people will suffer for others to prosper. In conclusion, Atwood tries to reveal in her novel the chaos that can be developed if those that believe in religious right ideals begin to rule. She reveals, through her novel, that a person's life can be lived for them if they don't take a stand and be themselves.
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