Margaret Atwood-A Handmaids Tale
Women have always held power as a result of fertility. Often, society's patriarchal rules and structure struggle to take this power away from women. In A Handmaid's Tale, the elite in society recognize the power that fertile women hold and completely govern them in order to take this power away. Offred, the main character in the novel, is victimized as a result of her ability to have children, and her potential sensuality. She is forced into a role in which all power is taken from her. She has no rights, and lives in a metaphorical padded cage, but still remains determined to survive. The handmaids' rules in the novel are based loosely around the survival of the society, but at the same time, is structured the way it is for the elite to be able to control the handmaids. One of the themes of this novel is oppression. The oppression of the handmaids can be viewed as an indication of the government's fear of the power they represent, and the amount of danger they pose to the systemized government and society. The handmaids, as an example, are so stripped of their rights and former lives that they lose even their names, and take on the names of those they serve. "I must forget about my secret name and all ways back. My name is
This novel shows that fertility and sensuality holds power. Thinking can hurt your chances, and I intend to last. The handmaids are not allowed anything sharp. The window in Offred's room is shatterproof, and there is nothing available for her to hang herself from. She narrates, "Like other things now, thought must be rationed. For example, even though the handmaids are supposed to be pure and not think of men in sexual ways, Offred finds herself wondering the following: "What if I were to come at night, when he's on duty alone-though he would never be allowed such solitude-and permit him beyond my white wings? What if I were to peel off my red shroud and show myself to him, to them, by the uncertain light of the lanterns?" (21) At this point in the novel, Offred does not realize that there are handmaids revolting, and that there are others who feel as strongly, if not more strongly, than she does about the system. True, they fight back silently, because to do otherwise would mean death or worse for them. If the hold women had over men was simply physical, then the ceremonies would take care of this need. Offred now, and here is where I live. She feels guilty and experiences an internal struggle over what she believes to be deviant and punishable thoughts. In truth, sexuality was seen before the change as perhaps more dangerous than fertility. Fertility was present in the society before the new government took over, and it was possible that the birth rate could have been kept up by means less violent than the ones present in the novel. Those in power knew that the only women who would be useful for both fertility and sensuality purposes would be extremely dangerous.
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,
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