By studying the major characters in a text, readers are able to get a better understanding of the authors own view and meaning behind their construction. This text explores the effects of the creation of a patriarchal society such as Gilead from a first-person point of view that elicits the reader’s sympathy. Offred’s tale is used as a criticism of women’s oppression, in Offred’s flashback to the time before Gilead was created, we learn how the Gilead regime took away women’s financial independence. In the space of a single day, Offred is denied the right to work and to access her financial assets, this immediately demotes Offred and all other women to the status of second-class citizens, making them dependent on the men who now control all household income, “something had shifted some balance, I felt shrunken…He doesn’t mind this he doesn’t mind it at all. Maybe he even likes it. We are not each other’s, anymore. Instead I am his.” Reading these quotes as a feminist I feel sorry for Offred as she becomes a character the reader grows a close bond to throughout the novel. While reading the text we learn that Offred was a successful educated woman with a career able to look after herself, the idea that she would need to rely on a man for financial stability even one that she loved upset me and the fact that this all happened in the period of only a day shows how easily this could happen in the real world to any one of us women.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
A motif in The Handmaid's Tale is the color red and Handmaids in Gilead wear red. The biggest and obvious example is the Red Center where handmaids are trained. Red symbolizes oppression since the women are being forced to become handmaids. The great thing about literature is everything is up for interpretation, therefore red could mean various things. Salvagings take place by The Wall, which is described on pg.…
- 246 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
Offred lived a normal, American life when all of the sudden, her family was taken from her so she could go have somebody else’s baby. The Handmaid’s Tale is about a woman’s tale of her life, her story, and her struggles in a new society and how she got there. This story by Margaret Atwood tells the life of Offred, a handmaid for a wealthy couple and her daily struggles trying to adapt to her new world. Offred tells how she makes deals with her Commander and his Wife with hope of getting out and how that changes her life. The progress in this book is not as one would probably describe progress, but it is as follows: the government and society had to make major changes in order to bring about the new system and laws, Gilead is thinking of and executing ways to raise the birthrate in their country, and handmaids and women in general are protected at all costs.…
- 923 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The feelings of the ladies in Gilead is parallel to the emotions of the females in the 1960s and ‘70s. Both report to a male “guardian” who have no legal right to property or money. Also, in each society, it is difficult or forbidden for women to hold an occupation. By creating a realm of female suffrage in The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood was able to criticize the social issues of anti-feminist viewpoints that she witnessed growing up. Although women have more liberties today, the message of The Handmaid’s Tale should not be forgotten- no gender alone can run the…
- 663 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The government wrongly relies on dehumanization to control people. People shouldn’t be dehumanized by the government and be brainwashed for the government’s benefit. In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the author describes a society led by a government with complete control, not allowing citizens to have any freedom whatsoever. Atwood uses story as a construct and character roles to convey the theme, explaining that the government relies on dehumanization to control the people and how this is wrong. Firstly, Atwood uses story as a construct to convey the theme of the government relying on dehumanization to take control of the people.…
- 698 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Atwood has always enjoyed writing Sci fi novels. The feminist and environmental views stemmed great from Atwood’s own personal advocacy of such things (Atwood, Interview by Rosenburg).…
- 1190 Words
- 5 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood, the main character is a woman known to the audience as Offred. She exists in a sort of dystopian country known as the Republic of Gilead, where men hold the political and familial power, while the women are nothing more than property, maids, and vessels. Offred is one of the few fertile women left in the country, so she is assigned the task of giving birth to babies for specified households and is given to a household headed by a character known as the Commander. As the novel progresses, the reader learns of the wife’s resentment towards Offred, Offred’s friendship with a woman called Ofglen, and bits of Offred’s life before being forced to become a Handmaid. The reader also learns of the relationship formed between Nick, the chauffeur, and Offred. Using these main characters and the general conflict between Offred and society, Atwood is able to effectively portray a running theme throughout the novel; feminism.…
- 1238 Words
- 5 Pages
Powerful Essays -
The issue that has been persistent for as long as one can remember is Misogyny in the society. The belief that women are inferior to men has been contaminating the human mind. The issue can be commonly seen in the society in form of domestic abuse, violence, objectification in name of advertisements, and especially in the music industry where the lyrics are filled with hateful messages towards women. Even though the governing laws consider men and women as equal, but the mistreatment of women continues to be the headline of every newspaper.…
- 1001 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood are two significant pieces of literature that, when read together, have many identifiable similarities. One similarity between the two novels is the motif of the suppression of power among women. Throughout Pride and Prejudice and The Handmaid’s Tale, the men within these novels suppress the power of women through the abolition of a woman's ability to possess anything physical or to move upward in class.…
- 883 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
All throughout history women and men have been seen differently. Men have always been seen as strong, smart, tough, and natural leaders. Women have been seen as weak, timid, nurturing, and always following a man’s lead. As you can tell they are very different. Less than 100 years ago women didn’t have rights in America. They weren’t allowed to vote, own property, or pretty much do anything without a man’s approval. The group “ United Society of Believers in Christ second coming” were adovocating for women’s rights a century and a half before women had the right to vote, according to news wise .com.…
- 665 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
A characteristic of most novels with a confidante is their reliability and constant companionship. Sometimes, however, they also function in ways that stray from this general idea of a confidante. In Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, the main character, Offred, describes such a character that existed in her past. Moira was Offred’s best friend and was a rebellious and outgoing character in her life. Offred looked up to her as a person who would never stop fighting, a true soldier. In Offred’s mind, Moira becomes the epitome of rebellion and remembers her in all of her small acts of defiance. The presence of Moira is seen in Offred in her past, her present when she didn’t know of her existence, and after she finds out about her still being alive. Offred’s reactions to every one of Moira’s actions display her key ideals and expectations.…
- 1656 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Offred is a Handmaid, the handmaid is where the women have to have sexual activities with the commander regularly because there's very few kids in the Republic of Gilead, very few women can have kids and are chosen to move in with the commander to make the commander’s wife happy with a child. Although Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale shows gender rules throughout the book this is symbolized through the handmaid’s lifestyle, particularly how they have to act in front of the commander.…
- 433 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale takes place in a post Cold War society plagued by infertility. Atwood presents the reader with “The Republic of Gilead”, the Christian theocracy that overthrew the United States government. Narrated by a woman renamed Offred, the reader gets an idea of a future in which women are no longer women, but are solely needed for reproduction. Atwood uses a system of vocabulary established under the Republic of Gilead in order to manipulate and dehumanize women and men throughout the text.…
- 1103 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The value of the Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, lies not only within the author’s purpose but within its construction and the author’s ability to draw readers attention to these concepts through language. Atwood has carefully and decisively used language and structure throughout the novel to enhance our understanding of the purpose and message she is trying to portray. Atwood aims to caution us about the elements in our world that can give rise to a dystopic society and the dangers of oppression, particularly of women. Atwood challenges her audience to reflect on and consider their own societies and the ways in which people are controlled and oppressed. Her central ideas of feminism, dystopic societies and repression are reinforced through her use of historical and biblical references, non-linear structure and the intimate first person narration given by Offred. These features of language and construction aid us as readers to comprehend her purpose of the novel.…
- 1221 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Margaret Atwood 's The Handmaid 's Tale is a interesting novel that will have you confused but also have you bitting your nails with intrigue. So many questions might go in your head, at the same time; Atwood wrote this novel so her readers can have curiosity, even after reading the last word of the last paragraph of the last page of the book. One of the main topics of this novel is the effect on society when a women 's fate is taken away from and replaced by a label of their own. The social hierarchy in the novel categorizes its citizens in a way to hold different social norms for each to enforce patriarchy in the society. Even when power is taken away from people, they still manage to find a way to control themselves and others regardless of the feminist viewpoints.…
- 1434 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
In the novel The Handmaids Tale, author Atwood creates a world where access to all forms of language is a privilege. The oppressive society of Gilead strips women of their engagement in forms of language such as, reading, writing and even restricts how they speak. Which, naturally made language a desire by women, because it's degrading to not have freedom of speech. Atwood utilizes literary elements point of view, dialogue and diction, to convey how powerful language is in this world.…
- 702 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays