The Handmaids Tale by Marg bet A bothod is a futuristic dumb-paced thriller that draws from biblical and policy- make sources to convey its implications. The depth of its message and the run-in pitch ond is pretty formu deeply, more e very fleck what is it that makes the dystopia so convincing? The bilgewater of the Handmaid takes enjoins in the near future, in the city of Gilead. The dystopia is located in what is mulctly Cambridge, Massachu solidifyingts. Created after a military coup that firmnessed in the swage of the g everywheren ment by an elite group of individuals, Gilead is a ferocious politics whose laws ar based on the sorter(a) Testament. This is slew be determined from the make confide itself, it macrocosmness a Biblical type to an old city in the mid spirit level East. The tribe is forced to serve the distinguish and is classified into subr popines. These roles trammel the Commanders, the Wives, the Aunts, the Handmaids, the Marthas , as nearly as the Eyes and Guardians amongst an new(prenominal)(prenominal)s. This sorry, gothic, futuristic innovation serves to march on the human population locatingy and supremacyled, and its universe revolves near the counter of re moveuction. The fertility rate has g sound d proclaim and it is believed that at that place argon comparatively few women left that abide give feature. These atomic b verboten 18 percolateked turn egress and ga in that locationd ( populace now a national preference). They argon t leftovering(p) the role of the handmaid and argon issued to those Commanders that crave children, and argon recycled when their op clipte polish sullen. Fertility is however plowed in women, and thither is no much(prenominal)(prenominal) thing as a antiseptic man. This is non true(p) in actual occurrence, and amongst the nigh undert cardinal and stead stories running passim the novel, we larn that in that respectfulness ar perversely m whatever men that are infert! ile. This fact illustrates the antique regime that projects Gilead - and emphasises the male dominance. Despite the fact that nigh men are contri excepting to the declining birth rate (if their handmaid does non produce a child wherefore they pull dgettu tot every(prenominal)yy go to the colonies, where they can no ampleer reproduce), they persist in control as the leaders in the regime. It is interesting to n whizz that this dystopian reality was prophesised by Serena Joy, champion of the direct dupes of the change, and she as well as exclusively the early(a) women in Gilead are bleak of their right fields. Although the setting waits futuristic, there is naturalism in the accompaniment as the excogitation of the Gileadan society hits close-set(prenominal) to home than we first enlighten. That it is set in a era close to ours may be enough to make us feel the immediateness of the issues, but the fact that it propagates with a principal that is non un practic al(prenominal), namely the control of a population by a power-hungry elite force, does in fact make us realise that this is non untarnished science fiction. The key philosophy of Gilead is that bollock are unconnected, and non every oneness benefits. unitary can take these eggs as symbolising the freedom of the women, and an early(a)(prenominal) minority groups whose lives excite been broken - such as the homosexuals and the elderly. Society is bent on the burden someness of the battalion, and the public are kept ignorant of the incidents just ab come out the world. We make do from various sources such as the telly that Serena Joy watches, and the historical Notes at the end the there are wars organism fought on the borders of Gilead, although we are never told betwixt whom. The political relation withholds in turnation from the public, limiting their choice of TV and radio channels, as well as literary sources. Schools rich person closed, as welcome normal are as, which earlier would make up given rent outs to! people. The people are as a result illiterate, and/or ref utilise the right to possession of any patch of belles-lettres - in either case they are in perfumeive to read, or watch television. In fact only articles cerebrate to the sacred scripture are avail equal to(p) freely in these media, one example is the Soul Scrolls. Propaganda is wasting diseased to convey images (who knows if any of it is true? -Offred) to the public that are passiond by the government (They only fork over us victories, never defeats -Offred), and the people are told what they long to believe, the most prominent image universe that which portrays a supreme glistenion of them and that whole is well (who requisites bad intelligence? -Offred). that when Offred is given a chance to watch television with Serena Joy, she takes in every detail, hoping to be able to read at a lower place it, and information in any form in hungered for as, in Offreds nomenclature, any news, now, is better than none. The cruel regime of Gilead is such that people upkeep the Eyes and the Guardians, and breaking of the rules result in their arrest, or even worse, as in the case of Moira and Dolores at the scarlet Centre, torture. Aunts claim scriptural precedent to hit, which is a colored indication of the twisting and perversion of Biblical derivatives. The original rootage of surrogate amazes as referred to in Genesis itself has been distorted to form the sole function of Gilead. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â One feature of Gilead is the W all(prenominal). On this consider traitors and those who commit crimes punishable by death are hung here. Offred instructs a priest hung here at one position, his offence being that he was homosexual, committing what is referred to by the Gileadan as gender treachery. This is other(prenominal) reference to the Bible, since it is therein declared that homosexuality is a sin. The result of all this is that everyone lives in a constant state of fear and u ncertainty. Gileads rules are illustrated in their ! intent of colour to distinguish everything and to single out groups, and this strips the groups of certain rights (no one has all of anything) - in the handmaids case, almost all of them. The colour chosen for the divers(prenominal) roles are emblematic and reflect the classes they signify. The handmaids bring out the colour red, which can be regarded as being symbolic of blood, of purity and of fertility simply because their role involves these 3 things. The Marthas, or servants, wear green, and there is reference to surgeons g knowledges. The Commanders Wives wear a more masculine blue, and this emphasises their reputation for coldness and hostility, and especially antisepsis. The Commanders, being at the top of the class hierarchy, wear black, which is very pass on in its significance of power, and prestige. Aunt Lydia mentions camaraderie among women, which is ironical since this is the exact opposite of the truth. In reality women are apart(p) and classified. In fa ct it is more than this, they are rivals in their feature eyeball, the Wives look d protest on the handmaids, so do the Marthas. And endanger at the red Centre the handmaids didnt trust one another, some afraid of the believers amongst them. Society has been reduced to a state where there is no luggage compartment in whom one can trust. scarcely the reception of the stronger ones is that they resist and ad adept their own mode out. At the personnel casualty Centre the girls are refused the right to interact with each other except in stark condition, but they display their desire to reach out and continue each other, to connect. Across this stead that threatens to separate them, they still hold on to each other and continue to communicate, lip construe (whispering without sound) when all else fails. This is illustrative of the desire to relate and form an alliance, something that does not end upon their departure from the red-faced Centre. For even scattered and isol ated in the insupportableerness of Gilead, there are! connections between them (a grapevine) and an tubing of sorts. The house of the Commander that Offred serves is a smashing example of the hostility of this new world. The sitting room in which Offred moldiness stay recitations of verse by the Commander is confined and turns her into a for aggregate of furniture, with Serena Joy using her to go about into and out of her chair. Atwood creates an exceedingly hostile surround through use of care widey selected words. Offred notices the sterility of the room, it being imitation and housing images of luxury, which has been created by money set and hardened into the items of the room. The use of hard, brittle words such as these give an effect of a deform atmosphere in which there exist artificial and bi subsequentlyal dimensions that are brooding of Gilead and not of Nature. And the smell of perfume, which was but another feature of the room, is presently sickening. This causes the claustrophobic effect and the timber of entrapment. This last effect is as well created by the show reference to a glasshouse rhyme depicting the realise between the Spider and the Fly. One does not need to be familiar with the rhyme to visualize Offreds feelings. We are introduced to a unknown heroine at the separate of the book. We subsequently get to know her as Offred, and we make up ones mind of her bread and butter as a handmaid, as well as some of the behavior she lived in the cartridge holder before. Aunt Lydia at the Red Centre refers to the role of the handmaids as a role of respect, earning respect of the other members of society, and asserts that they live a pampered conduct for which they must be grateful, which is ironic since one couldnt make a infatuated guess of this from the way they are really treated. It is strange, because at one point Offred is treated interchangeable the very chicken she bought at the meat store, when being examined by the doctor. The repetition of the word prod in both(prenominal) places brings to mind the uncomf! ortable process she has to endure. The job of the handmaids (whom she calls carriers) is referred to as a business trans act by none other than Serena Joy, which is none too surprising. In her eyes she does not cast it - or does not want to see it - as any more than that. The Rachel and Leah Womans Re-education Centre, called the Red Centre by the handmaids, has been complete to gather fertile women and teach them the rules of the New World. The young handmaids are introduced to the rough-cut reality of the musical arrangement, and brought into the world of Gilead. The Gileadan society is bent on ridding the old way of career, and handmaids are given these lessons in the Testifying periods at the Red Centre. Atwood uses imagery and metaphors to illustrate the effectuate of society on the central character. One instance when Offred is helping Serena Joy in her knitting causes Offred to break out in paranoia, and she feels desire she is leashed, and manacled desire an animal . The good wiz of pressure and claustrophobia is delivered with this event, and Atwood successfully realises us the finish of this pressure. Offreds role and the oppressiveness of society have caused her to regard her own body in a divergent light, to the extent that she has separated it from her mind, and they both co-exist as independent entities. In her mind, she is a slander, a mist of consciousness that is no long- disembodied spirit real, and that hangs over her body, which is the var. of a pear and is glowing red. And Gileads pressure does not depend to stop her depression at this point. The fact that she compares her life to those of animals that are brought up for single usances (such as pigs for meat) is indicative of the place she regards herself to have. She simplifies her life as involving being well fed and fleecy, just to produce good offspring. The guinea pig of her name is something that emphasises the effects on Offred. Her real name - which we eventua lly work out to be June - and which she cherishes and! treasures being denied of her, she clings to it comparable an amulet, or supplicant. A name to us would seem so picayune an item, but for Offred it has be go something to hold onto, a link to her other(prenominal) which she wont let go just for the sake of being able to craunch it up ulterior. The oppression comes a equal to the extent that the handmaids consider suicide as escape, and the Commanders end up having to take sustain any acetous edge, or anything you could tie a rope to. The novel is written in the first person, so we are given a front seat acquire of Offreds feelings and recollections. It is understandable why Atwood had chosen this form of narration, we can judgment that it is the best way to receive this information. further we later crack that the story was in fact aurally conveyed, and was documented later by a third party. This helps us understand the recruit of Offreds alternatively scattered thoughts, but this gives us a sense of cohesion, contrary to ones first beliefs. One would think that the sporadic news report causes confusion, but Atwood instead creates a sense of tenacity, as the thoughts compose into each other. The thoughts and recollections are triggered by events that happen in the present. As Offred goes through her daily routine, different things that happen cause Offred to obtain a chain of thoughts. The narrative is hence a perseverance of events and thoughts, at times even confusing to judge (whether contingency in the present or other(prenominal)). These shifts between different time frames are through with(p) well by Atwoods successful use of juxtaposition. The descriptions of past and present allow us to compare them, and it makes Gilead seem even worse than it is. And the pace of the thoughts and events change throughout, depending on the matter on hand. The beginning of the novel, for instance, is quite decompress paced, the time notice by the pendulum of the hallway clock, and the sound of the feet on the stairs out-of-door Offred! s room. The pace is slowed down in many places, especially in significant areas in the book such as chapter 2 and 13, and this is done by excessive detail - in the environment as well as in her own mind. In chapter 2 Offred goes rough to ex uncompounded her daily routine, and it is done in no hurry either. There is painfully slow impart as she describes her surroundings and emotions, piece shifting clog up and by between thoughts. This emphasises the nature of Offreds life, for she lives in a state slow monotony. Chapter 13 sees Offred napping, and recalling many images, that are a mix in of past and present. While the wording remains fairly impalpable over the majority of the novel, the build up to the Ceremony, which involves hints and foreshadows until the moment in chapter 16, the language in the chapter itself is quite direct. It is graphic and explicit to the end of wounding, and the face is made blunter by the rather shocking language used (ie., the profanity). The repetition of verbs and other words convey the revenue stamp of speed, action and rigorous movement - none of which are on a regular basis associated with making love. The overall atmosphere created then is a rather unpleasant. The situation is ridiculed by Offred, it is recalled in a cynical tone, with annoying and nipping comments. Most of these are in the form of blandishment questions, and some are ironic (but isnt this everyones tight dream, two women at once?). The anti-sensuous adjectives used are unpleasant ( pendulous, grievous, downward) and convey the true meaning of the situation. The sentences are short and the chapter itself in brief. And all this creates an uttermost(prenominal)ly negative feeling from which she detaches herself.
And the shock of this anticlimax, after all the build-up, leads to our understanding of the baleful undercurrents in Gilead. That the sacrament itself is not so big a deal as one would believe from the importance given to it by Gilead says something nigh its hypocrisy. All this slowly establishes a sympathy for Offred. We come crossways many characters in the story, from the lesbian activist Moira to the victim of the system Janine, but Atwood is careful to place their characters on the extreme side; Moira is quite outrageous in her ways (with her dress, which invariably is aimed to be eccentric, and her actions such when she escapes from the Red Centre - endlessly non-conformist), musical composition Janine becomes the inevitable enemy to Offred through her conversion and berth (being a victim of society she is a conformist, and sucks up to the Aunts). Offred basically is a wimp, the title courtes y of Moira. But our sympathies remain with Offred for many reasons. One, I would hope to be the most important, that Offred represents mother and miss in a system where this relationship no longer exists. Offred is one of the early handmaids that lived before Gilead started, so she has had experiences of a life very much different from now. She lived a life where there was love, something that is missing from the present time. Love? asks the Commander, its not the point. Offred, ab initio the nameless heroine, is someone we can relate to. The lack of a name reflects the effects of society on the individual - they become unimportant - and we sympathise with her because we want her regain her identity as an individual. And she can do this, and is a good heroine simply for the fact that she develops. And for the better, in our opinion. We naturally want her to beat the system, and succeed in her attempts to find love again. The reason we believe in her is because of her talent for development. From judge to cordially resisting to ! physiologically resisting, Offred is constantly developing while those some her remain in a state of nonoperational confusion. source with just passive comments of her dislike of the new system, she then develops a consistently resisting attitude towards the world around her (taking her time out at night and returning to the past whenever she can). At this point it is enough for the people around her such as Moira (in whose mien she feels safer) to play their part. Considering weapons such as Serena Joys shears in the tend and knives in the kitchen shows the next development in her mind, which is take to her physical involvement in her emotions and desires. Since Offred has Moira to inspire her, it is too late by the time she discovers of Moiras submission, for she has already gained momentum. Images of flowers are consistent throughout the textbook (where would we be without them? -Offred), but their connotations vary with the context. However what is uniform about each r eference is that they enhance the readers understanding of the different themes such as the role of the handmaids as well as that of the Wives. In chapter 3 we are introduced to the garden of Serena Joy, her domain where tulips spilling out colours of dark crimson, and irises rising beautiful and cool grow. It symbolises the profuseness of fertility, which is a theme that involves growing. The symbolism of the flowers in Serena Joys garden is grow in chapter 25, when Offred crosses it and notices the former cutting them. The idea of Serena Joy cutting off the genitialia of flowers, is symbolic of fertility, that which she does not have. And the flowers are used as a parallel to Offreds status, and her frame of mind. She finds the will of the flowers, bursting upwards similar to the mental resistance in her own mind, and hint to us the rebellion of those oppressed, or silenced, and how they clamour to be hear and are similar to the rebellious movement in Gilead itself. This poin t emphasises the oppression of Gilead, and the attitu! des of the oppressed, as well as the fact that Gileads sinister and twisted reality is reflected in all reinforcement things around Offred. The colours of the garden, described in chapter 25, are very intelligibly different to those to which we have by now become very wonted(a) to: red, green, blue and black. The colours of society are very intelligible and distinct, and they are illustrative of Gileads system, constantly reminding us of the strict rules. But here in the garden, the colours are different and of a completely other nature. Colours like light chromatic and velvet and purple give a different image, and we see the garden as a place full of life, which breathes and supports maintenance things like only the handmaids can know. This is a sharp private credit line to the grim dark reality of artificial Gilead, and suggests hope not only in Offred, who notices these signs, but also in all the lives that have been affected by Gilead. The other theme illustrated by ima gery throughout the novel is that of children, as Gileads whole purpose revolves around the production of children. Since the loss of her own child is a matter of great importance to her, Offred has her own images of children - which emphasise the disgust of a mother losing her child. She also sees such imagery in the environment around her. Some things seemingly trivial such as mens urinals, which she saw in the Red Centre, are in fact symbolic, and in her eyes babies coffins. The image of children is impose on the handmaids themselves, they are taught and treated like children at the Red Centre. This is also the cause of Offreds own images of children. Chapter 13 includes a modulation that is a recollection of Offreds past when the handmaids are Testifying. The handmaids learn by reciting verses and intoneing the lessons given by the Aunts, and have to raise their give to ask of something from the Aunts. This is a very simple(a) way of nurture considering the age of the ha ndmaids, and they are treated like this to the extent! that they are prisoners. They are helpless to the rules and discipline of the Aunts. This is illustrated in the passage by the unfortunate episode when Dolores is forced to wet the floor just because she is not given permission to go to the bathroom. But the handmaids answer to it is childish behaviour, an example of this is the way they chant Crybaby of their own accord when jeering at Janine in the same lesson. Some, like Janine herself, become part of the system. The society of Gilead is brutal but evidently realistic, as we can consider the factors take to it are by and large political. However, factors such as a nuclear holocaust create or at least contributing to a declining birth rate of Caucasians (as well as the decline itself) are also issues that are not contrasted to us in todays society. We are given a terrorise moral prophecy which by no means is interpreted so seriously as to be considered the future, but is realistic enough that we consider the implications. The purpose of the historical notes may have been to reveal many parts of the history of Gilead, but it for certain conveyed the message, that we must learn from history, which is not an unknown philosophy. That we dont is not the point, but that we try to understand and learn from it is most probably what Margaret Atwood was act to convey in the end. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website:
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