This material is available only on bibliotequer
16 Jan 2020 
admin 
Margaret Atwood created a compelling story of a dystopian near future (though it technically takes place somewhere around 2005). Though it was written in 1985, the novel seems even more relevant today when issues of misogyny and abortion rights abound. The Handmaids Tale takes place in the totalitarian theonomy Gilead, which is spread over most of the USA after an extremist group called the Sons of Jacob took over the government. They gave women very few rights and installed a hierarchy for them:Wives: This is the highest rank in women. They are the wives of Commanders, who are the highest rank in men. They are dressed in blue, except when their husband dies, when they become Widows and must dress in black.Daughters: These are the natural or adopted daughters of the Wives and Commanders. They wear white until their arranged marriage, at which point they become Wives and must wear blue.Handmaids: The titular Handmaids always wear all red except for a white bonnet. If a Wife is infertile (which most are since fertility is rare in Gilead) a Handmaid is assigned to their household to provide children with the Commander. If the Handmaid fails to do it, then they get sent to the Colonies, which are on the edges of Gilead, and clean up nuclear waste until they die of radiation poisoning.Aunts: The Aunts are the trainers of the Handmaids and police of the Handmaids, often beating or maiming them. They dress in brown.Marthas: Marthas are older infertile women who are very compliant. They are the servants of the Commanders and their wives. They dress in green.Econowives: Econowives are the wives of the lower class. They are expected to perform domestic duties, be good companions, and bear children. They are dressed in striped red, blue, and green, to reflect the three different duties.The novel is from the perspective of a handmaid named Offred (meaning of Fred showing how her Commander owns her). The plot consistently skips between her life now and her life before Gilead, when she was married to a man named Luke and had a young daughter. This can be slightly confusing at times because she doesnt remember a lot of things, but it is interesting overall. The novel describes her life before the government was taken over, and how she was taken away from the security of her family, and her daughter was ripped away from her
and adopted by a Commander and his wife. It also describes womens rights being taken away from them. For example, she is fired from her job and her boss tells her women arent allowed to have jobs anymore. Atwood describes the brutal experience of her being trained to be a Handmaid, which included being beaten, being forced to watch horrifying movies, and shaming other women. And finally, it describes her struggle for her freedom, which was complicated by her difficulties to communicate with the Mayday resistance. This quote from the book clearly shows the situation of the Handmaids: A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze. (p. 165).Another relevant issue in the novel is Offreds struggle to find a voice in a nation where no one listens to women. Women will be punished severely in Gilead if they try to speak their voice, especially Marthas or Econowives. Some would rather commit suicide than be taken away, as shown when Offreds friend Ofglen hangs herself when its discovered that shes part of the Mayday resistance and will be punished severely. Although this book is fiction, many women still struggle with gender equality today. This makes the book all the more resonant to todays generation of readers. This is shown by current events in first world countries such as the #MeToo movement, abortion rights, and women receiving less pay, even if they are in the same position as a man. These issues are even worse in other countries, where women have to cover their faces, not allowed to leave the house without a man, and, in some places, not even allowed to go to school.As an example of a situation similar to events in The Handmaids Tale, in 1966, Nicolae Ceauescu, the communist leader of Romania, made abortion and contraception illegal with a bill called Decree 770. The bill lasted until 1990. In The Handmaids Tale, there are very few fertile women remaining because of pollution and radiation. As such, abortion and contraception are considered murder in Gilead and women have very little control over their choices.The emotions in this book and Offreds struggle feel very real and raw. The only complaint I have is how Offreds fate remained uncertain at the end. However, Atwood wrote a sequel this year called The Testaments, and I assume this book cleared up most of the uncertainty. Also, this book has been made into both a 1990 movie and a very popular 2017 Hulu TV series, which now has three seasons and explains more about the book.I would recommend this book to people who understand the debate about womens rights and about the issues in the USA. I would probably recommend it to ages 15+.Different Character:I wouldve found it interesting if it were from the perspective of Offreds Commander. The novel never really talked about how the men feel about Gilead and the hierarchy in it. Do they enjoy the feeling of power over the women or do some of them resent it? I think that the perspective would be very different if a Commander was the main character in the story. It would probably explain why he decided to enter in a relationship with both Offred and the Handmaid before her, who ended up committing suicide when the Commanders wife Serena Joy found out. It would explain what the Commander did before he was a Commander in Gilead. Its implied that he was some kind of scientist and may have been involved in market research and may have even helped start the creation of Gilead. If it was from his perspective, it would explain if he really did that. It could also explain what his real identity was. After the end of the book, there is a metafictional epilogue that takes place in 2195, at the 12th Symposium of Gilead. This is the only part of the book to be partially narrated by a man, Professor James Darcy Pieixoto, who is talking to the audience about the discovery of a series of tape cassettes dubbed The Handmaids Tale. However, he is somewhat oblivious to the true importance of it and even makes a sexist joke about his colleague Professor Maryann Crescent Moon. He also doesnt know if the Commander is either Frederick R. Waterford or B. Frederick Judd. If it were from the perspective of the Commander, it would reveal which one he is.