Saturday, May 23, 2020

commentry on the handsmaid tale - 1141 Words

This novel is an account of the near future, a dystopia, wherepollution and radiation has rendered countless women sterile, and the birthrates of North America are dangerously declining. A puritan theocracy nowcontrols the former United States called the Republic of Gilead andHandmaids are recruited to repopulate the state. This novel containsAtwoods strong sense of social awareness, as seen in the use of satire tocomment on different social conditions in the novel. The HandmaidsTale is a warning to young women of the post-feminist 1980s and after,who began taking for granted the rights that had been secured for womenby the women before them. The environmental danger of pollution and radiation run off from powerplants is commented on†¦show more content†¦She explained later toOffred that he was no rapist, only a member of the undergroundrebellion. She wanted to end his suffering. Due to the lack open rebellion, Offreds society is faced with thecomplete loss of freedom. Women are now forbidden any kind ofcommunication. They have to lead a life of servitude and are stripped of allpersonal possessions, of their families, and finally their identities. Theyare all replaceable, categorized objects, Handmaids who are deemedinfertile are sent to the colonies to die. The women are also made to wearuniforms and are named to be defined in their relation to men, forexample Offred serves Fred, and his wife is known only as Wife. Theuniforms in Gilead categorize each group by colour, this serves to segregatethem, like the Jews during World War II. The Wives, who are the higheston the list, wear only light blue. The Handmaids must wear red and theMarthas wear brown. The men all wear similar military uniforms. TheHandmaids uniform is reminiscent of women in the Middle East, becausethey are made to hide the womens bodies and prevent them from beingseen: quot;I get up out of the chair, advance my feet into the sunlight, in theirred shoes, flat-heeled to save the spine and not for dancing. The redgloves are lying on the bed. I pick them up, pull them onto my hands,finger by finger. Everything except the wings around my face is red:the

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