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Handmaid's Tale

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Picture a world, not far in the future; consisting of low birth rates, oppressed females, religions, constant wars, and a never-ending battle for freedom of thought. That is the type of setting presented in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. This book tells the tale of Offred, who happens to be one of the few handmaids in the world. A Handmaid is a woman who is used as a tool for the leaders of the world in order to procreate. Sound scary? You have no idea. Atwood describes a world full of fear and oppression that is easily portrayed through the narrative of Offred. With her harrowing words, Offred describes the people, places, and her thoughts quite clearly, leaving readers only in the wake of her emotions. She speaks to the readers personally about her contact with an underground organization, her past, the events leading up to the present, her secret affair, and much much more. All I can say is that this book holds you in a grip of anticipation and mystery as to how the set of events will unfold. The only thing you can do while reading this book, is to hold on for a wild ride of excitement and suspense. This book is a change from Atwood's common writing style, but she seems to handle it like a pro. You will definitely feel a sense of satisfaction when you put this book down. I highly recommend it.

If you're one for a novel that is truly off the beaten path, then stop--you've just found it. THE HANDMAID'S TALE is the most riveting and explosive thing I've read since Jackson McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD (which completely blew me away). The story alone, even if it had been poorly written, is incredible, but what the author does with this material makes the telling all the more powerful. Wow! This is one great read!

Atwood has a way with words. Her sentences are often poetic, but can be stark and abrupt, chopped off. At times this is intriguing but at other times irritating. This is a speculative novel about a newly established territory, Gilead, in north-eastern America, ruled by a secretive despotic regime. The Handmaid is Offred (her imposed Gileaden name), who is confined to an asylum where women are kept to breed a new generation of superior beings fathered by privileged "Commanders." She tells her story biographically. Often she has memory backflashes of her pre-Gilead life, her childhood, her mother, her husband Luke and their daughter. These recollections frequently surface mid-paragraph and even mid-sentence, which, as the mind works, is realistic but can be annoying for the reader who has to pause and sort out her present from her past.

Offred's somber tale describes a bleak situation that can be characterized as suffocating, lacking airiness. Her life is dreary and tedious, filled with obscure anguish. The overall theme is that women are helpless victims to men's schemes rooted in fascistic power structures legitimized by quasi-religious creeds and rituals. Instead of toeing the line, as she fails to conceive, Offred succumbs to her own need for emotional and physical diversion but these experiences only conspire to ensnare her rather than liberate. The last third of the book made it worthwhile for me but I thought the appendaged "Historical Notes" distracted from and complicated what would have been a furtively simple open-ended conclusion.

Religious fundamentalism, patriarchial oppression and political fascism are topics Atwood has woven into The Handmaid's Tale to interplay with a disconsolate feministic undertone.

The Handmaid's Tale - by Margaret Atwood

THE HANDMAID'S TALE is a frightening look at a not too distant future where sterility is the norm, and fertile woman are treated as cattle, to produce children for the upper class who cannot have any. The narrator Offred, as she is called in her new life, is the Handmaid for a top Commander in the new government. Once a month she is tested by a gynecologist to ensure that she is healthy, and then is taken to the Commander and his wife in the hopes of becoming pregnant.

Offred, along with the other handmaid's, are not allowed to look directly at anyone else. They all wear the same outfits; red long dresses and headgear that cover their bodies. They live together, spend most of their time together, and are taken care of, in the hopes that they will produce children for this barren society. In this society, most women are not allowed to read, and are treated as if they have no minds. The government dictates their role in society. If they disobey, they are punished severely.

Offred's memories often go back to a time when she was happily married to Luke, and with their daughter they were looking forward to a long and happy life together. Things changed when a military group took over the government, and immediately their lives as they knew it were over. Women lost all rights to ownership; bank accounts were frozen, land was taken away; fertile women were taken away from their husbands and families. A handful of older women were made into 'Aunts', and their duties were to instruct and guide the handmaids, reminding them of their role on this earth, which is to procreate.

I have to say that my feelings during this book were of shock. In some sense, what has happened in this book has already happened in other parts of the world and can happen again. The control over women is very much like that of the women in Afghanistan. The control over religious choice brings to mind Nazi Germany, as one of the issues in the Handmaid's Tale is the elimination of anyone that refuses to be as one with the new government - religious persecution is justified and encouraged.

The Handmaid's Tale is a horrifying story of a government fully in control of each person's life and totally out of control. The book was so riveting that it took me only one day to read. I highly recommend this novel.

I have read "The Handmaid's Tale" a number of times, both in English original and in Croatian translation (a pretty good one). First time I read it, it was because I have found it in a library of a Women's Study Centre in Zagreb, Croatia, so I expected it to be "feminist literature", and was therefore a bit cautious about it, thinking it would be some kind of pamphlet for women's liberation. Of course, I did not know anything about Margaret Atwood back then. First thing this book taught me is that M. Atwood is, above all, a great author, and that "The Handmaid's Tale" is a piece of plain good literature.

The somewhat circular narrative centres around and is being told from the perspective of Offred, a woman living in Republic of Gilead, the dystopian, future theocracy established on the teritory of today's United States of America. Gilead's government is organized by a group of very specific religious fanatics, basing their theology on a couple of chapters from the Old Testament, specifically the story about Sarah, Abraham's wife, who could not bear children, and therefore had given Abraham her handmaid, Hagar, to concieve children with her. Also written in that chapter is God's command to Hagar to completely submit to her mistress, and Abraham's observation that Sarah is to do whatever she pleases with her handmaid.

That is the point from which the treatment of handmaids is derived in the Republic of Gilead. As the increasingly polluted land caused infertility withing majority of women, the fertile ones, especially those who have been either married to divorced men (theocracy of Gilead does not recognize divorce), or single, but not virgins, are taken as "handmaids" to be awarded to high ranking families without children.

Offred has been given to the family of The Commander, one of the highest ranking officials of Gilead, married to Serena Joy, a bitter and slightly desillusioned fanatic. Her narrative focuses on describing daily routines in their household, her experiences and her memories of a past, normal life, with a husband and a daughter.

Apart from political description of Gilead's ideology (which is given masterfully, without unneccessary and boring descriptions, yet with frightening details), the main value of this book lies in Offred's introspection. She is a person completely determined by her biological function as a woman and a child-bearer, completely deprived of any other individual merrits or rights. The way Offred deals with that is beautifully portrayed; sometimes in a flow that resembles free-association ("It's strange now, to think about having a job. Job. It's a funny word. It's a job for a man. Do a jobbie, they'd say to children, when they were being toilet-trained. Or of dogs: he did a job on the carpet...The Book of Job."), sometimes completely ripped-off of any emotions, yet almost physically hurtful with recognition and fear of it possibly coming true.

Granted, Margaret Atwood did write about a woman deprived of her rights in a male-dominated world here, but I don't believe it is a feminist pamphlet. It's a book about human condition, as any other good book; talking about what people are capable of doing, good or bad.

Another note. This, of course, is a speculative fiction, a dystopian one, like Huxley's "Brave New World" or Orwell's "1984". However, I have heard many people say that this one is the least probable one in terms of ever becoming a reality, and therefore fruitless in its message. To these people, I would recommend reading some news from Afghanistan, since Talibans took over.

I could probably make a case for the implausibility of the concept that the book puts forward, but only if I got specific, the situation where people (men or women) are used as merely property and not allowed to have any rights of their own still happens all over the world, whether you like it or not. Ms. Atwood is too smart to try and predict what the future might bring, instead she merely illustrates what happens when you stop regarding people as people, when rights of a few take precedence over the rights of everyone else (for the sake of expediency, alas). In this wacky world, women aren't allowed to read or write due to an ultra-Christian (?) (they quote from the Bible) takeover of the country. Women are divided into Aunts, Marthas, Wives and of course the Handmaiden's, who exist to have children and are given to various Commanders to try and make kids. The novel concerns itself with the story of Offred (Of Fred) and it flips back and forth between her life before the takeover, during her education in those dark days before the present time and her current life as a Handmaiden. Atwood protrays all of this in very poetic language, the words she chooses are sometimes breaktaking, but mostly it's in the images she puts forward and in the general aura that the novel is given. There's a sense of inevitable helplessness, Offred isn't going to change the world by herself and the world isn't going to change in the next day, she realizes that and still wants to fight but isn't sure how. The flashbacks are all rendered quite nicely, and given the right sense of eerie timelessness. The story is never given a date so it could happen anytime but the point illustrated is more important than the details. Some might find her a bit too immersed in the concept, the story tends to float blissfully along but she never gets preachy and even though has the country taken over by an orthodox Christian group, she's not bashing Christainity, just about any religion has buried in it somewhere the same primitive attitudes about women. But for me, it's about more than women, it's about people and what happens when all of a sudden people are property, how it dehumanizes everyone, even as you try to remain as human as you can. A fine story, with the people brought vividly to life, warts and all, and one gives one pause to think. Also, don't skip the historical section in the back, it's a bit wordy and academic and doesn't really explain the cliffhanger ending any better, but gives a better glimpse in everything. All it takes is a little perspective, I guess.

Just perfectly wonderful. If you are a fan of "1984" by George Orwell you will be pleased by this fantastic but so realistic story.
Great, great, great and great again!

The Handmaid's Tale is fashioned as a dystopia, with an emphasis on feminism. The novel takes place in the late twentieth-century Republic of Gilead after an extremist right-wing group takes contol of what was formerly known as the United States. The main character is Offred, a Handmaid whose sole task in society is based on her biological function to produce children. Due to environmental pollution, a scourge of declining birthrates has befallen the nation. The Gileadean solution, essentially what critic Karen Stein calls "state-sanctioned rape," is a monthly fertilization ritual of the handmaids by the Commander of the Faith appropriated to them by the government. Thus originates Offred's name, literally denoting her status as a possession of Fred.

Under the guise of religious salvation, the Gileadean regime builds a social structure that is rigid, oppressive, and above all, misogynistic. Women in Gilead, "two-legged wombs [...] sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices," are valued solely for their fertility. As complacency replaces the strong wills of the independent woman around Offred, her hope diminishes as well. In her horrifying tale, Margaret Atwood emphasizes the idea that the oppression on women in a totalitarian state is powerful enough to destroy the human will.

By exaggerating some existing misogynistic attitudes and intertwining them with an affecting plot and characters, Atwood finds similar success in her endeavors to shed light upon and caution against a horrific societal treatment of women. Although it's just as depressing as fellow dystopias 1984 and Brave New World, it's more beautifully written. Like the two other novels, however, it's frighteningly plausible and in some places feels all too familiar. I highly recommend this book to men and women. Read it even if you don't think it's "your type." This fascinating story is creative and in depth- it is not to be missed.

I fail to see how people classify this work as a feminist novel. As a matter of fact, there are several places where the author makes some acerbic jabs at feminist theory and actions. The future presented in this book is not necessarily totally a fundamentalist extreme- it also takes feminism to its extreme, with the idea of "protecting" women from everything- even themselves, in the end.

The other thing I see often complained about regarding this book is the characterization. I found it to be refreshing in that the characters weren't overly strong or daring- they were normal people, with doubts and fears, anger and loneliness. I could identify with Offred's reactions to certain things, and that made the book, which dragged at times, easier to get through.

I think I see this as more of a warning about how all extremes are bad than a feminist or antiChristian rant. You just have to read this one carefully.

In the modern era very few authors have taken the time and effort to maintain the classical writing style that was so prevalent during the 19th and 20th centuries. At present, the reading public is more concerned with action, sexual innuendos and excitement of a plot line rather than what previously dictated skill of what is required to be 'good writing skills'. Margaret Atwood, regardless of how one feels about the content of her books, has never ignored these age-old tenets. 'The Handmaid's Tale' is no exception. Written in 1st Person Singular we see the dystopic world of Gilead through a single handmaiden's eyes and her eyes alone. The result of this process not only allows the reader to closely identify and empathize with the lead character but, also, we become aware of the acts and events that are occurring around her that she has little, or no, awareness of. What is equally intriguing about this style is that we are quickly taken from current to past events, from memories into present thoughts and on into dreams. As it should for any successful novel, a great deal of work and concentration is required by the reader to maintain the flow of the plot while these rapid personal impulses are presented to you. The flow of the novel itself mimics the styles of E.A.Poe insomuch that we are given a foil with which to compare our heroines character, the slow building of a sequence of events which lead to the denouement, the rapid closure at the novel's climax and an equally critical short period whereby we, as a reader, can draw a degree of closure from the preceding events.

Reading this novel, to me, was an extreme pleasure if for no other reasons than those I mentioned above. However, the dystopic world view, remembering it was written in the '80s, is equally as powerful. Is such a social milieu possible in the future? Probably not. But the point of this presentation is on of deeper-lying symbolism of our present situation rather than as being a foolproof predictor of future events.

Atwood is not only an author that Canada should be proud of, but should be equally recognized around the world. The only failure of this text to me is the cover itself. While I realize that it, too, is meant to be merely symbolic representation of secrecy and obedience, an unknowing reader may reject the book outright because they feel this book may have its leanings towards physical mutilations.