It is very obvious that The Handmaid's Tale is an argument for feminism … They go to the Wall where bodies of traitors are displayed. Argumentative Essay on the Handmaids Tale . She spends time recalling her own life and Nick breaks the rules by speaking to her. The entirety of her independence has been striped away from her. That same night, the Commander takes Offred to Jezebels, a club for Commanders who want to sleep with prostitutes. The. English Department, College of Humanities, Sichuan Agricultural University , Ya’an, Sichuan, China . She can’t go anywhere without permission, she’s not allowed to read, close her door, or show any individual personality. Additionally, there is the title of the book itself, The Handmaid’s Tale. The color appears in the Handmaid’s clothes as well as in Serena’s garden. (Such as that of Rachel and Leah). Offered is a Handmaid, a woman assigned to have children for an elite infertile couple, in this case, Fred and Serena Joy. Offred describes the steps of the ceremony and the run-in she had with her doctor who offered to have sex with her in order to get her pregnant. These flashbacks provide the reader with the information they need to understand how Offred got to where she is and what happened to her family. Analysis of The Handmaid’s Tale “Historical Notes” The Handmaid´s Tale is a dystopian novel whose mode of narration is satirical and which also belongs in the postmodern trend in contemporary literature. As three Econowives pass by in mourning for a stillborn fetus, Offred and Ofglen place hands over their hearts in a gesture of sympathy. The handmaid’s tale is an imaginary novel written by Margaret Atwood a Canadian author. The story concludes with the reader, or Offred, knowing whether she’s being taken to safety or being captured by the people she’s terrified of. She is not outspoken, nor is she submissive. Offred is not the protagonist’s true name. Offred goes shopping with Ofglen; Nick winks at her. Analysis of Feminism in The Handmaid’s Tale . Although it is less obvious than some of the themes in the novel, storytelling is quite important. The Handmaid’s Tale is a critique of anti-abortion rhetoric and some reproductive technologies. Offred gradually delivers information about her past and the world in which she lives, often narrating through flashbacks. Around this time, Ofglen, a member of Mayday who she has befriended, commits suicide in order to escape torture at the hands of Gilead’s secret police. Instant downloads of all 1408 LitChart PDFs (including The Handmaid’s Tale). Additionally, Atwood uses numerous examples of allusion. The University is one of the less obvious symbols in the novel. Serena promises to give Offred a picture of her daughter in return for doing so. He asks her to kiss him. See a complete list of the characters in The Handmaid’s Tale and in-depth analyses of Offred, The Commander, Serena Joy, Moira, Luke, and Aunt Lydia. Home » Margaret Atwood » The Handmaid's Tale » The Handmaid’s Tale Analysis. Summary. There are moments of nostalgia as well when Offred pines for the past and the family she used to have. Abstract: The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, acclaimed dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985. She refuses, knowing the risks of such a proposition. The Commander gives Offred a magazine to read. Men in this book seem to rule society and are given the highest of jobs. There, they play scrabble and he allows her to read old Vogue magazines, two things which are strictly prohibited. At the end of The Handmaid’s Tale, Nick tells Offred that Mayday, or perhaps the Eyes, are there to pick her up and rescue her. Makeup is a complex symbol in the novel. In the present action, Offred fights to see herself as a person despite the fact that her Commander and his Wife view her as a little more than a walking uterus. If a story is going to make use of one of these themes, it is likely only going to be successful if it uses the other. The importance of women is very clear in The Handmaid's Tale and also makes the reader aware of the need for women. Offred remembers Aunt Lydia’s words at the Red Center. Her freedom is completely restricted. The Handmaid’s Tale is undeniably Atwood’s most famous novel.It is one of many that she has written, and far from the only dystopian novel, in her lifetime. Hope and happiness are few are far between and Offred only just makes it from day to day in her life. The novel was published in the year 1985 and was set in the New England where the Christian supremacist overthrows the United States government. It has been transformed into a detention center out of which the Eyes, Gilead’s secret police, operate. The main character, Offred, tells her story through a series of flashbacks and remembrances that detail her marriage, her child, and her capture. Previous Next . Offred recalls attempting to escape with Luke. Offred and the Commander sleep together while there, an experience that Offred has to pretend to enjoy. In regards to figurative language, Atwood uses metaphors and similes throughout the novel in order to create the most poignant images she could. Throughout the novel, Margaret Atwood uses a nonlinear style of writing. It is an allusion to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and the various “tales” that make it up. As The Handmaid’s Tale progresses, Offred learns more and more about the society she’s now a part of and the darkness has no bounds. He describes Offred’s account of the events and reveals through a sexist joke that gender issues still persist. The Handmaid's Tale is an American dystopian tragedy television series created by Bruce Miller, based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Canadian author Margaret Atwood.The series was ordered by the streaming service Hulu as a straight-to-series order of 10 episodes, for which production began in late 2016. It at once symbolizes felinity and the lost freedom that Offred longs for as well as control. Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "aa2d0afe91e6b25ae072cfa2e6890d7f" );document.getElementById("j456135186").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Summary. Serena takes Offred to Nick so that they might have sex and conceive a child. She’d then have been able to pass the child off as her Commander’s. This does not exclude the wives of the Commanders. All this was facilitated by technological progress: She uses butter on occasion to moisturize her skin. She jumps between the main narrative, that of Offred in Gilead, and Offred’s accounts of the past. They no longer have to wear it, nor do they have to think about their appearance. Tone Genre What's Up With the Title? Serena discovers Offred went to the club with the Commander. It is a combination of the word “of” and her assigned Commander’s name, in this case, Fred. This theme is reinforced at the end of the story when Atwood concludes with “Historical Notes on the Handmaid’s Tale”. Serena is Fred’s wife. The Handmaid's Tale is an American dystopian drama television series created by Bruce Miller, based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood.The plot features a dystopian future following a Second American Civil War wherein a totalitarian society subjects fertile women, called "Handmaids", into child-bearing slavery. It is built around the themes of oppression/rebellion, gender roles, and religion, in addition to rebellion/hope. After a shopping trip one day, Serena Joy tells Offred to have sex with Nick in an effort to get pregnant, and Offred agrees. Find a summary of this and each chapter of The Handmaid's Tale! The superscription "The Handmaid's Tale" was appended to it by Professor Wade, partly in homage to the great Geoffrey Chaucer […]. Home » Margaret Atwood » The Handmaid's Tale » The Handmaid’s Tale Summary. Nick tells Offred that the resistance is there to take her away. The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a near future in the USA. Other Handmaids sit in the waiting room. There are a few moments in which Offred reminds the reader of this fact, such as when she considers if anyone is ever going to hear her story. The color red is one of the most important symbols in the novel. Analysis of Key Moments in The Handmaid’s Tale. Find summaries for every chapter, including a The Handmaid's Tale Chapter Summary Chart to help you understand the book. Offred worries about what happened to her husband, Luke. Offred and Ofglen attend a Prayvaganza, celebrating arranged marriages. Despite repeated Ceremonies, Offred is still not pregnant (suggesting that the Commander is infertile). We later find out this is called the Women's Center. Essays for The Handmaid’s Tale. She develops a relationship with Nick and brakes the rules with the Commander. The book, set in New England in the near future, posits a Christian fundamentalist theocratic regime, the Republic of Gilead, in the former United States that arose as a response to a fertility crisis. Women have lost control of their bank accounts, their homes, their families, and, most importantly, their bodies. They go to the Wall where bodies of traitors are displayed. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is Margaret Atwood’s dystopian masterpiece. Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale Chapter Summary. The Historical Notes from Professor Pieixoto conclude the novel. She recalls an affair she had with a married man, Luke, his divorce from his first wife, and the child the two had together. Here, the professor regards Offred’s story as something very much of the past, but the words he uses and a joke he tells remind the reader that it might not be so far distant. She is the protagonist and the narrator of the story, although her reliability is questionable as she does try to alter the stories to make them better for her readers. In Gilead, reproduction is taken out of women’s control. They have to submit to a monthly “Ceremony” in which they have to sleep with the Commander they are assigned to. It appears throughout the story associated with the Handmaid’s, shame, sex/passion, as well as fertility. The Commander takes Offred to the club for commanders. A group of the right-wing fundamentalists has assassinated the American President, over-thrown the elected Congress and denied both jobs and education to women. Therefore, against all rules, Serena tells Offred that she should sleep with Nick, their chauffeur, and gardener. Compelling sex upon them, anticipating that they should deal with […] Created by Bruce Miller. She spends her days living as a traditional, upper-class … this, coupled with violence against women, led to the rise of Gilead and the restrictive gender roles it creates. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is set in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian state that has sprung up in what used to be the United States of America. Rather, it blends a number of approaches and formats in a radical departure from predictable sci … The Wife/Serena Joy. Offred remembers Aunt Lydia’s words at the Red Center. Offred goes shopping with Ofglen; Nick winks at her. She is a covert rebel that indulges in small acts of rebellion that give her s… Get the entire The Handmaid’s Tale LitChart as a printable PDF. Handmaid's Tale. Within ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Margaret Atwood taps into several important themes. Offred’s telling of her life in Gilead at the center, Offred says “We are containers, it’s only the inside of our bodies that are important”. Commentdocument.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "af5b9c201f66dad028c73b1d8a82332c" );document.getElementById("a70e816c12").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. They have sex; she sees Moira. As The Handmaid’s Tale progresses, Offred learns of the existence of Mayday, an organization working to overthrow Gilead. Their single purpose in life is to have children for elite, infertile couples. The Handmaid's Tale literature essays are academic essays for citation. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. When we see her again, she's been working for five weeks as a Handmaid. When it is Offred's turn to have her fertility and general health checked, she goes into a … Analysis Of The Media Message In The Handmaid’s Tale A near-future dystopia where women are forced into reproductive slavery to bear the children of the elite, The Handmaid’s Tale is transmitted through the medium of television and online streaming. Under the guise of religion, Gilead control its citizens, from Handmaid to Martha and Wife in a very particular way. Although Offred is not given makeup or even lotion, she does the best she can to take care of herself. A one-of-a-kind tour de force, Margaret Atwood's futuristic The Handmaid's Tale refuses categorization into a single style, slant, or genre. Setting What's Up With the Epigraph? Offred rebels in her own, less obvious way as well. She was taken, along with Moira and many other fertile women, to the Rachel and Lead Re-education Center, simply known as the “Red Center” by the women who lived there. Literary analysis of “The Handmaid’s Tale” Essay September 29, 2020 by Essay Writer ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is a feminist novel that highlights the perils of women in a society that has not only dehumanized their status but also made it almost criminal to be a woman. Young fertile women, such as Offred, have been rounded up and reeducated in the belief system of Gilead. In another break from her newfound routine, the Commander asks Offred to join him in his study one night. One of the most noteworthy is on page ninety-six when Offred says “We are containers, it’s only the inside of our bodies that are important”. Read a Plot Overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter Summary and Analysis. The two develop a genuine connection and begin to meet without anyone’s knowledge. Margaret Atwood ’s The Handmaid’s Tale is set in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian state that has sprung up in what used to be the United States of America. Keywords: The Handmaid’s Tale; Feminism ; Gender Equality . In it, readers are provided with a harrowingly realistic first-person account of a society ruled by religion, gender violence, and oppression. There is a passage in the novel in which the Commander describes to Offred why Gilead was formed and what it was about feminism that offended the male population so fundamentally. Analysis: Chapters 1–5. The Handmaid’s Tale. The Handmaid’s Tale plunges immediately into an unfamiliar, unexplained world, using unfamiliar terms like “Handmaid,” “Angel,” and “Commander” that only come to make sense as the story progresses. He creates an excuse for controlling the women around him, although one he appears to believe, about how he felt as though he lost his purpose in life as a provider and protector. She crafted much of the novel around Biblical principles of how a woman should act. She struggles to balance her desire to escape her new prison with her own safety and that of her daughter who she desperately wants to see. After Offred’s story, there is a metafictional epilogue told from the perceptive of Professor Pieixoto in the year 2195. As a Handmaid she is forced to have sex with her Commander, in order to get pregnant, once a month in what is known as the Ceremony. Summary. Chapter Summary for Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, chapter 12 summary. Offred arrives at Fred and Serena Joy’s home to become their new Handmaid. The hierarchy in their world is incredibly important. The Handmaid's Tale Analysis. (Historical Notes.12) So what the Professor would like us to believe is that what we just read are transcriptions he and another scholar made of these tapes, which they then put in … At the same time, she’s drawing closer to the Commander by necessity and learning more about the military structure of the government. There, bodies hang off the walls that surround the college.