Handmaid's Tale 2
Many of the principles of Gilead are based on Old Testament beliefs. Discuss Atwoods use of biblical allusions and their political significance in the novel. 'The Handmaids Tale' is a book full of biblical allusions, before Atwood begins the text an epigraph gives us an extract from Genesis 30: 1-3 "And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel; and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her." This principle from the Bible is used throughout 'The Handmaids Tale', the principles being that it is the idea of both assemblages that a women's duty is to have children and that it is acceptable for a man to be angry if a women can not produce a child. Both these beliefs show that in jointly the Bible and 'The Handmaids Tale', women are completely defined by fertility and are classed as 'walking wombs'. 'The Handmaids Tale' recreates the selected stanzas from the bible with Jacob, Rachel, Leah and the two handmaids. The tale is an
Gileads official discourse is a hybridised rhetoric, which combines biblical language with traces of American capitalist phrases; for example, 'in God we trust' is the motto on the dollar bill. Marxism and feminism. It uses and abuses the bible in the same way as it uses the slogans of the liberal ideology it has overthrown. In such a society as Gilead it is clear that the leaders understand the power associated with language, it is an instrument of ideological control, and when put into the wrong hands, can be a main source of repression. Old Testament figures/names are given to the law enforcers in 'The Handmaids Tale' such as the 'Guardian Angels' and the 'Eyes of the Lord'
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1530
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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