The Handmaid's Tale

A detailed Summary of The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a cautionary tale. It

touches on the dangers of making unquestioned assumptions about gender

relations, even within the feminist movement. The women in the tale had lost

a lot of power. They had lost what naturally considers them humans. They

lost their rights, their power, and their freedom. They were not permitted to

have their own possessions, can't read magazines, no friendships, and no

relationships whatsoever. The Handmaid's Tale warns against making

unitary judgments about gender and then infusing them with moral and

societal imperatives. Gender roles were implanted on their society through a

course of time. Though the women suffered and did not have a say in

anything; they struggled to maintain a certain mindset that would allow them

to accept the way things were being ran and to accept the fact that they were

looked down upon no more than an object. "My self is a thing I must now

compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not

The women at the time felt as if they did not have a choice. They felt as

if they were living on some ones command, in which they were. The

own interests and satisfactions. "We are not each other's, anymore. Instead, I

you what you are, is missing out on what makes you a human.

cause social illness. Mental irritation, and all the stress can cause mental

ds were used to give labor to children that weren't theirs once

novel is an unfinished story again. Perhaps, the ambiguous ending

(193)." The thought of not being important and being limited to the qualities

They are what the women aren't, and they make use of the women for their

Approximate Word count = 881
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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