The Handmaid's Tale

A detailed Summary of The Handmaid's Tale

In The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, Atwood has created an Orwellian society. Atwood uses The Handmaid's Tale as a warning of what could happen in the future if we are not careful. Present day society could easily go along the same route as the Republic of Gilead by lack of freedoms, sexual discrimination and lack of privacy. Offred is our guide to lead us against an Orwellian society.

If we are not careful, we will become like the Republic of Gilead and have no freedoms. The oppressive regime in Gilead has restricted all forms of freedom as a way of protection. "There is more than one kind of freedom . . . Freedom to and freedom from . . . Now you are being given freedom from" (Atwood, 24). The government is trying to prove that the lack of freedoms is a way to protect the general society. However, the lack of freedoms is just a way for the government to retain power and to protect its best interests. A lack of freedoms would lead to more rebellions like there are in Gilead. At the Salvagings, crimes can no longer be read aloud, as they " . . . found that such a public account, especially when televised, is invariably followed by a rash . . . of exactly similar crimes" (259). It proves that Gilead is a state so

fragile and oppressive that they even have to censure the thoughts of their citizens. There is very little that the citizens of Gilead have access to. "The sun is free, it is still there to be enjoyed" (159). The only things citizens have access to, are the things that the government cannot control. If present day society went the way of Gilead, there would be no happiness.

Not only would there be lack of freedoms, but also sexual discrimination. In Gilead, women have no sexual choice. They are assigned partners and have no opportunity for sexual liberation. The sexual needs of women often go unattested to, because women don't have much say in when they would like to make love. " . . . the Commander fucks, with a regular two-four marching stroke, on and on like a tap dripping" (88). Offred obviously receives no physical pleasure during the procreation ceremony with the Commander. She is merely a vessel to carry the Commander's seed. Atwood described the ceremony quite graphically to show us what Western society to could possibly be faced with in years to come. In Gilead, there is no opportunity for homosexuals. "Gender Treachery" (41) is considered a crime against the state and punishable to death. In fact, everyone in Gilead is sexually repressed. There are no freedoms for anyone. Spontaneity and sensuality is completely removed from sex when there are ceremon

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Approximate Word count = 938
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English