Atwood was born on November 18, 1943 in Ottawa, Ontario. In her earlier years as a child, she lived in the Canadian wilderness where her father was an entomologist. He studied and observed insects. Atwood is the second of three children of Margaret Dorothy Kilam and Dr. Carl Edmund Atwood (Brimrose 3). Her parents were both strong and independent minded parents who wanted their children to be the same (3). The Atwoods were a mile, by water, to the nearest village. There was no radio, television, movie theater, or children, other than her brother who was two years older. She attributes her outsiders' eye to this unconventional childhood (Bedell 2). When Atwood finally go to venture into the city, all social groups seemed to her equally bizarre, all artefacts and habits peculiar

At the age of six, Atwood was writing poems, mortality plays, comic books, and an unfinished novel about an ant (Rice 3). Ten years later Atwood decided her goal in life is to write. She wanted to live a double life; to go places I haven't been; to examine people in ways, and at depths, that are otherwise impossible; to be surprised...to give back something of what [I have] received (3). Since the majority of her childhood was spent in the Canadian wilderness, finding her way through anything, canoeing, and hunting, Atwood developed a great deal of self-confidence (Brimrose 3) This self regard is recognized profoundly in her writing.

The main character in the book is Offred. She is a Handmaid to the Commander. Ironically, the Commanders name is Fred. There is no irony! Offreds' name literally mean Of-Fred. One never learns her real name because women are give new names to correspond with their owners. The women of Gilead are given arbitrary classifications: Wives, Widows, Daughters housemaids, amazons (Marthas), workers (Econowives), indoctrinators (Aunts), Unwomen, and Breeders (Handmaids). Aunts and breeders play the most important role in the novel. Aunts are the older women who train Handmaids for their duties. No women in the religious society may own money, or read. All the rights women worked so had to obtain, lost them to the very people who wrote them. Every female is given a specific duty and is brainwashed to obey. The men in this tale observe the violation of women as being the way it should be. In the novel the Commander says,

When Atwood first decided she wanted to become a writer she was convinced she was beating a dead horse. Atwood states that:

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Approximate Word count = 1859
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)