The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood
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Book Summary Information
Author: Margaret AtwoodEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1998-03-16
ISBN: 038549081X
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Anchor
Book Reviews of The Handmaid's Tale
Book Review: You ought to be able to remember...
Summary: 5 Stars
I have recently re-read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, whom I consider to be one of the best living writers. This novel should certainly be read by anyone who not only enjoys writing (and the construction of it), yet more importantly it (the novel) deserves it's place alongside other 'Dystopian' novels read, taught and studied by male authors such as 1984 (George Orwell), Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) and Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury).
In one aspect then The Handmaid's Tale is a response to the male point of view (written by a male author) relating a future society. While Atwood is not the first female author to include a female protagonist within an imagined future society, (Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is one previous novel), her (Atwood's) novel is certainly more accessible given its length (which is comparable again to the shorter novels listed above, 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451). The whole aspect of questioning (society, self, religion) is one of the principle reasons (involved within the novel) that there are people who are opposed to this book being taught in schools (to high-school students in particular). Of course there are going to be people, (and people within systems), who would be disturbed by the content and theme of The Handmaid's Tale (sexuality, death, individuation, institutions), which is one of the reasons that make this novel so vital. The fact that it is written (told) through a female perspective is of course central to the novel and the circumstances that the character finds her self a part of.
Along with the overall questioning involved with the events happening in the novel (who has allowed this to happen and why?), we (as readers) also are questioning the validity of the tale which Atwood brilliantly weaves throughout by incorporating such passages as this: "This is a reconstruction. All of it is a reconstruction now, in my head, as I lie flat on my single bed rehearsing what I should or shouldn't have said, what I should or shouldn't have done, how I should have played it." (The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood, page 134). This `questioning' of the narrator's tale (and her `current' state of being) is continually reinforced by Atwood in the use of the language in the novel, which we are told in the epilogue has been reconstructed from tapes (spoken word). Atwood's understanding of the `visual sense' (or impression) of the printed word (in this future society writing is forbidden) is another reason this novel should be required reading alongside the `patriarchal' writings of Dystopian literature.
There have been many criticisms involving the plausibility of the events that create the society in The Handmaid's Tale in so short a time frame, yet one only has to look to Nazi Germany for an example of how quickly (and efficiently) a society can be changed and `social norms' accepted (this unfortunately is not the only example, just the most extreme). This of course disturbs us as readers (as it should) and results in our deniability in its portended involvement. The gross or unpleasant themes that are told through the character of Offred are relations of a reality that we would rather not envision. Certainly it is easier to ignore The Handmaid's Tale as trivial fiction or the collection of a disgruntled feminist writer (or as I have heard some men say "The rantings of a man hater"). One has to wonder though if those who hold these views have actually read the novel, or at least the whole novel and paid attention to its complex structure. The Handmaid's Tale is an eloquent example of the possibilities that the written word has to shape our understanding of our selves and our place in our real and our imagined world.
Summary of The Handmaid's Tale
In the world of the near future, who will control women's bodies?Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are only valued if their ovaries are viable.
Offred can remember the days before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now....
Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid's Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.
Atwood, Margaret Books
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