The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood
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Book Reviews of The Handmaid's Tale
Book Review: Atwood's Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
"I wish this story were different. I wish it were more civilized. I wish it showed me in a better light, if not happiness, then at least more active." So says master writer Margaret Atwood regarding her tour de force, The Handmaid's Tale. Set in the present-day Massachusetts of the future, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is the chilling portrayal of a totalitarian society as told through the eyes of a Handmaid named Offred. Offred, who can remember the time when she had a home, a husband and a daughter, now serves as a "birth vessel" and is valued only for her powers of reproduction.Offred (her name was derived from "of" and the name of her own Commander, "Fred") is forced to live her life in a new dictatorship called the Republic of Gilead. Offred is allowed to leave her Commander's home only once each day; her freedom, like that of other ordinary civilians, has been stripped from her and she exists at the mercy of the heads of state who are known as the Commanders.
The Republic of Gilead, however, is a society in the midst of crisis. Its land and atmosphere have been polluted by nuclear waste and all but a handful of the population has been rendered barren. Those infertile women, women who will never, or never again, reproduce, are known as "Unwomen," and are sent to the Colonies where they must toil as laborers with no privileges, working to clean up the nuclear waste. The only exceptions are the infertile Wives of the Commanders. Women lucky enough to still retain their fertility, like Offred, are considered a treasured "object" of society and one whose role is to bear children for the Wives of the Commanders who cannot. In the Republic of Gilead they have a saying, "There's no such thing as a sterile man...there are only women who are barren." Offred, though, knows that in this nuclear aftermath, sterile men do, indeed, exist, and so she prays for a baby; not a baby that she, herself, wants to love, but one that will keep her from the dreaded fate of the "Unwomen."
Many of the events in The Handmaid's Tale are derived from the biblical story of Leah and Rachel and Atwood has chosen to use many biblical names throughout the book. There are Handmaids and Marthas, Angels and Guardians and many others.
The Handmaid's Tale is written in Atwood's masterful prose but this is not a linear tale. Be prepared to drop back in time, then flash forward, then drop back again. The writing, though, flows effortlessly and Atwood, as always, manages to keep readers riveted to the page.
Although many people might feel that The Handmaid's Tale is too futuristic to be plausible, many of the events depicted have happened or are happening somewhere in the world at this very moment. It doesn't take more than a few minutes to recall places where gender discrimination and human rights have all but been stripped away. Atwood, herself, said, "One of the things I avoided doing was describing anything in the novel that didn't happen in this world."
Chilling, moving, vivid, terrifying and sometimes even humorous, The Handmaid's Tale is a profoundly moral story. It is a true masterpiece of power and grace that will someday attain the status of a classic.
Book Review: handmaids
Summary: 5 Stars
Though I am not a female, I am intrigued by the strong feminism evident in this book, so I do recommend this book. Margaret Eleanor Atwood warns her audience of the insidious, lurking sexism and male superiority that can arise at any instant in contemporary society. Because the book is a feminist protest, it argues that women are being dominated by men through a subtle and unnoticeable tendency, and Atwood's purpose is to reveal that very innate unconsciousness of human nature that is imperceptible to society.
Though she is from a feminist point of view, Atwood directs her book's content towards all types of audiences - male and female, antifeminists and feminists, through its subtle satire and dramatizing of an improbable futuristic society. Because this book is a dystopian fiction, it is all just a speculation, futuristic and unnecessarily realistic. However, the whole point of the novel is to argue the fact that the natural tendency of government is to have a society run by male domination. Though the citizens might not perceive of this insidious trend, Atwood argues that it will inevitably happen if society does not notice and stop it before it is too late. Much of this ultimate male domination is due to the fact that the repercussions of male power are devastating. As men begin to gain more power, they are eager to exercise their newfound authority, and thus they unknowingly crave for more power at the expense women equality. Supporting an egalitarian society, Margaret Atwood stresses the importance of realizing the natural inclination for human society to drift into a male dominated government, and the only way to prevent this ultimate devastation is to start today and protect women rights and equality.
This book does not so much include allusions, but it is in itself a whole allusion that parallels the theme of a previously written book. Both taking place in the near future, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 are dystopian novels that reveal the terrifying plausibility that constitutional freedom can be readily taken away, thus both authors stress the need to preserve that valuable right. Also, it somewhat resembles Orwell's 1984, as it also concocts a theoretical dystopian world.
Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale should be read slowly, because it requires a prodigious amount of attention to detail as it is written as a satire. Because satire is increasingly subtle in higher works of literature, this novel deserves a very close read between the lines. Much of the light humor is attributed to the style and, in this instance, the tone dominates the humor. At first glance, the novel may seem centered on serious matters of a male dominated society, but a closer read would unravel a whole new point of view under a different light - one that is light and sarcastic. Therefore, it is imperative that The Handmaid's Tale be read under a close magnification, because of Atwood's use of a satirical tone
This book is thought provoking, because it makes me reflect on today's government and the way our society is organized. I wonder if our constitutional rights are truly secured or are we all just conditioned to believe that our rights are secured?
Book Review: Frighteningly Prescient
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a work of speculative fiction that takes place in a dystopia of the near future, a totalitarian government in the former United States.The particulars of the story serve to describe this society and I will not go into the details here as they are available in the editorial reviews, except to say that because the society's repressive laws are misogynous and are couched in terms of Biblical laws and mythologies it may seem to be an indictment of evangelical Christianity and it is actually so much further reaching than that. Subtle warnings about a clever and devious conservative white male think tank that in all probability is utterly devoid of any actual spiritual motivation and whose primary focus is the self-preservation of their elite privileged lifestyle in the face of its own self-destructive biological consequences are to be found here. Subtle warnings abound in this story and it behooves one to look at oneself as well. Short-sightedness and perfunctory utility are the destroyers of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
This is a well-realized society that Atwood has created, one that is utterly repressive in every way. The book is well-paced, well written and masterfully conceived. So complex and thought provoking is the book that it is one of the few modern day works of fiction to be the subject of a Cliffs Notes study guide.
I found it particularly interesting that this book was published in 1985 and yet it warns of a paperless society, plastic and numerical money, and universal identification cards among other aspects of modern times that do, in fact, seem to be a coming reality. Ironically, the narrator of the story, a completely objectified, sexual commodity, enslaved and utterly repressed by the government, prior to the coups d'etat, worked as a transcriber in a university library and her task was to transcribe books onto compact disks in order to maximize space. As long as she still had the illusion of liberty and was being paid, she never questioned the danger of her job to civil liberty as a whole. Atwood's allusion to the reality in modern times of an insidious Fahrenheit 451 attitude, ostensibly for practicality's sake, is just one of the chilling warnings presented in this book.
In one passage of remarkably prescient writing Atwood describes the actual day of the takeover thus: "It was after the catastrophe, when they shot the president and machine-gunned the Congress and the army declared a state of emergency. They blamed it on the Islamic fanatics, at the time. Keep calm, they said on television. Everything is under control."
I find it exceedingly interesting and frightening that our true-life catastrophe of 9-11 has already caused us to lower our guard and allow serious incursions into our civil liberties. We, like the Handmaid Offred in her earlier life, seem to be unconcerned so long as we are still getting paid and are still allowed our own personal familiar comforts. We are so complacent and so trusting. This book was a wake-up call seventeen years ago when it was published and today it is a warning siren against a gathering storm that we dare not plug our ears to ignor. Read it and think.
Book Review: My Review
Summary: 3 Stars
The Handmaids Tale is a very sexually based book. It takes place in a totally different setting than could ever be imagined. The novel is told from an old school in the republic of Gilead. Offred narrates the story but, Offred is not her real name. They way the Handmaids were named is that "of" is always the first word then it is followed by the name of the Handmaid's Commander. The way the book goes is that Offred will tell the story of the days that have come and gone and she will give us a vision of flashback quite often. A main flashback is how the story came to be. It begins once the architects of Gilead began their rise to power in an age of readily available pornography, prostitution, and violence against women. Tragically chemical spills led to declining births. Using the military, they assassinated the president and members of Congress and launched a coup, claiming that they were taking power temporarily. They cut women's rights, forbidding women to own property or have a job. Offred and Luke took their daughter and attempted to cross the border into Canada, but they were caught and separated and Offred has seen neither since. Offred was sent to the Rachel and Leah Re-education Center, also known as the Red Center by women inside. At the center, women were tough preparation for becoming Handmaids. Aunt Lydia was supervisor of the women she gave speeches about the Gilead's beliefs and how women are under men and they are only concerned with having children. After some time Offred became pregnant, Serena suggests that Offred has sex with Nick secretly and has the child as if it were the Commander's. Serena promises to bring Offred a picture of her daughter if she sleeps with Nick, and Offred realizes that Serena has always known what happen to her daughter. A rather large turning point then arises Offred goes out shopping, and to her surprise a new Ofglen meets her. This new woman is not part of Mayday, and she tells Offred that the old Ofglen hanged herself when she saw the police were coming for her. After the day of shopping when Offred returns home Serena has found out about Offred's trip to Jezebel's, and she sends her to her room, ensuring punishment. Offred waits there, and she sees a black van from the Eyes approach. Nick comes in and tells her that the Eyes are really Mayday members who have come to rescue her. Offred leaves with them, over the Commander's objections, she was on her way either to prison or to freedom at this time she does not know. The Gilead Empire has fallen and the novel begins to closes with an epilogue from 2195. The letter explains the formation and, customs of Gilead in objective, analytical language. It also explains the significance of Offred's story, which has turned up on cassette tapes in Bangor, Maine. The letter also states that Nick arranged Offred's escape but that her fate now is unknown. She could have escaped to Canada or England, or she could have been captured again. This book was not the most interesting to me I really did not enjoy it as much as I would of liked to be I got thought it ok. Some parts were interesting but others were no even close to interesting.Book Review: My Review
Summary: 4 Stars
When a woman is not given the choice to create a human. She will become a person not even herself can come to know. For sex is the art of governing. The Handmaids Tale is a malicious story told in a way only one can feel sympathetic for Offred, a handmaid living in the Republic of Gilead. She is to be obedient and is considered petty to all that are not handmaids. This is a place that has continued without interference of the past. For Gilead's future does not consist of love anymore but arranged child births and marriages. Offred is a woman that only exists in this community for her ability to produce children.
This cause for the existence of a child is so the future can reek of children molded into what this nation believes they should be. My opinion, which I hope is obvious, is that no child's future should be chosen by anyone but themselves. A person should not be able to just sit back and marvel at the sexual suggestions being spewed out. These are innocent babies being torn away from ever being able to say a phrase like "I love you, I really do." Offred's body is not the only one of its kind being tortured numerous times. This is only a story told by one handmaid. I just don't see how anyone can be self-assured when a woman is being provided by another like property. And let this happen to these woman when they have never been subjected to these "ways" before. These people should get paid for being generally annoying and irritating. How can you expect one to be sociable and efficient. When they are treated as if they are only this set of names and faces given away with instructions. I am not only furious with the ways of Gilead but disappointed. I know theoretically women are smarter. But I did not think they would go this far to control us. These things should stay in the privacy of your own home. I demand these people to stop humiliating themselves. You think you're the future of "birth" just because you manipulate women. One word for you "Wrong." Because no matter what happens there will always be that no passion, boredom, emptiness, need, laughter, and energy to communicate in this terrifying picture of the world. Some will not be able to tolerate, for example me. There is no real principal behind it because Gilead's expectations are unrealistically high.
But some unrealistic things can be capable of existing. That's why I recommend this book. Because it helps you appreciate the way our government is now. I am personally against a lot the government does today. But after read this tale I have come to appreciate it much more. I know most of you are saying something on line of "This would never happen, so what's your purpose." Well I do have a purpose because anything could happen. Its not like we would have agreed with a person ten years ago when they said "Two planes will crash into the twin towers." Our government is not perfect and neither are the people trying live by it. I guess the biggest problem in our mind's today is time. Because we have come to accept this life we live. But ,maybe some day you should try thinking out of the box.