The Handmaid's Tale

Analysis

             The topic and theme I would like to discuss from The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is the human nature to survive in oppressive and dangerous conditions. This topic is explored by Margaret Atwood thoroughly using the characters Offred, Serena Joy, and Moira.  Each character has different opportunities and power based on their positions in Gilead. Offred, being a hand maid, has no power in this society unless she becomes pregnant. Offred is an intelligent woman, as we see from her scrabble games with the Commander, and she decides to adapt to Gilead’s oppressive society in which women’s lives are in danger if they do not obey their male ruler’s commands. The fact that Offred is intelligent suggests that she has thought through every possibility of leaving this terrible life, but her opportunities are limited and her human nature to survive has paralyzed her free will. Offred does in fact make it out of Gilead; however, this is pure chance because she did nothing to free herself. Offred is a symbol of the The topic and theme I would like to discuss from The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is the human nature to survive in oppressive and dangerous conditions. This topic is explored by Margaret Atwood thoroughly using the characters Offred, Serena Joy, and Moira.  Each character has different opportunities and power based on their positions in Gilead. Offred, being a hand maid, has no power in this society unless she becomes pregnant. Offred is an intelligent woman, as we see from her scrabble games with the Commander, and she decides to adapt to Gilead’s oppressive society in which women’s lives are in danger if they do not obey their male ruler’s commands. The fact that Offred is intelligent suggests that she has thought through every possibility of leaving this terrible life, but her opportunities are limited and her human nature to survive has paralyzed her free will. Offred does in fact make it out of Gilead; however, this is pure chance because she did nothing to free herself. Offred is a symbol of the majority of how people react in dangerous situations, such as in the Holocaust. The majority of people accepted they had no power in their situation and let what was going to happen to them happen. Serena Joy has more power than Offred as she is a wife. She is an example of how people with more power than others in an oppressive situation oppress those below them. Another woman who suppresses others who do not have as much power as she does is Aunt Lydia. Also, Serena Joy, as a wife, has power over Offred and Serena almost gets joy from suppressing Offred. All women are suppressed in Gilead and still, in most cases, women continue to suppress each other. It must be human nature in crisis to think only of yourself is the point that Margaret Atwood makes. Moira is a symbol of someone who fights for freedom and does not succeed, leaving them to accept their situation with greater hopelessness after having tried and failed.  Moira works a degrading illegal job in Jezebels after having failed to escape Gilead. The men’s lives in Gilead are not at constant risk; yet, they find themselves just as uneasy as the women. 

“Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary” (Atwood 33).

                   This quote relates to my analysis of human nature in situations of crisis. Aunt Lydia tells the women of Gilead that they will become used to the ways of Gilead and chillingly, Offred starts to feel emotionless as she stared at the new dead bodies being punished by having their dead body displayed on the wall for all to see their crime. To survive, Offred and people within our society conform to feel comfort. Even if citizens do not agree with how their lives are being controlled, subconsciously or consciously, we as humans accept our environment to carry on with our lives.

Commentary

                I really enjoyed this dystopian novel just as I enjoyed the others we have read this year. The novel’s commentary on the society we live in by evoking indignation on numerous social issues or traditions held in our society by exaggerating them in an alternate, observable society is appealing to me. The exaggerated comparisons allow social issues to be put into perspective, a useful tool for change. The Handmaid’s Tale had a purpose greater than telling a story or perhaps simply a more effective impact to create energy for change.