Alex McKay

“The Handmaid’s Tale” – Margaret Atwood


“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood is a disturbing and powerful story of a young woman trying to survive in a completely totalitarian society. The novel’s main character, Offred, is also the narrator so the reader is open to her thoughts and feelings throughout the text. The novel is set in a futuristic America where the government has completely taken over and controls every aspect of everyone’s life. This study will show how Atwood creates this dystopian civilization as a warning against a male dominated society through her clever use of characterization and setting.
At the very beginning of the novel there is a quote from the bible:
“And when Rachel saw she bear Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel; and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may have children by her.”
The quote captures the belief of the government that a woman’s one purpose in life is to bear children. Offred plays the part that Bilhah does in this extract, she is to be used for her womb. In this new society woman are categorized and are seen as inferior to men in every way. Every woman is tested for fertility and health. If a woman is infertile then she is no longer a woman and is therefore punished, they are sent to work on islands that are full of radiation where they are sure to die. If they are found to be fertile they are sent to be handmaids, this is what Offred has become. Men dominate this new society and it is run much like the army. There are commanders and generals and inferior guards and soldiers. The commanders are allowed wives but if they are unable to conceive a handmaid is assigned to them. A handmaid lives with the couple for a certain amount of time until she falls pregnant, if she fails to do so she moves onto a new couple. She is given three chances before being sent away.
Offred is a very strong and passionate character yet she has been taken away from her husband and child and stripped of her identity, she has no freedom, no rights and no choice but to do whatever she is told to do. She is very bright and strong willed yet this new religion ignores these qualities, to them woman have no qualities. Women are not allowed jobs or any kind of social lives except the wives of the commanders who have only some privileges. Even the names the Handmaid’s are given have men’s names incorporated into them: Offred, Ofwarren, Ofglen, Showing men’s ownership of woman. Offred’s name is also important because she is unable to conceive, so the name off red, red being the colour of a handmaid whose one purpose is to have a child, is quite ironic. Offred has a lot of emotion to deal with throughout the book yet she stays strong even though her desire to find her child, to be with a man, to break free is unbearable. Women are supposed to be weak and inferior yet here we see a very courageous and determined woman.
In comparison to Offred’s strong will we have her Commander who is stereotypically meant to be the man in charge and strong character, yet it is him who is weak. The Commander orders Offred to visit him in secret, which is completely illegal, and persuades her to have a sexual relationship with him, he needs Offred. We see this lack of willpower in the commander which makes him seem much more inferior than Offred.
Another main character is the character of Serena Joy, the Commander’s wife. She despises Offred as she is jealous of her and resents her being part of her life even though she could, in theory, bear her a child. Serena used to be a very glamorous TV presenter before the regime took over but now she is just another wife wearing the same colour as all the rest, she has lost her individuality. All the women are the same, as are most of the men; there is no way to express yourself. She is deeply affected by the regime, like Offred, and has lost her glamorous lifestyle and her personality.
The novel is set in the Republic of Gilead, a very regimented and terrifying place. Atwood has created a society where no one can live there own lives, they are assigned tasks that become their sole purpose, they have no choice in the matter. It is not your right to be happy or content. It is part of society that women are inferior to men and they are treated so. The city is run like an army barrack with no compassion for human nature. Everyone must have ID badges and there are guards, fences, walls and barricades everywhere. Atwood has used this surreal setting to shock the reader into thinking could life one day be like that, if men are allowed to dominate society?
Atwood’s use of characterization and setting really convey the chilling idea of a male dominated society. She shows how much an oppressive regime can affect any person, man or woman. The reader really empathizes with the women in the book and their lack of rights and freedom. It acts as a very severe warning that society could easily end up like that if left in the hand’s of the wrong people or, as Atwood suggests, left in the hand’s of men.


Alex McKay 5G2