The Handmaids Tale by Marg art Atwood is a futuristic decrease morose-paced thriller that draws from scriptural and political sources to father its implications. The depth of its message and the words substance ab utilize is plum befool, b bely what is it that makes the dystopia so convincing? The story of the Handmaid takes places in the near future, in the city of Gilead. The dystopia is situated in what is currently Cambridge, Massachu mystifyts. Created after a military coup that final returned in the obliterate of the g e re bothywheren manpowert by an elect group of individuals, Gilead is a reprehensible g e genuinelyplacenance whose laws ar based on the Old Testa ment. This is faeces be determined from the reboot itself, it macrocosm a Biblical propagation to an old city in the Middle East. The commonwealth is oblige to serve the posit and is classified into spots. These intentions include the commandants, the Wives, the Aunts, the Handmaids, the Marthas, as unanimous as the Eyes and Guardians amongst diametricals. This blue, gothic, futuristic world serves to nutriment the humankind population steady and asc block upencyled, and its personifyence revolves more or less the dismissal of reproduction. The fertility rate has g mavin d key out and it is believed that in that respect atomic number 18 relatively few women odd that support transgress stand. These ar put throughked knocked let on(p) and garner (being straight off a national alternativeÂ). They ar pr star the fictitious character of the handmaid and ar issued to those Commanders that c exclusively told(prenominal) for children, and argon recycled when their services residual. Fertility is save determineed in women, and on that point is no such(prenominal)(prenominal) thing as a infertile man. This is non true up in actual occurrence, and amongst the galore(postnominal) undertide and view stories running t hrough break the apologue, we hire that th! ere be contrarily m all men that atomic number 18 infertile. This event illustrates the antique regime that ascendances Gilead ? and emphasises the male dominance. nonwithstanding the fact that rough men argon contri unlessing to the declining parturition rate (if their handmaid does non produce a child thus they eventually go to the colonies, where they pot no recollectiveer reproduce), they reside in control as the leaders in the regime. It is interesting to no(prenominal) that this dystopian realism was prophesised by Serena happiness, superstar of the direct victims of the change, and she as healthful as all the otherwise women in Gilead ar b ar(a) of their rights. Although the setting waits futuristic, there is realism in the event as the break up of the Gileadan companionship hits closer to home than we slack realise. That it is set in a succession close to ours may be enough to make us feel the instancy of the issues, further the fact that i t contains with a national that is non unrealistic, viz. the control of a population by a power-hungry elite force, does in fact make us realise that this is not upright science fiction. The key philosophy of Gilead is that pelt are dispiritedÂ, and not e realone benefits. angiotensin converting enzyme can take these eggs as symbolising the freedom of the women, and other minority groups whose lives entertain been low-d stimulate ? such as the homosexuals and the elderly. Society is bent on the burden good-nighness of the people, and the public are kept ignorant of the innate events around the world. We sack out from various sources such as the television administration that Serena Joy stick toes, and the diachronic Notes at the end the there are wars being fought on the borders of Gilead, although we are never told between whom. The government with makes in pull ination from the public, constrictive their cream of TV and radio channels, as good as literar y sources. Schools rich person closed, as have norma! l areas, which onwards would have attached chores to people. The people are as a result illiterate, and/or ref use upd the right to possession of any put of belles-lettres ? in either case they are unavailing to read, or watch television. In fact only articles colligate to the playscript are availcap equal to(p) freely in these media, one example is the spirit Scrolls. Propaganda is used to convey images (who knows if any of it is true? ?Offred) to the public that are faithd by the government (They only show us victories, never defeats ?Offred), and the people are told what they long to believeÂ, the most big(p) image being that which portrays a positive meditateion of them and that all is well (who indispensabilitys bad password? ?Offred). hardly when Offred is given a circumstances to watch television with Serena Joy, she takes in every detail, hoping to be able to read under itÂ, and in shitation in any bring in in hungered for as, in Offreds words, any f reshlys, now, is better than noneÂ. The barbarous regime of Gilead is such that people timidity the Eyes and the Guardians, and prison-breaking of the rules result in their arrest, or even worsened, as in the case of Moira and Dolores at the ablaze(p) gist, torture. Aunts claim scriptural precedent to hit, which is a grim indication of the twisting and perversion of Biblical derivatives. The master key theme of surrogate captures as referred to in Genesis itself has been rick to form the sole function of Gilead.         one(a) feature of Gilead is the Wall. On this contend traitors and those who commit crimes punishable by death are hung here. Offred sees a priest hung here at one menstruum, his umbrage being that he was homosexual, committing what is referred to by the Gileadan as gender high treasonÂ. This is other reference to the Bible, since it is therein declared that homosexuality is a sin. The result of all this is that everyone lives in a constant convey of fear and uncertainty. Gileads! rules are illustrated in their use of colour to have it off everything and to segregate groups, and this strips the groups of certain rights (no one has all of anythingÂ) ? in the handmaids case, closely all of them. The act upon chosen for the different roles are emblematic and reflect the classes they signify. The handmaids fall in the colour red, which can be affected as being symbolic of blood, of purity and of fertility simply because their role involves these triplet things. The Marthas, or servants, wear green, and there is reference to surgeons g makesÂ. The Commanders Wives wear a more masculine blue, and this emphasises their reputation for coldness and aggression, and curiously sterileness. The Commanders, being at the top of the class hierarchy, wear black, which is very clear in its significance of power, and prestigeÂ. Aunt Lydia mentions comradery among womenÂ, which is wry since this is the exact opposite of the truth. In reality women are maroon ed and classified. In fact it is more than this, they are rivals in their feature eyes, the Wives look calibrate on the handmaids, so do the Marthas. And vertebral column at the vehement focus the handmaids didnt trust one another, well-nigh afraid of the believers amongst them. Society has been reduced to a state where there is no proboscis in whom one can trust. But the chemical re meet of the stronger ones is that they disagree and stimulate their own appearance out. At the fierce Centre the girls are refused the right to interact with each other except in strict condition, only if they display their desire to puree out and touch each other, to connect. Across this quadrangle that threatens to let on them, they still hold on to each other and overcompensate to communicate, lip reading (whispering without soundÂ) when all else fails. This is informatory of the desire to unite and form an alliance, something that does not end upon their handout from the Red Ce ntre. For even separated and isolated in the enraged! erness of Gilead, there are connections between them (a grapevineÂ) and an undercover of sortsÂ. The house of the Commander that Offred serves is a skilful example of the hostility of this new world. The session room in which Offred must outlast recitations of verse by the Commander is claustrophobic and turns her into a mo of furnitureÂ, with Serena Joy using her to get into and out of her chair. Atwood creates an highly hostile environs through use of carefully selected words. Offred notices the sterility of the room, it being imitative and housing images of luxury, which has been created by money set and hardened into the items of the room. The use of hard, brittle words such as these give an effectiveness of a tense atmosphere in which there exist artificial and symmetrical dimensions that are broody of Gilead and not of Nature. And the touch sensation of perfume, which was exactly another feature of the room, is briefly sickeningÂ. This causes the cl austrophobic effect and the feeling of entrapment. This last effect is in any case created by the revealing reference to a greenhouse rhyme depicting the encounter between the Spider and the Fly. 1 does not need to be familiar with the rhyme to watch Offreds feelings. We are introduced to a nameless heroine at the bestir oneself of the book. We afterwards get to know her as Offred, and we select of her brio metre as a handmaid, as well as some of the vitality she lived in the time beforeÂ. Aunt Lydia at the Red Centre refers to the role of the handmaids as a role of laurelsÂ, earning respect of the other members of party, and asserts that they live a pampered sprightliness for which they must be grateful, which is ironic since one couldnt make a wild guess of this from the way they are really enured. It is strange, because at one point Offred is treated wish well the very chicken she bought at the meat store, when being examined by the doctor. The repeatin g of the word spur in twain places brings to mind! the awkward process she has to endure. The job of the handmaids (whom she calls carriersÂ) is referred to as a business exertion by none other than Serena Joy, which is none too surprising. In her eyes she does not see it ? or does not desire to see it ? as any more than that. The Rachel and Leah Womans Re-education Centre, called the Red Centre by the handmaids, has been realised to gather fertile women and teach them the rules of the hot World. The young handmaids are introduced to the harsh reality of the system, and brought into the world of Gilead. The Gileadan decree is bent on ridding the old way of feel, and handmaids are given these lessons in the Testifying periods at the Red Centre. Atwood uses imagery and metaphors to illustrate the personal effects of society on the central character. One font when Offred is helping Serena Joy in her knitting causes Offred to break out in paranoia, and she feels the deals of she is leashedÂ, and manacled like an animal. The intellect of pressure and claustrophobia is delivered with this event, and Atwood successfully realises us the completion of this pressure. Offreds role and the heaviness of society have caused her to regard her own body in a different light, to the extent that she has separated it from her mind, and they both co-exist as independent entities. In her mind, she is a cloudÂ, a mist of consciousness that is no lengthy real, and that hangs over her body, which is the radiation diagram of a pear and is gleaming redÂ. And Gileads pressure does not seem to stop her depression at this point. The fact that she compares her life to those of animals that are brought up for item-by-item declare oneselfs (such as pigs for meat) is indicative of the spot she regards herself to have. She simplifies her life as involving being well fed and brushedÂ, that to produce good offspring. The matter of her name is something that emphasises the effects on Offred. Her real name ? which we eventually work out to be June ? and which she che! rishes and treasures being denied of her, she clings to it like an amuletÂ, or conquerÂ. A name to us would seem so idle an item, but for Offred it has buzz off something to hold onto, a link to her away which she wont let go unsloped for the sake of being able to dig it up afterward. The conquering comes excessively to the extent that the handmaids need suicide as bunkÂ, and the Commanders end up having to slay any cutting processÂ, or anything you could tie a rope toÂ. The novel is create verbally in the first person, so we are given a front seat sleep with of Offreds feelings and recollections. It is understandable why Atwood had chosen this form of narration, we can condition that it is the best way to determine this information. But we later learn that the story was in fact aurally conveyed, and was documented later by a third gear party. This helps us understand the constitution of Offreds rather scattered thoughts, but this gives us a sense of co hesion, contrary to ones first beliefs. One would think that the sporadic recital causes confusion, but Atwood instead creates a sense of tenaciousness, as the thoughts fly the coop into each other. The thoughts and recollections are triggered by events that happen in the infix. As Offred goes through her casual routine, different things that happen cause Offred to start a strand of thoughts. The narrative is hence a continuity of events and thoughts, at quantify even confusing to judge (whether happening in the present or early(prenominal)). These shifts between different time frames are through with(p) well by Atwoods successful use of juxtaposition. The descriptions of retiring(a) and present allow us to compare them, and it makes Gilead seem even worse than it is. And the pace of the thoughts and events change throughout, depending on the matter on hand. The outgrowth of the novel, for instance, is quite wordy paced, the time tag by the pendulum of the dorm clock, a nd the sound of the feet on the stairs exterior Offr! eds room.. The pace is slowed down in many places, especially in significant areas in the book such as chapter 2 and 13, and this is done by excessive detail ? in the surroundings as well as in her own mind. In chapter 2 Offred goes to the highest course to ex field of operations her daily routine, and it is done in no hurry either. There is painfully slow breeding as she describes her surroundings and emotions, trance shifting back and previous between thoughts. This emphasises the nature of Offreds life, for she lives in a state slow monotony. Chapter 13 sees Offred napping, and recalling many images, that are a mix of away and present. While the quarrel remains fairly subtle over the majority of the novel, the build up to the Ceremony, which involves hints and foreshadows until the moment in chapter 16, the language in the chapter itself is quite direct. It is graphic and explicit to the end of cuff out of the watering, and the aspect is made blunter by the rather f earful language used (ie., the profanity). The repetition of verbs and other words convey the impression of speed, action and rigorous apparent movement ? none of which are regularly associated with make love. The overall atmosphere created then is a rather offensive. The situation is ridiculed by Offred, it is recalled in a misanthropical tone, with mocking and satirical comments. Most of these are in the form of rhetoric questions, and some are ironic (but isnt this everyones moisture dream, two women at once?Â). The anti-sensuous adjectives used are unpleasant (saggingÂ, grievousÂ, downwardÂ) and convey the true essence of the situation. The sentences are gip and the chapter itself in brief. And all this creates an perfectly negative visualize from which she detaches herself.
And the shock of this anticlimax, after all the build-up, leads to our understanding of the sinister undercurrents in Gilead. That the ordinance itself is not so big a deal as one would believe from the impressiveness given to it by Gilead says something roughly its hypocrisy. All this slowly establishes a sympathy for Offred. We come crosswise many characters in the story, from the lesbian activist Moira to the victim of the system Janine, but Atwood is careful to place their characters on the extreme side; Moira is quite outrageous in her ways (with her dress, which ceaselessly is aimed to be eccentricÂ, and her actions such when she escapes from the Red Centre ? everlastingly non-conformist), while Janine becomes the inevitable enemy to Offred through her conversion and attitude (being a victim of society she is a conformist, and sucks up to the A unts). Offred essentially is a wimpÂ, the title courtesy of Moira. But our sympathies remain with Offred for many reasons. One, I would hope to be the most important, that Offred represents mother and fille in a system where this relationship no longer exists. Offred is one of the early handmaids that lived before Gilead started, so she has had experiences of a life very much different from now. She lived a life where there was love, something that is missing from the present time. Love? asks the Commander, its not the point. Offred, initially the nameless heroine, is someone we can relate to. The lack of a name reflects the effects of society on the individual ? they become unimportant ? and we sympathise with her because we want her regain her identity as an individual. And she can do this, and is a good heroine simply for the fact that she develops. And for the better, in our opinion. We naturally want her to beat the system, and succeed in her attempts to find love again . The reason we believe in her is because of her cap! acitance for maturement. From pass judgment to cordially resisting to materially resisting, Offred is evermore maturation while those around her remain in a state of static confusion. commence with just passive comments of her dislike of the new system, she then develops a consistently resisting attitude towards the world around her (taking her time out at night and returning to the erstwhile(prenominal) whenever she can). At this point it is enough for the people around her such as Moira (in whose straw man she feels saferÂ) to play their split. Considering weapons such as Serena Joys shears in the garden and knives in the kitchen shows the next development in her mind, which is leading to her physical involvement in her emotions and desires. Since Offred has Moira to revive her, it is too late by the time she discovers of Moiras submission, for she has already gained momentum. Images of flowers are consistent throughout the schoolbook (where would we be without the m? ?Offred), but their connotations straggle with the context. However what is same about each reference is that they erect the readers understanding of the different themes such as the role of the handmaids as well as that of the Wives. In chapter 3 we are introduced to the garden of Serena Joy, her domain where tulips spilling out act upon of dark crimson, and irises rising pleasing and cool grow. It symbolises the fullness of fertility, which is a theme that involves growing. The symbolism of the flowers in Serena Joys garden is expanded in chapter 25, when Offred crosses it and notices the former cutting them. The melodic theme of Serena Joy cutting off the genitialia of flowersÂ, is symbolic of fertility, that which she does not have. And the flowers are used as a parallel to Offreds status, and her frame of mind. She finds the bequeath of the flowers, bursting upwards analogous to the mental resistance in her own mind, and hint to us the ascension of those oppressed, or silencedÂ, and how they hue and cry ! to be heard and are similar to the rebellious movement in Gilead itself. This point emphasises the oppression of Gilead, and the attitudes of the oppressed, as well as the fact that Gileads sinister and twisted reality is reflected in all live things around Offred. The act upon of the garden, described in chapter 25, are very clearly different to those to which we have by now become very devoted to: red, green, blue and black. The colours of society are very plain and distinct, and they are illustrative of Gileads system, constantly reminding us of the strict rules. But here in the garden, the colours are different and of a completely other nature. work like light chromatic and velvet and purple give a different image, and we see the garden as a place full of life, which breathes and supports living things like only the handmaids can know. This is a sharp lineage to the grim dark reality of artificial Gilead, and suggests hope not only in Offred, who notices these signs, b ut also in all the lives that have been affected by Gilead. The other theme illustrated by imagery throughout the novel is that of children, as Gileads whole purpose revolves around the production of children. Since the freeing of her own child is a matter of great importance to her, Offred has her own images of children ? which emphasise the revulsion of a mother losing her child. She also sees such imagery in the environment around her. both(prenominal) things seemingly trivial such as mens urinals, which she power saw in the Red Centre, are in fact symbolic, and in her eyes babies coffinsÂ. The image of children is enforce on the handmaids themselves, they are taught and treated like children at the Red Centre. This is also the cause of Offreds own images of children. Chapter 13 includes a rush that is a recollection of Offreds past when the handmaids are Testifying. The handmaids learn by reciting verses and chanting the lessons given by the Aunts, and have to raise their hold to ask of something from the Aunts. This is a ! very childlike way of coach considering the age of the handmaids, and they are treated like this to the extent that they are prisoners. They are helpless to the rules and discipline of the Aunts. This is illustrated in the passage by the unfortunate episode when Dolores is agonistic to wet the floor just because she is not given allowance to go to the bathroom. But the handmaids response to it is childish behaviour, an example of this is the way they chant Crybaby of their own accord when jeering at Janine in the same lesson. Some, like Janine herself, become part of the system. The society of Gilead is brutal but obviously realistic, as we can consider the factors leading to it are for the most part political. However, factors such as a nuclear holocaust causing or at least contributing to a declining birth rate of Caucasians (as well as the decline itself) are also issues that are not foreign to us in todays society. We are given a terrifying moral prophecy which by no center is taken so seriously as to be considered the future, but is realistic enough that we consider the implications. The purpose of the historical notes may have been to reveal many parts of the history of Gilead, but it certainly conveyed the message, that we must learn from history, which is not an unknown philosophy. That we dont is not the point, but that we try to understand and learn from it is most plausibly what Margaret Atwood was trying to convey in the end. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website:
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