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Handmaid's Tale

The document discusses the major themes of the novel The Handmaid's Tale. It summarizes that the novel highlights the suppression of women's rights as the new Republic of Gilead is established, taking away women's bank accounts and jobs. The rules of Gilead society are based on selective Bible verses used to portray women as weak. While the rules are argued to protect women, they actually exert rigid control over women's lives and degrade them to their reproductive roles alone. The rules turn women against each other and normalize victim blaming. The novel also depicts the irony of Harvard University's history of intellectualism and human rights advocacy contrasted with the mockery of dissent symbolized by the Particution and Wall.

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506 views1 page

Handmaid's Tale

The document discusses the major themes of the novel The Handmaid's Tale. It summarizes that the novel highlights the suppression of women's rights as the new Republic of Gilead is established, taking away women's bank accounts and jobs. The rules of Gilead society are based on selective Bible verses used to portray women as weak. While the rules are argued to protect women, they actually exert rigid control over women's lives and degrade them to their reproductive roles alone. The rules turn women against each other and normalize victim blaming. The novel also depicts the irony of Harvard University's history of intellectualism and human rights advocacy contrasted with the mockery of dissent symbolized by the Particution and Wall.

Uploaded by

AlecsNicoleN.Cabahug
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Alecs Nicole N.

Cabahug
Eng 12 WFV2

A Discussion Paper on The Handmaids Tale

I think the one of the major issues in this book is the suppression of womens rights. As Offred
narrated the story as The Republic of Gilead was established, early evidences of women oppression
were manifested through the transfer of womens bank accounts to their husbands and the firing of
women from their jobs. The rules of the society of Gilead had been based on some important verses
from the Bible, which Aunt Lydia used to say to Offred such as Blessed are the meek which only proves
that even Aunt Lydia who is obviously a woman, sees herself and other women as weak and powerless.
Also, as the commander had argued, the rules imposed on the women of Gilead served as protection
for women from sexual harassment and abuse. Pornographies were also banned in order for people
especially the men to develop such notion of rape, which, in the point of view of the builders of Gilead
society, appealed to womens benefits. Also, women werent supposed to read and write, not to
mention that even reading road signs were prohibited. Their purpose makes sense, actually, however,
with this kind of protection comes a very rigid kind of control over the lives of women. The seeing of
women only as tools for reproduction and nothing else solidifies the irony in the commanders
arguments and the rules of their society. Instead of achieving their goal, the society of Gilead end up
degrading the importance of women and their values as human beings.
Moreover, I would also like to point out that it was also evident in the book that the rules
imposed on women was so powerful that it turned women against each other instead of rallying for
their right for egalitarianism. One example was Serenas hatred for Offred. Her hatred may be
reasonable but if we come to think of it, the handmaid-commander situation only existed because of
the strengthening power of the Gilead society. Another example that really infuriated me was when
Janine was told that it was her fault when she was gang-raped at the age of 14. Victim-blaming has
been an issue that feminists have always fought against and the fact that this notion was ingrained in
the womens minds as a positive thing only signifies the rigidness of the degradation of the value of
women.
Another irony that was present in the book was the Particution and the Wall located at the
Harvard University. At first, I thought it was just a coincidence but then, I realized the connection
between the two. The world renowned university was known for its bright and intellectual students
who rally for the cause of certain issues such as human rights while the Particution and The Wall
symbolized as a mockery for those people who are too afraid to go against the rules of Gilead.

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