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    6englit 6response Atwoods Handmaids Tale

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    Atwood bases her dystopian vision of Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale entirely on historical ideas and events. She stresses that nothing in the novel has not already happened somewhere in history. Gilead draws on practices of American Puritans and their strict Christian doctrine. Atwood also references totalitarian regimes, religious fanaticism, and suppression of women throughout history. She uses the past to warn about potential futures if such policies are taken to their logical conclusions.

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    6englit 6response Atwoods Handmaids Tale

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    biba
    71 views6 pages
    Atwood bases her dystopian vision of Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale entirely on historical ideas and events. She stresses that nothing in the novel has not already happened somewhere in history. Gilead draws on practices of American Puritans and their strict Christian doctrine. Atwood also references totalitarian regimes, religious fanaticism, and suppression of women throughout history. She uses the past to warn about potential futures if such policies are taken to their logical conclusions.

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    Atwoods Handmaids Tale

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    Atwood bases her dystopian vision of Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale entirely on historical ideas and events. She stresses that nothing in the novel has not already happened somewhere in history. Gilead draws on practices of American Puritans and their strict Christian doctrine. Atwood also references totalitarian regimes, religious fanaticism, and suppression of women throughout history. She uses the past to warn about potential futures if such policies are taken to their logical conclusions.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    71 views6 pages

    6englit 6response Atwoods Handmaids Tale

    Uploaded by

    biba
    Atwood bases her dystopian vision of Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale entirely on historical ideas and events. She stresses that nothing in the novel has not already happened somewhere in history. Gilead draws on practices of American Puritans and their strict Christian doctrine. Atwood also references totalitarian regimes, religious fanaticism, and suppression of women throughout history. She uses the past to warn about potential futures if such policies are taken to their logical conclusions.

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    1

    Dystopian Visions in Margaret Atwoods


    The Handmaids Tale.

    To what extent is Atwoods dystopian vision of the future based on ideas about
    the past?

    You may have noted that Atwood makes a crucial point in A Note to the Reader
    before her interview:

    All of the things I have written about have--as noted in the "Historical Notes" at
    the end--been done before, more than once.

    It is an imagined account of what happens when not uncommon pronouncements


    about women are taken to their logical conclusions. History proves that what we
    have been in the past we could be again.

    -----------------------------------------------------------

    In other words, Atwood has not used any new ideas in this text - all her ideas
    come from history, and mainly American history. Terrifyingly, Gilead is based on
    real events. As Atwood states:

    there isn't anything in the book not based on something that has already
    happened in history or in another country, or for which actual supporting
    documentation is not already available.

    -----------------------------------------------------------

    She describes a possible future but uses the past violation of human rights as an
    example of what could happen because, somewhere in the world, at
    some time, it has.

    As the author, Atwood is keen to stress the factual basis for a novel often
    incorrectly classed as science fiction. The Handmaids Tale is instead a
    dystopia and as such, a critique of contemporary society. Atwood argues,
    2

    through her creation of Gilead, that any country which adopts certain tactics to
    retain power is inherently corrupt. This is why the concept of control (control of
    your name; occupation; clothing) is central to Gileads political strategies.
    American history

    The forms of repression in Gilead are mainly patriarchal. Atwood investigates the
    correlation between totalitarianism and American Puritans in the Sixteenth and
    Seventeenth Centuries. The Puritans mainly came to the USA from England, and
    generally followed a strict Christian doctrine of salvation through suffering.
    Much of Gileads social and religious practices stem from Puritanism (for
    instance, they also used a birthing stool) and advocated the importance of
    family life and total submission to Gods will.

    Remember, that Atwood has not based Gilead entirely on Puritan America but
    she has used some of their practices to help illustrate Gileads reliance on
    religious observance as central to government.

    Religion in the state of Gilead:


    Gilead is essentially a theocracy, a state run by religion. Atwood criticises
    the right wing religious fanaticism revealed to be at the heart of Gileads
    government. Note the wealth of Biblical allusions in the text, from the
    names used, such as Angels, Handmaids, Jezebels, Guardians of
    the Faith and Marthas. All have a religious significance. Even some of
    the punishments, for instance the "particicution" (participatory execution),
    when someone is sentenced to be stoned to death, refers to the Old
    Testament. However, stoning is still a punishment used in various
    countries around the globe (as recently as 2005 in Afghanistan), and
    proves Atwoods earlier statement that, ..there isn't anything in the book
    not based on something that has already happened in history or in another
    country. Remember that it would be far too simple to argue that Atwood is
    anti-religion; she is actually criticizing religious bigotry in all its forms, and
    shows a great distrust of all hard-line mind sets.
    3

    Narrative Voice:
    As readers, we are introduced to the state of Gilead through Offreds
    narration. She relates her memories, presumably from some safe point in
    her future. This naturally adds a layer of ambiguity to the text, as human
    memory is unreliable, and as literary critics, we should always investigate
    the reliability of any first-person narrator. Even Offreds assumed name
    does not tell us her true identity, and we never learn her real name.
    Offred reveals the narrators status; she is of Fred, signifying that she is
    the literal possession of a man. Despite this, the female narrative voice is
    essentially one of resistance.

    Feminist Issues:
    Under Gileads new regime, women have lost all their civil rights. They are
    not allowed to have money, own property, read books, or even use their
    own names. Their main role is to reproduce (fertility is a huge asset in
    Gilead) and be subservient to men at all times.
    However, not all women comply with these rules. Unusually for a heroine,
    Offred is not very heroic or brave for most of the novel. She does not run
    away with Moira at the start, and is very anxious about her involvement
    with Mayday. Atwood offers the reader a variety of women within the text;
    Moira is a rebellious figure always ready to challenge authority; Offreds
    mother is a feminist; Ofglen is extremely brave and dies to protect other
    members of the underground movement; and Serena Joy, forced to give
    up her career to be a full time Wife, is also depicted as restless and
    unhappy. Atwood represents all kinds of women in society in this novel,
    and shows that some went along with the oppression (such as the Wives
    and the Aunts). Not all the women are heroines, and it is important to
    remember that men are also persecuted under Gileads laws (such as
    homosexuals and priests). This illustrates Atwoods complex narrative
    vision, and saves the novel from becoming a text solely about masculine
    oppression or being anti-men.

    America in the 1980s:


    It is useful to consider the socio-political atmosphere in which
    Atwood was writing:

    Atwood was very involved in the Womens Movement in the USA. All the
    women in the novel are survivors from the time before, and represent
    varying feminist positions dating back to feminist revolution of the 1960s.
    Atwoods role in the Womens Movement insisted on an individual voice,
    as opposed to the lack of individuality endorsed by the Gilead system.
    4

    Atwood feared that the feminist movement would be halted by the rise of
    the religious right, Ronald Reagan as President, the rise of fundamentalist
    religion and the growth of environmental pollution and nuclear testing. Her
    concern was that ultimately, women would be silences, as they are in
    Gilead.

    It is highly significant that Gilead has been rendered sterile by pollution


    and sexual disease. Atwood questions what would happen if this
    scenario was countered by an extreme right wing group. The means of
    control is by way of monitored reproduction; this places a womans role as
    crucial in the new order but at an extremely high price.

    An American nightmare?
    It is important to remember that The Handmaids Tale is specifically set in
    America. Atwood is directly commenting upon what she sees as dangers relating
    particularly to contemporary life in the USA. This is a nightmare vision of
    America, as opposed to the many American Dream narratives in literature,
    where democracy has been overthrown and the new republic of Gilead
    encompasses all that is oppressive. The US is famous for her military power, and
    in Gilead this is used as a tool for maintaining discipline. In 1986, at the time of
    publication, there was an anti-feminist backlash in the USA, and right wing and
    ultra conservative views were gaining more power. Feminists were accused of
    attempting to break up the traditional family unity by empowering women, so
    Atwood developed this view to show the dangers if women are forcibly confined
    to the domestic sphere.

    Seeing and Being Seen:


    Gilead has an efficient spy system and this is partly based on the Cold War
    politics following the end of World War II. Offreds activities with the Mayday
    5

    underground resistance movement are significantly reminiscent of European


    resistance groups during World War II. Similarly, the Underground Femaleroad
    refers to the Underground Railroad, a system for smuggling slaves into the
    North in America during the Nineteenth Century.

    A protest novel?
    It is definitely possible to read The Handmaids Tale as a form of protest
    fiction, designed to prompt the reader into thinking about wider political
    issues involving gender, control and individualism.

    Atwood clearly states in her interview the belief that novelists have a
    social responsibility:

    I believe as the Victorian novelists did, that a novel isn't simply a vehicle for
    private expression, but that it also exists for social examination. I firmly believe
    this.

    So, Atwood is warning the reader against a society functioning as a catalyst for:

    Female repression
    Religious fanaticism
    Environmental pollution
    Big Brother surveillance techniques
    Capital punishment
    Martial law

    In conclusion: to what extent is Atwoods dystopian vision of the future based on


    ideas about the past?
    6

    After reading the interview and completing this task, I hope you will agree
    that Atwoods vision of the future is entirely based on ideas about the past.
    It is crucial to aware of the central importance of history when writing
    about this novel.
    If you have enjoyed the novel and this task, remember you can learn lots
    more about Margaret Atwood by visiting her official website at:

    http://www.owtoad.com/.

    Enjoy!

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