The handmaid’s tale critical review

Thesis: how control was established though Gilead.

“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.”- don’t let the bastards grind you down. Control is The overriding theme in Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale”. We see this theme being intertwined in every part of the novel and the idea of control is a major aspect of the whole plot. Margaret Atwood uses the idea of control through women, movement, and thought. Through these, we are able to uncover the author’s purpose and the reasoning behind why she chose to write this novel.

Control through women:

Gilead is run by men but is thought of as a women’s world. The women, especially the handmaids are what make this totalitarian society work. Women have been stripped from all their rights and put into working roles. This problem of infertility has been tackled by taking complete control of a woman’s body. Their use is only for procreation; it takes away their humanity and all they become is a commodity.  “There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, not officially. There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren, that’s the law” Prior to Gilead, income and rights slowly got taken away from them, leaving them with nothing but the clothes on their backs. For me, I believe that after these rights had been diminished, their only safe option would be to place in these societal roles. Offred was the perfect candidate for a handmaid as she had given birth before and the government took full advantage of her working ovaries. Surrogacy is when a lady carried a baby for another woman who is unable to carry children herself, this is the same role as what a handmaid does. However, in saying this the handmaids are forced into this act and not given the chance to decline. Atwood’s purpose was to write about events that had already taken place, she used evidence as a warning to readers about the history within the novel. “It happened before there’s nothing to say it won’t happen again.”

Control of thought:

Control of thought is shown in various aspects in the novel, being able to have your own thoughts is what makes us human and in the case of the novel, the right to think and dwell on what happened before cannot have an effect on your given role in Gilead. “nothing takes place in here but sleep, or no sleep. I try not to think too much, like other things now, thoughts must be rationalized” Offred, the main protagonist, lived a fulfilled life before, and now all she has left of those times are in her head. If someone starts to reflect negatively reflect on their time, it would likely. be portrayed in the way they partake in their job and could damage their chance of survival. Gilead is a very simplistic place and being able to stay in your lane is what keeps you alive. Atwood used Offred’s thoughts and her language to get across the author’s purpose to her audience and it portrayed the realistic life of how the handmaids lived.

Control through movement:

The control of movement came across as one of the most heavily enforced controls that were put on Gilead citizens. Control of everyone’s whereabouts is what made their society so close-knit. Freedom and access to go places were monitored and kept to the bare minimum. Everyone who left their issued houses must walk in pears. This is how control was enforced and this mechanism left for no chance of escape. “a rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays in the maze.” Freedom and movement are important as it gives someone the right to act. or move without constraint and when that is taken away, it can have damaging effects on one’s mental state. In the novel, this restriction of movement made Offred want to explore, which if she got caught would end in death all because of boredom. this constricting environment was treated like a prison, the “eyes” acted as the guards. Offred was just another numbered criminal serving her neverending sentence. “I cannot avoid seeing, now, the small tattoo on my ankle. Four digits and an eye, a passport in reverse, it’s supposed to guarantee that I will never be able to fade.” All totalitarian regimes used the act of control to manipulate people’s public or private lives and Atwood utilized the control of movement in Gilead to show just how constraining these regimes actually were.

Womens roles in society:

Gilead is a women’s world controlled and governed by men. Its female population is divided into roles based on household functions. These classes/roles are separated into colors. the wives of the commanders were dressed in blue, dull green uniforms are for the Marthas (housemaids) blue and green striped uniforms for the econwives; red is for the handmaids (the child-bearers like Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid in the biblical tale Genesis) and finally brown is worn by the aunts. Brown unifies power, control, and force like the role of school matrons. The handmaid’s role is seen to be the most important role as these women are used to improve the colossal issue that is infertility. handmaids are given names based on their commander, Offred is given the name Of-Fred by commander Fred and his wife. this is to take possession of their handmaids.