Handmaid’s Tale Critical Analysis PDF

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Handmaid’s Tale Critical Analysis Aansana Kaneshalingam Sociology 1F90 Seminar 17 Karen Hofman

Handmaid’s Tale Critical Analysis A dystopia is a society that is cripples by environmental, technological or economic disaster. The Handsmaid’s Tale, is set in the dystopic society of Gilead. It is a place filled with unhappy people and women that are not fertile, therefore they had only some females dressed in red and called them handmaid’s because they were fertile. The women were taken from their regular lives and were brainwashed into believing something much different than what they believed in before. The purpose of this paper is to argue that this television series hold many themes, such as feminism, power and culture and how this show reflects and affects our society now. They are shown throughout the episode “Offred”. In order to demonstrate these arguments I will be talking about this episode in particular and showing how this dystopic society is.

Offred, also known as the main character and her original family were chased and captured in the woods by a powerful group that had guns, and have put her through forced conditions to become a handmaid (Fandom, 2019). The identity of the handmaids were taken away, and they were given new ones. The female bodies were controlled by the state because of the problem of reproduction. The female body was used as a political instrument. Women were not allowed to vote, be educated, hold property, etc because they were not allowed to become independent. They have to be under their husband or state(Atwood, 2019). In this society the women were treated as

subhuman, though they were special because they were fertile unlike others. They were looked at as reproducers, just a set of overys and woumbs. Offred and the other females were brainwashed to think that their bodies aren’t theirs anymore it is the governments. They don’t use their bodies for their self desiers, it is used to just reproduce. A system has been created by the new government for fertile women to reproduce. Gilead’s strengthens to brainwash and take away the females identity to make them into handmaids. In our society now, the United States of America have discussed about the drop of birth rates. Infertility is becoming a bigger issue in our society and all around the world. One out of six Canadian couples experience infertility, throughout the birth rate keeps dropping in the world(Dowling, 2019). Women were disrespected in Gilead because they could not give birth though the men were sterile. In our society, if women could not give birth they were looked as less feminine because they could not provide their families with children, and were infertile. Throughout the episode, unmarried fertile women were trained and sent off to rich couples homes who hold power. They were sent as a servant(Dowling, 2019). In this household, the man of the house will performe such ceremony of rape every month in hopes of making the handmaid pregnant. If the handmaid does become pregnant and the child comes out healthy and successfully born the baby will be taken away and be given to the couple to be raised as their own child. The handmaids were not allowed to claim that the baby is theirs(Dowling, 2019). This episode shows that women were basically owned by men, and the debate over abortion in the United States has become more popular. In Texas, women have dressed up in red just like the handmaids from this television series and have started to protest on a ban for abortion due to the infertility rates. This bill has

passed and now Texas is one step closer to banning and making abortion illegal(Dowling, 2019). Texas is now slowly becoming a dystopic place because the freedom of choosing to have or not have children is being taken away due to the power of society. Power does not exist around one person in this show, it evolves around a group of people who has the control of everything they have the authority to make claims of what the truth is.

Culture in Gilead is very different compared to ours currently. The republic of Gilead is trying to overcome the US government. The world is in a plague of infertility. The USA has a drop in sertility rate due to STI’s. In the episode the handmaids were preached at about how lucky they are because they are fertile and are able to have children. In their culture they punish a general person for raping a handmaid and she was already pregnant. The raping had caused the death of the baby inside of her. Symbols reveal the great values of what the cultural values a society or nation embraces(Lipset,1990). They called Gilead “blessed” because this society was extremist religious. “Under his eye”(Morano,2017) is a term used to say that god is always watching every move of what the handmaids do. They believed that the women who were fertile had a direct gift from god. This term is used as a key of reminder for the handmaids so they do not do something that will make them in trouble. As the handmaids were speaking to each other, Offred asked about another handmaid because she was missing and was wondering what has happened to her. The pregnant handmaid said she was probably, most likely killed because she attempted to run away from Gilead.(Morano, 2017) In this society the culture was very different, everyone gets

physically punished. It was like the females were pulled into a cult and brainwashed without even knowing it. If someone did something wrong in the society, they will be punished. The man who had raped the handmaid who was pregnant was punished, and was beaten to death by the handmaids (Morano, 2017). In our society, no one get physically punished unless they commit a crime under the law. Punishment here in our society now is very different compared to the society in Gilead. Men who raped females will end up going to jail, not beaten to death. Our society has different beliefs, and not everyone follows christianity. Our society is multicultural and does not base everything on just one belief. Gilead is a very religious society, they believe in Christianity to be their culture.

Oppression against women is one of the most popular themes in this television show, and in our society now. Gender based violence should be prohibited. Gilead is a women based society. Females are superior than the other. In our society women are equal to men. Even though there are some countries and states that makes one gender more superior than the other, this is mostly shown towards females. Men are always put first and are favoured more than women. Cruelty against women is unacceptable. As this society being dystopic, it proves that no one is happy in this society and no one would change rules and orders of this community. Feminism is a topic to be discussed towards Handmaid’s Tale, it plays a big roll in this television series. Women’s interests represented instead of something put together by men(Smith,2016). Women were protected against rapist who were not commanders or rich couples who hold power. The other men were beaten to death for hurting the handmaid and killing the baby in

her. Only women who would satisfy men were kept in the Republic of Gilead, if they were not fertile or able to do chores enough to satisfy them they would get killed(Neidospal,2018). These women who are not enough to satisfy others were titles as “Unwoman”. Gilead is ruled by fundementalist Christian elite that categorises women as wives who were privileged because of their husband who are ought to be powerful, Aunts who are to be the guide/ teacher, Marthas who were domestic servants, Handmaidens who are able to give birth they were assigned to powerful and rich homes and Unwoman(Mellor, 2017). As a dystopic community, women were categorised and were told how to live life, instead of living the life they desire. The Handmaids Tale

themes are still urgent and its feminist critique is still painfully sharp(Mellor,2017).

In conclusion as a dystopic society, Gilead is much more different compared to our society now, though there are some similarities such as the main issue in the Handmaid’s Tale which is the drop in fertility. We are currently going through a fetrtility drop as well. Themes such as power, culture and feminism is a very big factor in both societies. As a dystopic place, Republic of Gilead is unsuccessful at satisfying everyone that lives here, they are very unfair towards both genders especially women. Since power was very big, only couples who have power and wealth were allowed to have handmaidens and have kids through them. Handmaiden’s lived an unfair life and were punished when they talk back and not satisfy others around them. Women were also categorised depending on who they are and what they hold. This episode shows that

television series are able to influence others for example the protest against abortion in Texas. The Handmaid’s Tale shows and reflects current issues and potential danger in our society and world.

References: Atwood (2019) The Handmaids Tale Main Ideas. Themes. Page 1 https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/handmaid/themes/ Raeside.J (2017,May 28) The Handmaid's Tale recap: episode one – blessed be the fruit https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/may/28/the-handmaids-tale-recap-

episode-one-blessed-be-the-fruit Dowling.A (2019, March 19) Entertainment TV. Seven reasons why The Handmaid’s Tale is more relevant now than ever before. Can Margret Atwood tell the future? https://www.theloop.ca/seven-reasons-handmaids-tale-relevant-now-ever/ Mellor.L (2017, May 28) The Handmaid’s Tale episode 1 review. Bruce Miller's chilling adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s feminist dystopian novel hasn’t softened a thing for TV...Den Of Geek UK https://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/the-handmaids-tale/265265/the-handmaid-s-taleepisode-1-review https://www.crave.ca/en/tv-shows/the-handmaids-tale/offred-s1e1? ua=eyJtIjoiYSIsInAiOlsiYyIsImNwIiwicyJdLCJsIjoiZW4ifQ==...