The Handmaid's Tale Shall be Told
"Maybe none of this is about control. Maybe it isn't really about who can own whom, who can do what to whom and get away with it, even as far as death. Maybe it isn't about who can sit and who has to kneel or stand or lie down, legs spread open. Maybe it's about who can do what to whom and be forgiven for it. Never tell me it amounts to the same thing." -- The Handmaid's Tale
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Video created by Ezen Kays
http://youtu.be/C2CSuOlzcXk
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Book Analysis
First published in 1986, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is an imaginative portrayal of one woman’s struggle to survive in a dystopian society where she is forced to live under extremely dire circumstances. The story is set in a futuristic version of the United States after it has been destroyed and overpowered by a mysterious group of rebels who quickly enact their tyrannical rule throughout the country. Almost every citizen is stripped of his or her identity and provided with a new role. The novel’s main character is torn from her family and forced to become a handmaid whose main purpose is to bear children. The only thing that keeps her from giving up on life is the hope of being reunited with her family.
Most of the novel is told from the first person point of view of a woman who simply refers to herself as Offred. She keeps a somber tone while telling her story, although her experiences are articulately described in vivid detail. The events alternately go back and forth from past to present through the use of flashbacks. This is a key element for allowing the reader to understand how Offred arrived at her current predicament. The flashbacks offer a great deal of information about her former life, the people she knew, and how she came to lose everything she owned. The story allows the reader to vicariously experience a life without freedom which can make a person deeply appreciate even the simplest act of free will that would otherwise be carelessly taken for granted. The novel has quite an unusual ending which can leave the reader either intrigued or unsatisfied. Offred's story lacks an ultimate conclusion. The book does not offer any further information that might reveal what became of the heroine. As a result, the reader is left to contemplate the remaining details of Offred's untold fate. Perhaps, it was the author's way of leaving a reader's imagination open. |
Sources:
Atwood, Margaret. The handmaid's tale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Print.