Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale :: Margaret Atwood The Handmaids Tale

I Tell, Therefore I AmIn Margaret Atwoods, The Handmaids Tale, women are subjected to unthinkable oppression. Practically every human face of their life is controlled, and they are taught to believe that their only purpose is to bear children for their commander. These handmaids are non allowed to read, write or speak freely. Any type of expression would be dangerous to the order of the Gileads strict society. They are conditioned to believe that they are safer in this new society. Women are supposedly no longer ill-used or disrespected (pornography, rape, etc.) as they once were. Romantic relationships are strongly prohibited because involving emotion would defeat the handmaids sole purpose of reproducing. Of course not all women who were taken into Gilead believed right what was happening to their focus of life. Through the process of storytelling, remembering, and rebellion, Offred and other handmaids cease to completely submit to Gileads repressive culture. We learned to utter almost without sound. In the semidarkness we would stretch out our arms, when the Aunts werent researching, and touch each others hands across space. We learned to lip-read, our heads flat on the beds, saturnine sideways, watching each others mouths. (Atwood, p4) The handmaids whisper to each other to exchange information. They engage in this conversation to keep alive the nature of relationships amid people. It is very lonely for these women, for they cannot say what is on their mind, they are only allowed pre-approved phrases from Gileads authorities Without this contact it would be impossible for the women to reminisce and be comforted. Another way of keeping the past real to Offred is to remember old stories from before the revolution. She spends a lot of her time thinking about her husband Luke and how the city used to look before, Lilies used to be a movie theater here, before. Students went there a lot every spring they had a Humphrey Bogart festival with Lauren Ba call or Katherine Hepburn, women on their own, qualification up their own minds (Atwood, 25). These small rebellions that Offred and other handmaids participate in are very significant. The simple fact that they choose to engage in these insurgences shows that they still deposit on to their more just and free past. They still have a notion of truth and are keeping it alive. Having these passions and feelings causes the structure of Gilead to truly not work, and entrust probably (The Handmaids Tale was left open ended) lead to its demise.