The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Women's roles in society is a major theme that occurs in the work.  In the novel, the sole purpose for women to live is to please the man. Gilead has the women do specific jobs just to please the Commander. The Marthas are the cooks, the Handmaids are the baby makers and the Wives are there to look presentable and support the husband. They are not allowed to make any decisions for themselves and are not even supposed to think for themselves. The beliefs portrayed in the society of Gilead are exaggerated views of the Bible which depicts women as being inferior to men. Starting with Eve being the first to eat from the forbidden tree this view has been the case since the beginning of time. While the society depicted is overblown in the beliefs of the Bible it does show the unscrupulous viewpoints of the most famous piece of literature in the history of mankind. The issue of the work may not be the viewpoints perceived in a piece of literature written over two thousand years ago, but instead the fact that people today strictly abide by it's beliefs all these years following. The most evident issue shown in The Handmaid's Tale is women being objectified, which is still a common occurrence now in the 21st century. The source of this issue is the Bible which makes it a very difficult issue to discuss with people.With many worshiping this book as nothing but pure holiness it is almost impossible to discuss its issues with most people.  Now don't misunderstand me. There are many life lessons shown in the Bible which can help make the world a better place to live in. But it is not all perfect. Issues such as slavery and the inferiority of women are also made clear. People do not have to give up reading the Bible, but they have to realize that not everything depicted in it is correct. Times have changed and so has society and it is unacceptable to hold the belief that men are superior to women. They are just as, if not more, intelligent than men, as shown by Atwood in the Scrabble scene with Offred and the Commander. Offred demolished her master by using words such as "prolix" and " larynx" while the Commander used "go home." Atwood also does a phenomenal job showing what will happen to a society that strictly follows the beliefs of the Bible. No one is happy, not even the Commander. Serena Joy, who strived for a society like the one of Gilead was not even happy with how the society turned out. The outcome of Gilead and the experiences of Offred and all the characters in the novel should be a lesson to anyone who says the Bible should be precisely followed. No one will be happy if that is the case, as the women will have no lives of their own, and the men will feel like barbaric pigs. In a perfect world, both genders would be treated equally and everyone would be happy. Unless people drop the belief depicted in the Bible that women are less than men, this will never be the case.

"Now the flesh arranges itself differently. I'm a cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am and glows red within its translucent wrapping. Inside it is a space, huge as the sky at night and dark and curved like that, though black-red rather than black" (Atwood 73). This is by far my favorite line from the novel because it sums up in just a few sentences all that Offred and the other Handmaids are good for in the society of Gilead, and that is their ability to become pregnant. By saying that she is "around a central object" and "more real than I am" Offred is saying that the only thing that symbolizes her is her uterus, no matter what she does or says. The entire purpose for her existence is to get pregnant, and she has to endure this burden. The way she describes her womb as being black as the sky enforces this as being a curse rather than a gift.



The purpose for Margaret Atwood to write The Handmaid's Tale was to depict modern society in a way that people would reflect on it and change their actions and beliefs. She undoubtedly succeeded in her endeavor, as she clearly shows time and time again the bad that comes out of objectifying women. Today in society women are still not treated equally, as sexist jokes and beliefs are carried out daily. By making it so every character is unhappy in a society where women have no rights, it is clearly shown that a world with these beliefs will lead to turmoil and chaos. Every issue is made to highlight part of our culture and it is done with such brilliance that you cannot help but get emotional towards the characters while reading it. You get attached to the characters along the way, especially Offred, because of all the suffering she has gone through, such as losing her child as well as the love of her life. One of the criticisms a person could have with the book is that the end is unclear in what happens to Offred and you don't know her outcome. But the reason Atwood does this is because the point of the novel is not Offred's story but  instead to highlight the terrible aspects of the society through her. This was another brilliant choice of writing by the author. I feel the novel is one of the most influential books that can be read, as its beliefs of equality can be implemented in our society and our sexist beliefs need to be changed or else we will end up in turmoil like Gilead did. It is truly a novel that should be read by everyone.