H2 align=”center”>The Novel Explores an Imaginary World. To what extent is Gilead built on familiar ideas and events from our own 20th Century Society. Throughout the novel, Offred brings the readers attention to the time before. This generally happens in the Night passages. It is in these passages where the reader is given a true insight into what Offred is really thinking. This is no doubt why the reader is only here given true insight to the time before, which was of course, the society we live in today.
The role of satire itself is to bring to the attention of the reader, the problems of the society in which they live. Atwoods stance here, is to create a distopian society, which has been vastly exaggerated for the purposes of the novel. It could be argued that, just as in Nineteen Eighty-Four, this is indeed a future satire, in which Atwood is warning of the future of the society in which she lives. The birth of Gileadean Society is a recent occurrence in the novel. We know this from Offreds accounts of the break up of her relationship with Luke and their attempts to leave the country. We can therefore assume that the birth of Gilead is within about ten years of Offreds accounts. Because of this, there are still signs of the time before present, for example the magazines and scrabble in the Commanders office. Another example of this, is the opening of the novel when we are introduced to the characters in a novel.
We slept in what had once been the gymnasium. This shows that there are still significance reminders of the time before . Notice the use of Atwoods language here. She says the gymnasium, rather than a gymnasium this suggests that Offred remembers the gymnasium and it is not a random place of no significance to her. Gileadean Society is, ultimately based around a feminist idea, which has gone wrong. The women are put on a pedestal so high, and are so coveted and respected within certain circles that they are even more oppressed than they were in the time before if you could be so bold as to argue that women were oppressed in the time before.
The Essay on Society Where Women Gymnasium Protagonist Chapter
... jumps very quickly back into the present time. Offred it seems is in the gymnasium with girls in the same situation as ... their thoughts and identities suppressed. To be in a society where women are not allowed such basic things as ... her desires, she makes this clear to us the reader when she fantasies about the men outside the window. ... Margaret Atwood uses the first chapter of the Handmaid's Tale to ...
However, this feminist culture has been distorted, making the eventual outcome totally opposite to what was campaigned for. Distortion of what happened in the time before is an ongoing theme throughout the novel. Most notable of this, is the distortion of Biblical references. The whole idea of the Handmaid is taken from Genesis 30 vs. 1-3 in a discussion between Jacob and Rachel. Give me children, or else I die..Behold my maid Bilah, go unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. However, the distortion of truth is not only in the Bible, references from Offred are taken from the time before but are somewhat untrue, or at least distorted.
For example, Pen is Envy which as an obvious distortion of Penis Envy a theory of Sigmund Freud. Here, it is ambiguous as to whether Offreds knowledge has been distorted by the society that she lives in, or whether her memory of the time before is already floundering even after the short time that Gilead has been in existence. Throughout the novel, there is an apparent deep running irony. There is an evident hierarchy from the time before however, in a society such as Gilead, one would expect the hierarchy to take a different form to what it does. The irony lies in the fact that the society is exceptionally patriarchal, yet the society depends on what is done by the women. One suspects that Atwood is perhaps making a criticism of the society in which she is a part of, perhaps saying that women get no recognition of what they do, despite its importance.
In fact, Offred refers to herself as a two legged womb. In comparison to Nineteen Eighty-Four, men and women are supposed to be regarded as equals despite being ruled by a power which is quite obviously well above them. Both novels then showing the irony of equality and hierarchy in the societies in which they are a part of. The regard in which women are held in the novel is somewhat surprising. It is reminiscent of certain societies of our time. For example, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in which women were treated as sub human. As inappropriate as this may sound, the women in the novel are at least performing a vital task in the upkeep of society. (Note: I really didnt mean to be a chauvinist male pig in my statement of that, I just couldnt express it in any other way.) That they are overlooked by the men, and in the case of Handmaids, women as well is totally abhorrent considering the task that they have to perform. Like Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Handmaids Tale was written nearing the end of, or after a war.
The Essay on Women in the Civil War
Women were a great effect in the civil war. Many women would disquise themselves as men or spies to fight in the war.Other women would be nurses,aides,and doctors on the battlefield. Women who were not part of the civil war still mad a great effect by manufacturing things to the war.Women as spies were particulary effective. The people they helped were very grateful.Belle Boyd a teenager known as ...
The war being the Cold War. Here the pressure of possible nuclear protection from both the USA and Russia must have been quite apparent in the society in which Atwood was writing. It is therefore possible that Atwood was warning against the possible outcome of a nuclear war. Just as Orwell, did against Communism and Fascism in Nineteen Eighty-Four. It is unsurprising that there are many references in the novel that remind the reader of what it is like in the period in which they are reading. The novel is ultimately a satire, because of that it would not be affective as a satire if there were no criticisms of the society in which the author is writing.
Take into account, A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift, although totally ludicrous, the real issue is that there is no way to take care of the problem of orphaned children in his native country. This piece would not be as affective if there was no problem and Swift was merely proposing that children should be eaten. This is why Atwood uses references of the time before in order to make The Handmaids Tale an affective piece of satire, which it is..
