The Handmaid’s
Tale
By: Margaret Atwood
A Dystopian Novel
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Contemplate…
What is the purpose of Dystopian
literature? What is the message the
authors are attempting to convey?
Margaret Atwood

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Born Nov. 18, 1939
Canadian
Atwood is among the
most-honored authors
of fiction in recent
history .

Booker Prize, Arthur
C. Clarke Award, and
Governor General's
Award
Atwood's fiction is often symbolic.
About The Handmaid’s Tale:
“What inspired The Handmaid’s Tale?” I’ve
often been asked. General observation, I
might have said. Poking my nose into books.
Reading the newspapers. World history.
One of my rules was that I couldn’t put
anything into the novel that human beings
hadn’t actually done.
A note to the reader from Atwood:
Dear Reader,
Every book is a sort of mushroom cloud thrown up by a large substance of material that has
been accumulating for a lifetime. I had long been interested in the histories of totalitarian
regimes and the different forms they have taken in various societies; while the initial idea
for The Handmaid's Tale came to me in 1981, I avoided writing it for several years because
I was apprehensive about the results--whether I would be able to carry it off as a literary
form.
In form, the book is a dystopia (negative utopia). A cognate of A Clockwork Orange, Brave
New World, and Nineteen Eighty-Four, it is the story of one woman's altered circumstances,
presented as a first-person narrative novel.
The roots of the book go back to my study of the American Puritans. The society they
founded in America was not a democracy as we know it, but a theocracy. In addition, I
found myself increasingly alarmed by statements made frequently by religious leaders in
the United States; and then a variety of events from around the world could not be ignored,
particularly the rising fanaticism of the Iranian monotheocracy. The thing to remember is
that there is nothing new about the society depicted in The Handmaid's Tale except the time
and place. All of the things I have written about have--as noted in the "Historical Notes" at
the end--been done before, more than once.
It is an imagined account of what happens when not uncommon pronouncements about
women are taken to their logical conclusions. History proves that what we have been in the
past we could be again.
Atwood calls the novel a “speculative fiction”
– ie. What could occur if society closes its eyes to what
is going on in the world. If people are not paying attention,
they may experience loss of freedoms; in the worst case
scenario, they become slaves.
Dystopian Literature
Dystopian literature presents fictional worlds or societies
that are depicted as utopias, but under closer scrutiny
illustrate terrifying and restrictive regimes in which
individual freedoms are often suppressed for the greater
“good”.
Aspects of a dystopian society
Oppression
Violence
Disease/Pollution
Human
misery
Atwood’s dystopia , Gilead, depicts a society in which
religious extremists have taken over and reversed the
progress of the sexual revolution.
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Other Dystopian
Literature
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•The fictional Republic of Gilead represents an “atavistic
Puritanism”.
•Atavism refers to the reversion to the appearance, behavior of
our ancestors.
•As for Puritanism, think of The Crucible, and the repressive lives
of the citizens of New England.
Do you see some irony in
the naming of this new
society “Gilead”?
Atwood illustrates how fear guarantees collusion – the individual
is afraid to speak up or rebel; therefore, the individual shares
responsibility for every aspect of the society, including its atrocities
Through fear, a totalitarian regime is able to police itself. Its
members--even the extremely oppressed--police each other as agents
of the state. Friendship becomes obsolete as no one can be trusted
Note: Totalitarianism: a from of government in which no rival partie
are permitted. Total submission to the state is required.
Oppression

Social stratification

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Handmaids

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Wives, Econowives, Marthas, handmaids,
Aunts, Unwomen
Their only purpose is to reproduce. They are
“[reduced]…to the slavery status of being mere
‘breeders’” (Malak).
Offred knows “[she] is a natural resource”
(Atwood 65).
Inability to retaliate

The women fear the government’s
punishments and are jealous of each other.
They fail to unite and overcome the Republic.
Violence

Salvagings - Public Hangings

Priests, doctors, gender traitors, etc.
They are “like scarecrows…since they
are meant to scare” (Atwood 32).

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Lesser Punishments

Women reading, attempting to harm
Commander or Wife



Injury to hands and feet
“They didn’t care what they did to your feet or your hands,
even if it was permanent…For our purposes…[they] are not
essential” (91).
Particicutions - Participatory Executions

Punishment for rape – being “torn to bits by a mob of
women (Ehrenreich).
Disease/Pollution

The Colonies


Unwomen


Radioactive/toxic waste from the
previous society (USA)
Women who are unable to conceive
Unbabies


Birth defects – “The chances are one in four”
(Atwood 112).
Euthanasia


The government takes the babies away
Solution

Handmaids are considered the solution as they
will repopulate the Republic.
Human Misery

Suicide


Lack of fulfillment


Handmaids are under so
much pressure that they
often take their own lives
Women cannot hold normal jobs, own property,
vote, etc.
Loneliness/Lack of human relationships


Separated families (Offred, Luke, and daughter)
Normal husband and wife relationships are
difficult to maintain (Commander and Serena
Joy)
As you read, pay attention to:
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Role of
Government
Gender Roles
Rebellion
Heroism

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Symbols
Biblical References
Ceremony/Ritual
Sexual Power
Struggles
Pre-Giliadian
Society
As you read, be sure to
understand the caste system.

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Women:






Wives
Handmaids
Daughters
Marthas
Aunts
Econowives
Men:



Commanders of the
Faithful
Eyes
Angels



Guardians of the
Faith
Gender Traitors
Un-Persons:



Women
Men
Babies
Journal Assignment:
The Handmaid’s Tale
Chapters
1-11 Reading and Journal Due to turnitin.com on Mon. 5/2
12-17 Reading and Journal Due to turnitin.com on Tue. 5/3
18-23 Reading and Journal Due to turnitin.com on Wed. 5/4
24-30 Reading and Journal Due to turnitin.com on Thur. 5/5
31-36 Reading and Journal Due to turnitin.com on Fri. 5/6
37-41 Reading and Journal Due to turnitin.com on Mon. 5/9
42-46 Reading and Journal Due to turnitin.com on Tue. 5/10
Handmaid’s Tale Journal - continued
For each reading assignment, you should pick
a passage of interest on which to comment.
Copy the passage and page #, and then
provide a 5-7 sentence commentary.
Remember to provide in-depth analysis of
your selected passage. These commentaries
should not be plot summaries. These must be
typed and submitted to turnitin.com by 7:30
a.m. on the due date. NOTE: You do not need
to submit a hard copy to me. I will look at
them online.
Please use the rest of this class
period to peer assess two
commentaries. You should attach
two assessments to your own
commentary and keep these until
Monday. Be sure scores and
explanations are included!