In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, one of the prevailing themes is the concept of women being unequal, subservient to men. Only good for one purpose, to procreate, the rest of the women's physical and mental well being is insignificant. Women of all rankings are forced into some sort of position, some positions being more powerful than others, but nonetheless all miserable. These women, whether a wife, a daughter, an aunt, a handmaid, a martha, or an unwomen, are all suffering captives of this perverted, Christian extremist society as seen via their submissiveness to men.
Mistreatment and subservience is seen through the experiences of the handmaids, being that Offred, the narrator is one of them. Handmaids have no free will and must not only be submissive to the Commanders, but to the Wives. "We are containers, it's only the insides fo our bodies that are important. The outside (such as the face and hands) can become hard and wrinkled, for all they care care..."(96). As long as the Handmaids are competent to produce offspring, nothing else matters. These women are not even provided with the modest of luxuries such as lotion and razors to shave. Compassion for these women even lacks in fufillment of their one purpose. There is no love, no passion, no kissing, no care, absolutely nothing. This act that once was a symbol and expression of true love is now an act of adultery and has been degraded down to a mandated duty, that could even be classified as rape.
Women's subservience is also evident at Offred's doctor visit. The doctor mentions that the Commanders may be the sterile ones, yet "There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, no officially. There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren, that's the law" (61). How dare the doctor assume that the Commander is the source of infertility. It is a known fact that men cannot possibly be sterile, for only the women can be barren, it can only be the women's fault. This perception of women continues throughout the course of the novel and is seen with the death of Angela, the baby Janine gives birth to. Janine automatically takes it upon herself, blames herself, that she must have done something wrong; that the baby was seen unfit to live because of her. Still this idea that it is always the women's fault, that men are always right and good, is seen in the marriages of the daughters. "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. All. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression" (221). Basically, women are never to rule over men, and must learn in silent; be silent, never voice your opinion; let the man rule the woman, for the woman sinned and the man was made first. A final instance of submissiveness is seen in the Commander's conversation with Offred. "Nature demands variety, for men. It stands to reason, it's part of the procreational strategy. It's Nature's plan" explains the Commander (237). Apparently men want variety in their women and are never content with just one woman; only men can desire multiple partners, different individuals. Furthermore, men expect the women to change to satisfy these desires of wanting new partners. In the Commander's short little explanation, he not only portrayed men to be pigs, and superior to women, but also made women seem incompetent to have multiple desires, to want a variety such as men do.
Atwood fully establishes this subservience of women to men to further depict the patriarchal Gileaden Society she has created. This subservience highlights the lack of rights and enslavement of the women, and parallels the suppression of individuals under an extreme ruler.
Favorite Quote
Throughout the novel, Offred's hope of escaping this twisted society is seen through her ephemeral moments of power. She finds little instances in which she still has control over her life, some free will, some form of power over others, such as the power to seduce and tease the guards, with a swing of her hips (Atwood 22). Also via her act of narrating this story:
I would like to believe this is a story I'm telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance (of surviving, escaping).
If it's a story I'm telling, then I have control over the ending. Then there will be an ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off. (39)
In being the narrator, she still has some power and hope. She can choose what part of the story to disclose and what to remain a secret; she, being the narrator, can decide how her story, how she ends; this storytelling reminds her that she is not fully stripped of everything, she still has this little bit of free will remaining. Furthermore, this story creates this illusion for her, an illusion in which the reality of her life, is simply a horrific nightmare that will eventually come to an end, an end in which she chooses. With believing that one day, things will be back to "normal," where she last left off, gives her the strength and hope and determination to keep resisting this present forced form of existence; to keep fighting for freedom. Memories of her past life, and her power of deciding how the story ends helps to keep an ember of hope burning.
This quote is inspiring and moving. For Offred to be in such a position of enslavement in which suicide is so tempting and desirable, yet to stay determined and keep hoping, is quite uplifting and admirable, making it one of my favorite quotes. However, after having read the novel, it is also one of my least favorite quotes. Even if Offred does escape (which is uncertain), her life will never be "normal" again. She will never be able to erase these memories of being a handmaid in Gileaden. Furthermore, this quote reminds me of how her hope dwindles as the novel progresses, ulitmately leading up to her relinquishing her ending. "...I feel serene, at peace, pervaded with indifference. Don't let the bastards grind you down. I repeat this to myself but it conveys nothing" (291). This monumental moment of the novel is her official resignation of her fate. Although she had little control over her fate to begin with, she reminded herself of "Don't let the bastards grind you down" throughout the novel, to give her determination and hope. However in now being numb and indifferent to this phrase, she no longer cares what happens to her. She abdicates her ending. "Whether this is my end or a new beginning I have no way of knowing: I have given myself over into the hands of strangers, because it can't be helped. And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light" (295). Fully given up on any hope of escaping, of having freedom once more, of having her own free will, Offred steps into the van, leaving her destiny and end in "the hands of strangers."
My Thoughts of The Handmaid's Tale
This novel left me speechless, infuriated, and just ... wow. As I read this novel, I was in just pure disbelief. How it amazed me that these women could be stripped of everything, all rights, decisions, freedoms, and forced to live this mandated life...no existence, of simply reproducing the population. And just that. No love, no emotion, nothing at all. This society was based purely on a perverted interpretation of a Biblical story, the story of Jacob, and his wives, Leah and Rachel; focusing mainly on the sisters' use of concubines/ maidservants to produce their children (NIV Student Bible, Genesis 29:31-30:24). This one story was taken to the extreme and used as vindication for the actions of the Gileaden Society. Via this extreme interpretation, this reprehensible society removed all rights of women and made them subservient to men, degrading them down to the value of their womb, to viable or inviable eggs. Just as much as it angers me, it also disappoints me as well. For the Gileaden Society was just another society that in seeking Utopia (or what that believed to be Utopia), once again failed, created pure havoc and Distopia. In other words, an ideal society seems impossible to accomplish; it is impossible to please everyone; accomplishing utopia would be equivalent to accomplishing world peace.
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