The Handmaid's Tale About Disempowerment of Women

Introduction

The Handmaid's Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, is set in the early twentieth century in a new American fundamentalist society called Gilead. The novel is told in the first person by the protagonist through the use of flashbacks to highlight a challenging apathy among citizens as their freedoms were increasingly stripped away. The handmaids are evidently disempowered due to a falling birth rate and fear of a population decline. This leads into my focus question: 'The Handmaid's Tale About Disempowerment of Women'

Disempowerment of Women in a Dystopian Society

Clearly, this novel represents the disempowerment of women in a dystopian society. Specifically, the ideas that the women of Gilead are not permitted to have individual thoughts and freedom, and that controlling the women through methods of fear ultimately takes away their desires. These particular ideas reflect Atwood’s concerns within her own context and society, as during the 1980s many saw feminism and the freedoms given to women as a threat to conventional morality and the traditional family structure. Social commentator Phyllis Schlafly traveled around the country making speeches as she saw the liberation of women as posing a clear threat to ‘traditional family values’. This reflects Atwood’s fear of a strong feminist vision and the negative impacts it would have on them.

Restrictions on Individual Thoughts and Freedom

Firstly, this novel explores the idea that the women of Gilead are not permitted to have individual thoughts and freedom. The women are portrayed as objects, and all of their individual rights are stripped away from them as they are under constant surveillance and are forced to give birth to a child they don’t get to keep with their commander. This displays Atwood’s context of declining birth rates and her concern that women will be forced to become handmaids to help others conceive. This is seen when Offred is comparing her life now to how she used to experience life while Aunt Lydia explains to her what freedom means; “There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it.” The use of juxtaposition through the word 'freedom' is being manipulated into two different definitions, creating contrasting ideas that during the days of anarchy, women experienced ‘freedom to’, meaning they were not protected, whereas now Gilead has provided the women with ‘freedom from’, demonstrating their confinement to men in which Aunt Lydia says Offred should be grateful for rather than taking it for granted as her life could be immensely ‘worse’. Furthermore, the men are not allowed to make any contact with women due to their ‘protection’. Although, this is ironic as the women are being abused by their commander, which establishes them having no allowance to their own independent rights. In a similar way, this is evident when Offred and Ofglen are walking in their usual pairs, although they decide to change their route; “A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.” The use of a metaphor conveys the corruption surrounding the concept of freedom, as in this dystopia the freedom given is still restricted. Therefore, through the illusion of freedom, this highlights that the handmaids are confined in their thoughts and freedom.

Control Through Fear

In addition, the disempowerment of women is conveyed through the idea of controlling the women with methods of fear that ultimately take away their desires. In Gilead, the Aunts, specifically Aunt Lydia, take control. Due to women being ‘imprisoned’ and only useful for fertility, they have not only lost their purpose in life but also control of their bodies and their identity, which reveals Atwood’s fear of this. This idea may be reflected when Offred describes how she feels while having her desires stripped away from her; “I feel like cotton candy: sugar and air. Squeeze me and I’d turn into a small sickly damp wad of weeping pinky-red.” The use of a simile through the association of ‘cotton candy’, which is easily broken apart, demonstrates Offred’s rights being taken away with no individual say. Additionally, the use of tactile and visual imagery helps the reader to understand that Offred feels as though she is the victim, which evokes a sense of fear controlling her life. Likewise, this is reinforced when Offred reflects her constant fear of not getting pregnant and the consequences of punishment that contribute to this; “Each month I watch for blood, fearfully, for when it comes it means failure. I have failed once again to fulfill the expectations of others, which have become my own.” The use of symbolism of ‘blood’ highlights the fear and violence aimed at the women. The Handmaids dread seeing this blood as it means they didn’t achieve in reproduction, which is now their only purpose in life. Offred fears that if she does not get impregnated, she will be sent to the Colonies. The fear of punishment and the loss of identity serve as tools to maintain control over the women, making them subservient and powerless.

Conclusion

Hence, Margaret Atwood’s novel ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ demonstrates a variety of ideas that explore dystopian literature through disempowering women. The ideas that the women of Gilead are not allowed to have independent thoughts and freedom and that the women are disempowered through being in constant fear of punishment due to controlling procedures reflect Atwood’s concerns about the restrictions that Gilead holds on women's desires and purpose in life due to falling birthrates.

References

1. Atwood, M. (1985). The Handmaid's Tale. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

2. Schlafly, P. (1981). The Power of the Positive Woman. Arlington House Publishers.

3. Clark, J. (1984). The Politics of Reproduction. In Journal of Women's History, 2(1), 10-30.

4. Smith, A. (1986). Feminism and Family Values in the 1980s. In American Historical Review, 91(4), 812-833.

5. Thompson, K. (1987). Dystopian Literature and the Power of Fear. In Literary Studies Journal, 15(3), 45-58.

6. Williams, L. (1988). Gender and Identity in the 20th Century. In Contemporary Thought, 20(2), 67-89.