The Handmaid's Tale
The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, is another book that I
read in high school but wanted to revisit. It takes place in a
near-future version of America, called Gilead, where religious
fundamentalists have taken over and basically obliterated women's
rights.
This story is narrated by Offred, a handmaid in the employ of a Commander named Fred. She lives in his house and is forced to copulate with him once a month. She also walks into town every day to buy food as part of her regimented exercise program. Her main purpose is to get pregnant. After she successfully has a child, she will be shipped off to another house at which point the process will start all over again. If she goes six years without getting pregnant, she will be declared an Unwoman and will be sent to a forced labor camp for the rest of her life.
Offred alternates between describing her life as a handmaid and reminiscing about the time before when she had a husband, a daughter, a job, a bank account, and the freedom to read. She lived through the revolution and also spends some time talking about her reeducation with the Aunts to become a handmaid.
The world Atwood paints is frightening, partly because some of it hits so close to home. Women's rights are so tied to reproductive rights and we are still having to fight just to maintain what rights we have. But there are also more subtle things. Like the idea that a woman's worth is tied to her ability to have kids, or that rape is more often the fault of the victim for tempting her attacker. Atwood takes these beliefs to an extreme degree, but they're still easy to spot any time you read the news or log on to Facebook.
More than anything else, this book drives home how tenuous women's freedoms currently are. And how important it is for us to stay vigilant lest we lose what ground we've gained.
This story is narrated by Offred, a handmaid in the employ of a Commander named Fred. She lives in his house and is forced to copulate with him once a month. She also walks into town every day to buy food as part of her regimented exercise program. Her main purpose is to get pregnant. After she successfully has a child, she will be shipped off to another house at which point the process will start all over again. If she goes six years without getting pregnant, she will be declared an Unwoman and will be sent to a forced labor camp for the rest of her life.
Offred alternates between describing her life as a handmaid and reminiscing about the time before when she had a husband, a daughter, a job, a bank account, and the freedom to read. She lived through the revolution and also spends some time talking about her reeducation with the Aunts to become a handmaid.
The world Atwood paints is frightening, partly because some of it hits so close to home. Women's rights are so tied to reproductive rights and we are still having to fight just to maintain what rights we have. But there are also more subtle things. Like the idea that a woman's worth is tied to her ability to have kids, or that rape is more often the fault of the victim for tempting her attacker. Atwood takes these beliefs to an extreme degree, but they're still easy to spot any time you read the news or log on to Facebook.
More than anything else, this book drives home how tenuous women's freedoms currently are. And how important it is for us to stay vigilant lest we lose what ground we've gained.
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