"…women represent fifty percent of the adult world population, one third of the official labour force, perform nearly two-thirds of all working hours, receive only one-tenth of world income and own less than one percent of world property."
This quotation from an United Nations report has been in the manuscript of The Handmaid’s Tale as possible epigraph, before Margaret Atwood decided to discard it. But nevertheless it shows very distincly that sexual unequality is still an important subject for discussion and literary works. In particular Margaret Atwood, who is also active in Amnesty International , paints a horrible, brutal and extremistic world in her dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale. In her essay “Writing Utopia” Margaret Atwood emphasizes that in this novel nothing happens that has not occurred somewhere in the world at some time before or even now. Which elements of sexual unequality in Offred’s life are motivated by real societies? Why did Margaret Atwood pick these for her novel The Handmaid’s Tale? This will be pointed out in the following analysis by comparing the real world with the fictive world of Gilead for similarities of sexual unequality during the rapid reversal of the state and in points of the politics, the ideology, the society, the daily life and the resistance against the state.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Motivated Elements of Sexual Unequality in Offred’s Life
2.1 Rapid Reversal
2.2 Politics
2.3 Ideology
2.4 Society and Daily Life
2.5 Resistance
3. Conclusion
4. Bibilography
Objectives and Themes
This work aims to analyze how Margaret Atwood integrates real-world social and political issues into the dystopian society of Gilead in her novel "The Handmaid's Tale". By examining the structural oppression of women, the text explores the parallels between the fictive regime and various historical and contemporary societies, focusing on how power, religion, and ideology are used to enforce gender inequality.
- Comparison of the fictional state of Gilead with historical and present-day real-world parallels.
- Analysis of the socio-political mechanisms of oppression and the loss of individual rights.
- The role of religion and fundamentalist ideology in justifying systemic sexual inequality.
- The dynamics of daily life, control, and gender-based discrimination within the regime.
- Investigation into the nature of resistance against authoritarian power structures.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1 Rapid Reversal
Margaret Atwood writes in her essay “Writing Utopia”, that true dictatorships “come in bad times, when people are ready to give up some of their freedoms to someone – anyone – who can take control and promise them better times.” She realizes this in her novel The Handmaid’s Tale. The time before her fictive state Gilead was founded was marked by a lot of chemical pullution, nuclear radiation, abortion and diseases such as AIDS and R-strain syphilis. All this led to a decline in the birth rate. Moreover, pornography and rape were widely spread. People were unhappy about this situation and there were “porn riots” and “abortion riots”. In addition, there were “sect wars”. The narrator Offred explains that her mother often went to marches, for example against rape. In this time of social dissatisfaction the “Sons of Jacob” came to power, because they killed the President of the United States, shot the Congress and blamed it on Islamic fanatics. Their major aim was to increase the population. The first thing they did when setting up the state of Gilead was, that they disseized the women of their jobs and their bank accounts, in order to make them stay at home. They declared second marriages and unmarried couples adulterous and arrested the women. In this way they created a group of women they called “The Handmaids”, which were supposed to be used for producing children for the elite. There were marches against this, which soon ended, because the people were afraid of the army.
The narrator Offred lived together with her husband Luke and her little daughter when the reversal took place. She was cancelled her job in a library and her bank account. In this way she lost her independence and became dependent to her husband Luke. She says about this: “We are not each other’s, any more. Instead, I am his.” This shows that the equality between the partners has declined and that Offred feels powerless and subordinate to her husband.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the research focus, highlighting the prevalence of sexual inequality and explaining the methodology of comparing Atwood's fictional Gilead with real-world sociopolitical structures.
2. Motivated Elements of Sexual Unequality in Offred’s Life: This central section examines the systemic oppression of women in Gilead through the lenses of political control, religious ideology, social daily life, and the limited avenues for resistance.
2.1 Rapid Reversal: This chapter details the collapse of pre-Gilead society and the subsequent rise of a totalitarian regime that stripped women of their legal and economic independence.
2.2 Politics: This chapter analyzes the hierarchical, theocratic structure of Gilead, comparing it to historical and contemporary political regimes that limit women's rights.
2.3 Ideology: This chapter explores how the state uses biblical interpretations and religious justification to enforce polygamy, surrogate motherhood, and the subjugation of women.
2.4 Society and Daily Life: This chapter describes the rigid enforcement of roles and codes of conduct, including dress, language, and surveillance, which serve to control and isolate the population.
2.5 Resistance: This chapter addresses the difficulty of individual and collective opposition to the regime, emphasizing the fear and lack of agency experienced by the characters.
3. Conclusion: The conclusion synthesizes the findings, asserting that Gilead serves as a synthesis of historical injustices used by Atwood to warn against the dangers of extremist politics.
4. Bibilography: This section provides a list of primary and secondary sources used for the analysis of the novel.
Keywords
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale, Gilead, sexual inequality, dystopia, totalitarianism, gender roles, oppression, politics, ideology, resistance, feminism, fundamentalism, theocracy, social control.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this work?
The work focuses on the motivated elements of sexual inequality in Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel "The Handmaid’s Tale", exploring how the fictional world reflects real-world injustices.
What are the central themes discussed?
The central themes include the rapid transition to a totalitarian state, the use of religion to justify oppression, the enforcement of gender-specific social roles, and the challenges of resistance.
What is the goal of the analysis?
The primary goal is to compare the fictional world of Gilead with the real world to understand why Atwood chose specific elements of sexual inequality and how they relate to historical and contemporary societal structures.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The analysis utilizes a literary and sociopolitical approach, drawing on essays by the author, historical references, and studies of contemporary polygamous and fundamentalist cultures.
What is covered in the main body?
The main body examines the specific factors contributing to women's oppression, ranging from the political takeover to daily life, linguistic control, and the ideological basis of the regime.
Which keywords characterize this study?
Key terms include Gilead, totalitarianism, sexual inequality, theocracy, religious fundamentalism, gender roles, and literary analysis.
How does the author view the role of the "Sons of Jacob"?
The author identifies them as the extremist group that orchestrated the political coup by exploiting social dissatisfaction, ultimately turning the state into a theocratic regime.
What does the text conclude regarding Atwood's warning?
The conclusion highlights that Atwood uses the novel to warn against the rise of extremists, arguing that the conditions for such a regime are rooted in historical and current political failures.
- Quote paper
- Katharina Ochsenfahrt (Author), 2008, Motivated Elements of Sexual Inequality in Margaret Atwood’s Novel "The Handmaid’s Tale", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/150837
