This novel is one of my favourites. I wrote on it for my dissertation, along-side 1984 in my final year at University. The world Atwood creates is eerily similar to the one we currently live in, just as Orwell unknowingly predicted our present. Dystopias are extremely popular, especially among those of us who are politically aware, - or "woke" - suggesting that as we are relating to these characters in what their authors believed to be fictional stories, these worlds may not be all that different from ours. This brings to question 'Are writers predicting the future?'.
[WARNING: This novel contains sensitive subjects some readers may find distressing]
We begin this review by stating that Gilead is unlike any place we may have read before. The rights of women have been taken away and they are now simply bodies for breeding. We are in America, specifically New England, and the government has been overthrown by a totalitarian state. Sex, romance, and any form of pleasure including reading have all been prohibited. The few women who are fertile are used as bodies to carry babies of rape, only then to give birth and have their baby taken away. So these women not only get raped for being fertile, they don't even get to keep the baby they did not decide to have; their child is ripped from their arms and given to the people who raped her.
The Handmaid's are named after the Commissioner they belong to - i.e Offred is Of Fred, Ofglen is Of Glen, etc. Their identities have been stripped, they are nothing now and have no individuality. Even their clothes suggest that they have no identity; Handmaids all wear red cloaks to show their status in Gilead, as all the women do - wives wear blue, Marthas wear green, Aunts wear brown - on the other hand, it could suggest the image of an army.
No woman is safe in this community - maybe the Aunts who abuse the Handmaids and keep them in line - those who cannot have children are forced to be the cooks, the Aunts, the Wives, or are sent away to radioactive wastelands, eventually dying a slow death. They are classed as Unwomen, in addition to any deformed babies labeled Unbabies. No one can be gay, preach anything other than God's will, doctors who performed abortions were put to death even after the state took over. Atwood's Handmaids suffer most of all in this as they are no longer humans.
"Give me children, or else I die" - pg. 71
What is important to remember in this novel, is that Atwood hardly creates any hope of escape, until the end when Offred is taken away. The reason why, we do not know, not even her Commander knows why. She is calm during this, perhaps from giving up hope and accepting her death or she knows that she will be okay as she is being rescued by the resistance. The reader is left unsure of the protagonist's ending, however, the open conclusion causes readers to be hopeful that this story has a happy ending.
I won't be giving this a score, however, I will say that this is definitely worth a read! I really enjoyed this novel, the writing, the content, how scary that it could in fact come true in some way (especially with some of the politics occurring currently). I believe every feminist should read this, whether you enjoy it or not is irrelevant as it touches on some very important issues regarding women of all ages. Despite readers being shocked that characters unable to have children are exiled or killed, this may be how women in our society feel! Many women who want babies yet cannot have them may feel exiled or, in Atwood's words, an Unwoman. This, among the other issues raised in this novel, is not something we can just brush over. This is happening right now, in front of us, women being mutilated, made to feel worthless, hell, they can't even have an abortion in certain states and countries without being arrested.
Dearest reader, please read this book with an open mind, and realise that men and women are not superior or inferior to one another. We are all just trying to live but we need to help create peace first, and I believe this book is a great starting point.
Buy the book here!
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