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Aug
12
Book Review: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
2008 at 10am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
They’ve removed anything you could tie a rope to.
This is a characterizing feature of the world of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale–it is a world in which the U.S. has been replaced by The Republic of Gilead, a theocratic state in which men rule and women serve, with their bodies and with their lives, and in which those who do not produce what is asked of them are sent to the Colonies to toil until they are killed. The story is told by Offred (read “of Fred”), a Handmaid who has been assigned to live with the Commander and his Wife and bear them a child. That is her duty as a Handmaid, and though it is an awful existence (so awful, in fact, that many Handmaids attempt suicide), it is in some ways better than being assigned to be a Martha (essentially a housekeeper) or an Econowife (assigned spouse to a man of lower status or rank), though failure does bring with it a sentence to die.
Offred is assigned to the Commander’s home after the previous Handmaid commits suicide. She remembers her life in “the time before.” She remembers her husband Luke and her daughter. And she remembers the day they were caught and torn from each other as they tried to escape Gilead during the early days of the takeover. Because Gilead has forbidden women to read or write, the only written word in Offred’s world is FAITH, which is embroidered on a pillow that must have been a hold-over from the Wife’s past life as televangelist Serena Joy. When Offred leaves the house each day to go shopping for groceries, she goes to shops whose signs have only pictures on them and pays with tokens whose pictures match those signs. She is accompanied each day by another Handmaid, Ofglen, who is her assigned walking partner and whom she cannot trust because anyone could be an Eye.
Each month, Offred must participate in The Ceremony, which begins with the household gathered for Bible reading and prayer and ends with her lying on a bed, in the Wife’s lap, as the Commander attempts to impregnate her. She has been assigned to the household for two years, and if she fails to have a child during that time, she will be declared an Unwoman and sent to the Colonies. If she, as so many other women, has a child who is born with severe defects (caused by the chemicals and radiation left over from the war), the child will be declared an Unbaby, and her life will again be threatened. Offred’s days are marked by both her dread of The Ceremony and her fear that she will fail.
Offred’s descriptions of life in Gilead are at turns maddening and gutwrenching. She makes it clear that women have become commodities, vessels used by the Republic for its purposes, and are deprived of the most basic human rights. As a Handmaid, she is set apart from the rest of the household and receives gentler care, but she is forbidden contact with other men and denied friendship by other women. She is alone in her suffering. Early in the book, she tells us:
I hunger to touch something, other than cloth or wood. I hunger to commit the act of touch.
And later,
I feel like the word shatter. I want to be with someone.
When, during a trip to the OB/GYN, a doctor offers to help her get pregnant–essentially, an offer to save her life, but one that carries heavy risk–she is terrified by the choice, by the offer of salvation, and she later realizes that:
Already we were losing the taste for freedom, already we were finding these walls secure.
We learn about Offred’s life and the details of Gilead’s takeover and its rules and regulations gradually throughout the book, as Offred chooses to reflect on them. Atwood resists the temptation to lay it all out at the beginning, and this intricate, artful, gradual uncovering is just one example of her immense talent. The world she creates in The Handmaid’s Tale is terrifyingly possible, and her satire is both prophetic and cautionary. Offred is correct when she tells us
Humanity is so adaptable…Truly amazing, what people can get used to, as long as there are a few compensations.
The Handmaid’s Tale warns us about the ramifications of objectifying and commodifying human beings, not only for the ones being used but for the ones doing the using, for we must turn off a very basic part of ourselves in order to be able to treat another person as an object, an “it.” The story also explores important issues of gender and sexuality, and it points out the irony that lies in the way women are seen as both the gatekeepers or guardians of sexuality and as the ones at greatest risk of compromising values and purity. It’s the classic madonna/whore paradox, and Atwood’s exploration is intelligent and powerful and is strengthened by her great skill with satire and social commentary.
Though it is reminiscent of other dystopian novels like 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451, The Hamdmaid’s Tale is made entirely unique by the world Atwood succeeds in creating so gracefully, by the quality and beauty of her prose, and by the frightening believability, especially in this day and age, of a theocratic state that robs women of their humanity and pits them against each other. Though Atwood clearly sympathizes with Offred and the other women in this book, she does not neglect to explore the male characters and the ways in which being forced to perpetrate crimes against women and humanity affect them.
I can’t believe I didn’t read this book in college. I wish now that I had a seminar class in which to discuss it and the time to dig up critical commentary and explore this amazing piece of literature on a much deeper level. I almost don’t feel qualified to be reviewing it here. The Handmaid’s Tale is gripping, powerful, and impossible to put down. It asks big questions, and I think it should be required reading for life. Absolutely 5 out of 5 and an all-time favorite.
The Handmaid’s Tale is also the first of ten books I’ll be reading this year for the Book Awards Reading Challenge.
No related posts.
That’s a great review. I read The Handmaid’s Tale two summers ago, so also not in college, but I would tend to say it should be taught in high school. I can see why you’d want to get into more critical commentary than you could in a high school class, but to me this is very much one of the books that “everyone” should read, and I don’t think it’s too difficult for 16- or 17-year-olds to get something out of.
I especially liked your description of the “gradual uncovering” of Offred’s world. That was probably what I most appreciated. Atwood created a haunting dystopia that was really painful for me to read at times (I spent weeks on this book because I kept avoiding it) but she just did it so well. And Offred was a really interesting, multifaceted character, the more so because of her intermittent reminiscences.
Agree with you totally. I honestly think that this book and 1984 should be taught in high school to every kid. It really should be required reading for all people. I also read it on my own last year I think and the English major in me still wishes I could have had a class on it. It is just brilliant and haunting and beautifully constructed.
Wow! That is high praise indeed. I’m going to show your review to my son – he’s an English major and that book sounds like something he would love.
Nicole & Meghan: I agree…we should teach it in high school to every kid, and then again in college with the critical commentary. It’s definitely a book everyone should be exposed to.
I am amashed to admit that I am one of the few remaining people who have not read the book. It is on my TBR list, but I need to move it to the top soon!!
I have got to admit that I’m somewhat scared to read this book. I think it would make me so anxious that I couldn’t sleep. It gets such high praise. Just reading reviews makes me say, “Yikes!”
[...] books this year for the Book Awards Reading Challenge II. Click here to see my reading list and here for my first challenge review of The Handmaid’s [...]
[...] The Handmaid’s Tale [...]
Wonderful review! With Atwood I am always hesitant to write reviews because I never feel as though I can really illustrate the power of her writing.
The grade 12 English curriculum here includes major focus and critical essays on The Handmaids Tale, so I have been thinking of getting my son (who is grade 9) to read it now. I am very curious to see how his opinions on the book will change as he matures, and also what major themes he will interpret from his readings.
I read this book in a women’s studies class in college. I thought it was a great book, though very scary if you think about living in such a society. You could spend an entire semester discussing that book! Unfortunately, we discussed it for one class and that was it. Great review, btw!
[...] Margaret Atwood (shared by 430 other LTers). Read my review of The Handmaid’s Tale here. [...]
[...] you get here looking for my analysis of The Handmaid’s Tale, that’s one thing. It’s a difficult book that deserves [...]
Offred is one of my favorite characters in literature!
For those of you saying it should be taught in high schools, it IS taught in high schools. Im in grade 11 and I just finished the book 2 months ago. In my opinion it was boring, but Margaret Atwood it a brilliant author and anyone who reads the book can learn a lot about feminism.
ya.. it is taught in highschools and i also thought it was boring. For those who say it should be taught in highschools.. why?
[...] reviews: Book Nut, The Book Lady’s Blog, The Luscious Literary Muse, Books for Breakfast, The Bluestocking Society, Books and Other Stuff, [...]
i did not like the ending….so did she die?
I absolutly loved this book and really appreciated reading it from Offred’s point off view. Great read!