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Summary: A look at social relations
Review: A look at theocracy in society: the effects of which rob everyone of their basic rights - right of free speech, thought, deed, rights to one's body and mind, even the right to control one's own life in the most basic of ways: suicide. Also a critique of modern feminism, the alienation of sexual counterparts, and the end of love and the effects of the deprivation of love upon the soul. Well written and compelling, this is one of the best anit-utopian novels I have read.
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Summary: Is there a Theocracy in Our Future?
Review: A chilling picture of United States after a fundamentalist coup: women have become second-class citizens, who may not own money or property. They are essentially a slave class. Every woman is the property of some man.No religion other than the official Church is allowed to exist. No one can be required to truly accept the official religion, but everyone is required to appear to accept it without question; anyone suspected of believing otherwise is not likely to remain alive. Should a fundamentalist group gain political control of this country, some of the details will no doubt differ from what is described in this book, and other details will differ from the present situation in Afghanistan, but there can be little doubt that women will be reduced to second-class citizens with little or no control over their bodies or their lives. If, as now appears almost certain, a candidate owned by the religious right succeeds in stealing the election and becomes the next President, then it is very likely that we shall at least start down the path toward a dystopia similar to what Atwood portrays so well.
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Summary: Atwood's Masterpiece
Review: "I wish this story were different. I wish it were more civilized. I wish it showed me in a better light, if not happiness, then at least more active." So says master writer Margaret Atwood regarding her tour de force, The Handmaid's Tale. Set in the future (in what is currently Massachusetts), Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is the chilling portrayal of a totalitarian society as told through the eyes of a Handmaid named Offred. Offred, who can remember the time when she had a home, a husband and a daughter, now serves as a "birth vessel" and is valued only for her powers of reproduction. Offred (her name was derived from "of" and the name of her own Commander, "Fred") is forced to live her life in a new dictatorship called the Republic of Gilead. Offred is allowed to leave her Commander's home only once each day; her freedom, like that of other ordinary civilians, has been stripped from her and she exists at the mercy of the heads of state who are known as the Commanders. The Republic of Gilead, however, is a society in the midst of crisis. Its land and atmosphere have been polluted by nuclear waste and all but a handful of the population has been rendered barren. Those infertile women, women who will never, or never again, reproduce, are known as "Unwomen," and are sent to the Colonies where they must toil as laborers with no privileges, working to clean up the nuclear waste. The only exceptions are the infertile Wives of the Commanders. Women lucky enough to still retain their fertility, like Offred, are considered a treasured "object" of society and one whose role is to bear children for the Wives of the Commanders who cannot. In the Republic of Gilead they have a saying, "There's no such thing as a sterile man...there are only women who are barren." Offred, though, knows that in this nuclear aftermath, sterile men do, indeed, exist, and so she prays for a baby; not a baby that she, herself, wants to love, but one that will keep her from the dreaded fate of the "Unwomen." Many of the events in The Handmaid's Tale are derived from the biblical story of Leah and Rachel and Atwood has chosen to use many biblical names throughout the book. There are Handmaids and Marthas, Angels and Guardians and many others. The Handmaid's Tale is written in Atwood's masterful prose but this is not a linear tale. Be prepared to drop back in time, then flash forward, then drop back again. The writing, though, flows effortlessly and Atwood, as always, manages to keep readers riveted to the page. Although many people might feel that The Handmaid's Tale is too futuristic to be plausible, many of the events depicted have happened or are happening somewhere in the world at this very moment. It doesn't take more than a few minutes to recall places where gender discrimination and human rights have all but been stripped away. Atwood, herself, said, "One of the things I avoided doing was describing anything in the novel that didn't happen in this world." Chilling, moving, vivid, terrifying and sometimes even humorous, The Handmaid's Tale is a profoundly moral story. It is a true masterpiece of power and grace that will someday attain the status of a classic.
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Summary: Personal Freedoms
Review: I think what Margaret Atwood's, The Handmaid's Tale is a foreshadowing to our own futures. In this novel all peronal freedoms are taken from the main character and all the remaining people. I think this is a good representation of what could happen when people stopped participating in the social/political happenings around them. Everyone must make sure that even the smallest freedoms being taken away from them must not be overlooked. We must keep our eyes open and stay active in our surroundings and decisions regarding our lives.
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Summary: What a future to look forward to!
Review: I can only imagine how horrible it would be to live in this future society created by Margaret Atwood. No one in this book seemed to be truly happy. The society in this book values their freedoms in the same way that we value our own freedoms, but the people in this book consider "freedom from" more important than "freedom to." Atwood makes a powerful statement about what can happen when people are willing to part with their freedoms to do things. She uses simple, creative language that seems to flow naturally. Her focus on ordinary objects is amazing. Instead of focusing primarily on the politics of this culture, Atwood focuses on an individual. This makes the book much more believable than most books written about the future. The main character is completely unique, but ordinary. She captivates people with her surprising humanity. A society that claims it's main purpose is to protect women, actually ends up suppressing them more than anything. This is a statement of what happens when women especially are willing to part with the freedoms they fought so hard for. The main character of this book was alive for many of the women's pornography burns, although she did not actively support them. Even so, her rights are being suppressed, for her own safety they tell her. Yet she can never quite believe this. This shows that people always feel the need to have rights. Atwood ends the book in a way that people have to fill in their own ending. It shows that big things to happen to regular people, and regular people can make a difference.
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Summary: Reality check
Review: The Handmaid's Tale is a very eye opening book. It makes you think about how despensible your own rights can be. I think that it was very interesting how Margaret Atwood had taken the events that were in her book from things that have actually happened in the past. It was weird to hear that these sorts of things could be heppening in the world. I mean, could you imagine going to work one day and being fired because it was the law? I would be crushed. My job is my freedom. Without it I would be totally dependent on my parents, being as I am a 17 year old high school student. Margaret Atwood takes a book about a women sitting in her room and being locked up in a small area and turns it into a very compeling and interesting book. I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to anyone that believed in their own rights along with the rights of every human being.
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Summary: Why aren't women valued in Atwood's Future?
Review: The Handmaiden's Tale is a politically active feminist book that has received much critical acclaim. Although it starts out somewhat slow, keep with it. You will enjoy a brief look at Atwood's future. In the furure Margret Atwood advocates, women are valued, but only for their reproductive capability. They can't own money or property, and they aren't supposed to read. I believe this was a very good book, because of the insight it gives me into the future, and also teaches respect. I'd have to agree with the CHICAGO TRIBUNE BOOK WORLD that: [The Handmaid's Tale is] a real shocker. . . We the readers are an audience held captive by the pity and terror we feel at this cautionary tale.
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Summary: The gripping tale of a Handmaid.
Review: The Handmaid's Tale The plot of this story begins when the main character is caught by the totalitarian state of Gilead while trying to escape from their control. She is then taken to an institute called the Red Center where other "special" females are also held. This is the start of the rising action in the story. From there, our main character, Kate (later renamed as Offred), goes through a certain type of training or preparation at this Red Center to become a Handmaid. Here Kate learns the ways of this soveriegn state and learns that she is among a selected few who can still "bear the fruit". These women are later sent on assignments to complete their job as "assistants", which in this case, means bear children to those who cannot. This is the law of the Republic of Gilead, which is the setting of this tale. At this setting, the status of both men and women are very distinct. Women hold few roles as either Handmaid's, Aunts (those who train Handmaid's) or Wives (usually Commander's Wives). The other women are mere servants or of lower class. The men are either high- ranking Commanders and Generals, or soldiers and guards. The basis of this government rule is Biblically oriented. This explains the use of Handmaids in this society, and the bizarre manner how this government functions. This then introduces our story's conflict, man vs. society, and our story's theme of freedom. This becomes the main character's ongoing battle, along with identifying herself. Moving along towards our climax, our character, Kate, is sent on her assignment to a new commander's house. Here she faces a new dilemma, the Commander's Wife, Mrs. Serena Joy. The position of a Handmaid is a difficult and awkward one due to the fact that she's forbidden to have relations with anyone besides these commanders. And when they must have relations, which is done preceding a ceremony, the Commander's Wife must also be present, holding the Handmaid in fact, during this session. That is why the role of the Wife is powerful, yet fragile. She is the antagonist of this story, yet without doing any wrong. Continuing towards our climax, our protagonist, Kate, ends up having an affair with the commander of this household. Their innocent meetings of playing board games and reading magazines, which have been banned, go on for quite a while without Serena Joy's knowledge. Thinking up schemes of her own, Serena Joy, sets Offred up (our character's name has been changed by this point) with the commander's escort driver and guard, Nick, in attempt to get Offred pregnant by Nick's seed. Serena does this because she believes the commander may be infertile and she wants a baby already. Offred complies with this set up because she has feelings for Nick, and if she has a baby she would not have to stay there anymore, and her status of a Handmaid would rise. Moreover, being with Nick is the only real relationship she has. The turning point of this story, the climax comes along when Offred realizes she's pregnant with Nick's baby and decides that she wants to keep it for herself. The climax comes also when Serena Joy finds out about Offred and the Commander by her clothing that the Commander gave Offred to wear the night he took her out to Jezebel's, the underground nightclub. The falling action after the climax is when a group of soldiers, called the Eyes, roll up to the Commander's house in a van shortly after Serena found out, and comes for Ofrred. To Offred's surprise, the first soldier through that door was Nick. Thinking she has been betrayed, Offred is hauled away by the Eyes. But for the final twist in this story, Offred soon realizes that the Eyes are not "really" soldiers, but rebels, those who oppose Gilead and it's rule. They actually came to save her, on Nick's request. Our resolution in the end is that Nick helped Offred escape, by being a rebel himself. Beyond that fact, the end is not really clear, but it's contemplated that Offred (Kate) ends up having Nick's child and crosses the boarder into Canada. She then writes this book of her gripping tale, the tale of a Handmaid.
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Summary: The Handmaid's Tale
Review: In Gilead, USA in the near future, a woman Kate (Offred) is captured trying to cross the border and is sent to the Red Center. All of the women in Gilead are forced to either bear a child for other couples or to go to the colonies. At the Red Center the women are taught that bearing children is a blessing and not to misbehave or they will have severe punishment. The Commander Fred and his wife, Serena Joy, is a couple who has requested a "Handmaid". And Nick is their chauffeur. The rising action starts when Kate came to their home from the Red Center. Serena is not happy because she once was a famous singer until the new law went through, and she doesn't like Offred. Then after three months of living with Commander Fred and Serena, she still has not conceived a child. But the climax has not come just yet; it occurs when Offred and Nick are together. That is a major sin/crime punishable by death. In her room Offred has discovered unusual clues like: a Latin quotation carved in the closet, the "blind eye" on the ceiling, and the windows that don't open. All are clues to the disappearance of the former Offred. In the climax scene Offred tells Nick that she is pregnant with his child. She tries to convince him that he should escape with her. The falling action begins when Offred goes to Jezebel's with Commander Fred and sees a friend, Moira, who had tried to escape Gilead and was sent to Jezebel's instead of the colonies. Offred is lucky-she didn't get caught. But, Serena finds everything Offred wore to Jezebel's, Offred know she needs to vanish. The resolution can be confusing, but the book ends when Offred is taken away from Commander Fred and Serena in the middle of the night by the "angels". They don't know if she is being taken to the colonies or going to another commander. You will have to read to learn the resolution. She also could have escpaed.
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Summary: Far Right Meets Far Left in Gilead
Review: This is an excellent book, one to return to every few years. While it conjours up our darkest fears, it shows what can happen when the far right and the far left come together to force their points of view on the middle. The really scary point Atwood is making is that all of these things are happening right now, all over the world. She puts Iran and Iraq into our own perspective. What if America became or was allowed to become the same sort of society? Any Questions?
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