"The Handmaid's Tale"

“The Handmaid’s Tale”

Written by Margaret Atwood

Review written by Diana Iozzia of Bookworm Banter

“The Handmaid’s Tale” was a compelling read. With little expectation and knowledge of the book, I launched myself into the world that Atwood created. Our main character and narrator, Offred, was chosen to live to the United States turned to ruin: Gilead. Offred was happy in life, living with her husband, Luke, and her daughter. In flashbacks, we see the descent from the United States into Gilead. Political corruption, widespread hatred of women, and rapid change lead to the men of society taking over. Women were then given the mission to procreate for the commanders and government official. If they were not able to have children, they called Marthas. Marthas were given menial jobs, like cook, housekeeper, and the leaders who preside over the Handmaids. Those who were not chosen to be Marthas or Handmaids would be sent to “The Colonies”, which is assumed to be more rural living, where radiation kills the inhabitants, as a form of torture death. We do not see any of “The Colonies” in “The Handmaid’s Tale”, which is quite disappointing.

Offred’s job as Handmaiden is to be impregnated by the Commander. His wife, known as Serena, is one of our sympathetic antagonists. We feel for many of these characters, because they are stuck in this society, without option to live differently. During Offred’s days, she walks with our other crucial character, Ofglen, to the shops to pick up supplies for the house that Offred, Commander, Serena, and the servents live in. 

To begin with, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, with very little negative things to say. The premise, plot, setting, and time period are interesting to me. I would consider the themes to be dystopian science fiction and drama. There are parts of this book that are sexual and flirtatious, but I would not consider any of the book to be romantic. This book is purely Offred’s attempt at survival. An interesting narrative development is that Offred speaks directly to the readers as first person. In the sort of epilogue, we read from a historical society, around 200 years later, recalling the facts and explaining most of the story, also explaining their theories after Offred’s story ends. I liked the pseudo-history, and was reminded of the book, “The Power” by Naomi Alderman, which of course was written decades earlier. In fact, this book is similar to the book I wish “The Power” was more like. Also, I wanted to mention that after recently visiting a British World War 2 war museum, it was interesting to see the comparisons to the British wartime occupations by the Germans. There is an event mentioned in the Gilead history, where rebels and government officials attacked the White House and president. This seems to be similar to the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, in which his murder kicked off the war.

To continue, I enjoyed reading about the government systems and processes. Although the society is extremely cruel and oppressive, it was very interesting to see how it worked. In this society, you can learn what does happen in the society, but compare it to how our current country works. In Gilead, stores are not labelled by name or theme, just specifics. For example, Offred and Ogflen visit the store, Fishes and Loaves, because it sells food. In addition, Gilead has salvagings, in which people are found for their past crimes and executed. These past crimes can be abortion doctors, gay people, priests, and religious parishioners. Testifying is a seemingly frequent act where Handmaids gather and confess to their previous sins and indiscretions. Also, there is a horrifying sequence that Offred is subjected to. Offred is brought to a particiution, which is the gathering where Handmaids are meant to gang-murder a terrible offender. 

Additionally, I also enjoyed learning the small little pieces of information how Gilead works now. Commanders and their wives are allowed to use subway stations, football games, and visit cities. There is no writing allowed by the women. Women cannot own property or money. Due to the war tensions, there are also no newspapers allowed to be created. 

There are some parts, as I mentioned, that I did not particularly enjoy in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. As it appears to be, a lot of the country’s history and existence are sort of mysterious and ambiguous. As far as we know, Offred is telling the story, so she does not explain everything in full detail, most likely assuming anyone who hears her story knows the full details. This is very realistic, because one would tell a story like that. I wish we learned more about the country. In addition, I would have liked to learn more about the Eyes. The Eyes are the sort of secret police, like the Gestapo. However, many of the Eyes are rebels, like Nick and Ofglen. Lastly, I was not a fan of how the story ended. The climax was absolutely fascinating and terrifying, but we have an open-ended finale. The historical society in the epilogue explains how they think Offred’s life progressed after escaping, but we will never know. This is reminiscent of popular spies and historical rebels, and it’s realisitic. Some real people in history who spied and rebelled were not found, so we do not know the true mystery of their story. I wish I had learned Offred’s.