The reasoning in creating this society was to "protect" women from the current "out of control" society. Women weren't considered safe, so they created this dystopian society that took all choice and freedom from all women. In other words keeping them stupid is keeping them safe? This is an extremely scary idea and while reading this novel I found myself thinking about living that kind of life. I would not last long in a society where I wasn't allowed to have a voice. While reading, the discussion of what was left out when creating this society and Offred says love. There is no chance for a woman to have the freedom to even meet someone outside of her household, let alone be courted by and fall in love with a man of her choosing. The well known question is given to her as a rebuttal: "Is it better to have loved and lost, then to have never loved at all?" Offred believes that this person must of not ever truly felt love before because anyone who has ever found the real deal would always chose love.
I have a hard time being too critical of novels. I think about the author and the amount of time that went into writing their book and it just makes me feel that if I ever write a book, I'd hate for my readers to throw it aside because of a couple little things that annoyed me as a reader. Atwood did a couple of things that kind of bothered me, but it's her book and she did a damn good job creating a society that essentially could happen.
-Toni
I first read this book in a Women's Lit class in college and loved it. I've always liked dystopian novels and The Handmaid's Tale is one of my favorites. I think Atwood does a great job imagining the way in which our society could be altered if control was in the wrong hands. She wrote the novel in the 80's, and the fear of communism surrounding the COld War clearly influenced her writing.
ReplyDeleteAs Toni said, this new society seeks to make the world a "safer" and much more conservative place for its residents. But at what cost? The right to a basic education, freedom of speech, and to have the life that one wants have all gone out the window. It definitely makes the modern reader realize how fortunate we are to have the freedoms that we have, as there are places in the world in which Gilead is not an imaginary place, but a reality.
I think the most frightening thing about this book is that Offred, as well as the other adults in the society, were not born into this. They grew up in a society much like our own, until a group of religious fanatics overthrew the government and took over. That said, Offred recalls memories of her past life... her husband, her daughter, her job, her education. Now, those have been stripped away from her.
This book is definitely a must-read. I'm looking forward to discussing it in book club!
--Emily