Handmaids Tale :: essays papers

Handmaids TaleIn what ship canal can The Handmaid&rsquos Tale be considered a feminist allegory?The Handmaid&rsquos Tale is narrated by an oppressed woman, so it is tobe anticipate that feminism becomes a recurring theme. Wo workforce have no rightsor notes unless they have a valid marriage to a man. They are devoted fewoptions&ndash if they are fertile they can become sex slaves&ndash&lsquo womb on legs&rsquo to commanding officers or choose to go to the colonies.Infertile women or&lsquo unwomen&rsquo are seen as having no use so theyautomatically go to the colonies where they leave behind die from disease orradiation. Their use and status is totally dependant on theirrelationships with men and ability to have children. Women are used bymen and treated as far inferior, in Gilead women are the men&rsquosproperty. The handmaids especially&ndash&lsquo We are a commodity&rsquo,their names in the domicile reflect this&ndash Offred&ndash Of Fred.They can be disposed of at will, even the Commander&rsquos Wives havelittle real importance and are given menial tasks such as orderingprayers at Soul Scrolls and knitting the Guardians scarves&ndash&lsquomayhap it&rsquos just something to keep the Wives busy, to give them asense of purpose&rsquo. just now this concept of women being extensions and property of men is oneused in our own society. Though mostly out dated now,&lsquo Mrs PeterWatson&rsquo is identical to&lsquo Ofglen&rsquo. But practically all boundarysfor women are the extension of the term for men&ndash Mr/s, fe/male,wo/man. This leads to the idea that Atwood is really just exaggeratingthe current occurrence of the world. The second quote at the beginning ofthe book from Swift&rsquos&lsquo A Modest Proposal&rsquo indicates thatThe Handmaid&rsquos Tale is Atwood&rsquos own satirical weigh of presenttimes. In an interview Atwood says&lsquo theres nothing in the text thathasn&rsquot already happened&rsquo. The third quote&ndash&lsquo There isno sign in the resign that says&lsquo Thou shalt not eatstones&rsquo&rsquo indicates that she believes Gilead could never comeinto existence because of the super acid sense of people, no one could reallybelieve in its philosophical system and beliefs, the society&rsquos flaws are tooapparent.Another interpretation of the novel is that it is a reaction against anyidea that the woman&rsquos place is in the home, that her touch on use is oneof reproduction. It demonstrates where these views could lead ifencouraged or entertained. It gives the idea that men would act that wayif given the power, that they would like to be in hear and superior.That although men outwardly accept and respect women, inwardly they donot see them as equals&lsquo I sense in him (the Commander) none of the