The Significance Of Feminism In The Handmaids Tale

I agree to a large extent that a writer’s task is to make insignificant things significant. It allows authors to shed light on important, but maybe overlooked, issues plaguing society and make the reader appreciate what we originally took for granted. This is evident through Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, a work of speculative fiction that depicts a dystopian future world called Gilead. In this novel, Atwood does a great job of highlighting the significance of feminism or specifically the lack thereof and warns the reader of the consequences that comes along with not recognising the effects on women in a patriarchal society. During the 1980’s, when The Handmaid’s Tale was written, women in North America had the right to†¦show more content†¦By warning what the world may come to if we continue to ignore what feminists have done and are still doing, FINISH Additionally, at the time Atwood was writing the novel, the president of the United States was a republican named Ronald Reagan. His party were known for their conservative and religious beliefs overruling their actions and one aspect they were in favour of was taking away the legality of abortions within America. Once again, men were dictating the rights women have over their bodies, and there is no shortage of this discrimination in the novel. The Republic of Gilead was a strict, totalitarian regime that based its laws and customs around the Christian Bible. Roles were assigned where men had access to education and have influential positions whereas women were regarded as second-class citizens who should be subject to men. However, the creators of Gilead justified their regulations by claiming women were more protected in their society. During her time in the Red Centre, Offred and the rest of the Handmaids were shown sadistic, pornographic films to demonstrate how women were humil iated and abused in the old system and persuade them that they were better off under Gilead. Aunt Lydia further emphasised how women of Gilead should be grateful for such insurance by stating that rather than having ‘freedom to’ participate in the government, be educated, hold property or have aShow MoreRelatedFeminism in The Handmaids Tale626 Words   |  3 PagesChoice Novel Paper: Feminism in The Handmaid’s Tale In today’s news we see many disruptions and inconsistencies in society, and, according to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, humankind might be headed in that direction. 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