Handmaid Tale context Flashcards
The relevance of Hitler and the Nazis similarities
-guards having guns, commanders black van which links to nazi militants who patrolled the streets with guns therefore controlling people with fear
-each person had a colour they must wear in order to distinguish their position (handmaid the colour red, maths green and wives blue)the jews were required to wear the yellow Star of David. in both cases the outwards appearance served as somewhat as a mockery.
-mayday was the name of the group that were working to overthrow the gilled regime and free women. world war 11 was the movement to overcome this society and rid German of dictatorship
-there is no democracy in this government. following the overtaking of the congress, the Gilead regime is the only source of power. Hitler was the leader of the dictatorship there was no bipartisan government
-women were oppressed because they were jot allowed to choose who they wanted to be with, the were assigned to a man with sole purpose to reproduce. jewish people were oppressed not allowed to own their own business
-red was also the colour of the nazi party, red signifies sin in the bible the nazi regime was a sinful time
The relevance of Hitler and the Nazis differences
-the Gilead regime is based off religion whereas the nazi regimes purpose is to eradicate religion
-Gilead is not based off of hatred, although the injustices done to the people is done as the best way to protect them whereas the nazi regime was based purely off hatred for a certain group of people
Nuclear plant accidents
The Nuclear Gulag- the events of the handmaid tale take place after a large scale nuclear disaster. The people who are “unfit” to live in Gilead, are forced top work in the colonies cleaning up toxic waste till they die of radiation poisoning. Prisoners of the war in the soviet union, commonly known as Gulag, were forced to mine uranium for the soviets nuclear weapons most prisoners died after two years of labour
racism
in the slam poem”hunger games” she talks about how confusing it is that by painting oppression with a white face makes it fiction. the handmade tale features a white woman as a lead role during a rebellion, the story also deals with suffering and inequality against black and brown communities and the government and military are predominately run by white men, like in hunger games.
puritanism
at woods interest in Puritanism comes from her own ancestry and her studies at Harvard under Perry Miller a great scholar of the puritan mind.many of the practices of the gilled regime is similar to the puritans, especially the belief that women are the inferior sex. Puritan women were not allowed to use combs or mirrors, wear functional clothing and be fruitful.
The relevance of China and the cultural revolution
the cultural revolution-a mass purge of government officials between 1966-1976. Echos what is presumed to be the fate of the commander highlighting that no one is safe in a totalitarian regime regardless of social status.
Romanian Children
the decree 770 in Romania-law passed in 1967 that banned the use of contraception or abortion. It was issued by the new director (a man) in order to rapidly increase the population to stratify the state autonomy.Sex education was refocused primary;y on the benefits of motherhood, the direct consequence of the decree was huge baby boom. many women felt criminalised and did not comply with the demands resulting in many women dying
-secret state police an doctors controlling women imposing the threat of survalience
-a ultalitarian view of the female body
-the education of an entire generation
the environment
eco-criticism, Atwood is a well known environmental activist. the handmaid tale could be read as a warning to society about our treatment of the natural world and the devastating consequences for humans when nature is abused, “the air got too full once, of chemicals, rays, radiation”
such as Notorious toxic chemical ban, the clean water act (cleaning up rivers), regulating pesticides which are all environmental improvements made in 1970s.
the salmon witch trails
the the salmon which trails took place from 1692-1693, a crusade against those practicing witchcraft where 200 were prosecuting and 20 executed. the accusations were based on rumour and most of the implicated were young women. the salmen which trails are one of the most famous cases of hysteria in American history.
the feminist movement
In late 1970s and early 1980s the feminist movement was divided by debates over sex and sexuality. Many feminists saw the westerns increasingly liberal attitudes to sex poses a threat to women right.m
feminist thinkers such as Andrea Dworkin wanted pornograpghy to be controlled and abolished which links to offers mother who is an anti-porn activist. On the other side of the debate feminists believed sexuality and sexual desire should be embraced more broadly. the characters represent the conflicting ideas about sex and sexuality during this time. offers narrative focuses on second wave feminism which focussed on reproductive rights, financial independence and workplace equality. National organisation for women caused a lot of controversy when they campaigned for radical law changes concerning abortion and contraceptives. due to the movement women place in society has been questioned and there has been more acceptance of women in jobs
polygamy
replaced the serial polygamy in Pre-Gilead with the older form of stimitaneous polygamy practiced in old testament times. the family is polygamous when the central person is a male with multiple wives. the handmaids are simply passed around, with love being something that is thought about but never practiced in the novel
Regans policies
Regan had a clear platform in favour for family, or more specifically the atomic family.Regan creates an atmosphere that inspired Gilead, preaching that “Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and rule of law under god is acknowledged” association with law making and the president with god himself foreshadows the dangerous theocracy in the novel. He was also anti-abortion
punishment and human rights
the Handsmaids are prisoners of state, they are denied the right to liberty and security of person. in training to adjust to their new lives the handmaids are threatened with violence and physically abused to submit to the new order. when a girl can’t work as a handmaid, or cut out for being a Martha or done something bad she gets killed or sent to the colonies were they undergo days of intensive labour.
pornography
the prevalence of pronography and rape in the pre Gilead world is shown to be the founders of the new establishment. the commander and aunts claim that women are better protected in Gilead. Certainty the official punishment for rape is terrible yet while Gilead claims to suppress sexual violence it also institutionalises it with the jezebels a club that provides the commanders with a ready supply of prostitutes
abortion
the moral majority existed to fight what they saw as secularism of American society. the believed America was a fundamentally religious nation. they fought against abortion amount other things, in a handmade tale Atwood is directly speculating on what would have happened if the moral majority achieved full power.
