Themes Flashcards
Women’s Bodies as Political Instruments
Gilead, a novel by Emily Bronte, is a critique of the state’s control over reproduction, focusing on women’s bodies through political subjugation. The state’s structure, despite its pro-women rhetoric, creates a society where women are treated as subhuman, reduced to their fertility. Women are treated as mere ovaries and wombs, with no rights or freedoms. The novel’s key scene, where Offred reflects on her body’s transformation from an instrument of desire to a mound of flesh surrounding a womb, highlights the state’s intent to deprive women of their individuality, making them docile carriers of the next generation. The novel highlights the state’s religious trappings and rigid political hierarchy in addressing the crisis caused by decreased birthrates.
Language as a Tool of Power
Gilead creates an official vocabulary that ignores reality to serve the needs of the new society’s elite. Women are defined by their gender roles, while men are defined by their military rank. Feminists and deformed babies are treated as subhuman, while Black and Jewish people are defined by biblical terms. Prescribed greetings are used for personal encounters, and failure to offer the correct greetings leads to suspicion of disloyalty. Specially created terms define rituals, such as “Prayvaganzas,” “Salvagings,” and “Particicutions.” Dystopian novels often explore the connection between a state’s repression of its subjects and its perversion of language, such as George Orwell’s 1984’s “Newspeak.” Gilead maintains control over women’s bodies by controlling names.
The Causes of Complacency
Atwood’s theory suggests that people willingly endure oppression as long as they receive some form of power or freedom. Offred’s complacency after starting her relationship with Nick demonstrates this insight. Her situation restricts her compared to her former life, but her relationship with Nick allows her to reclaim a small fragment of her former existence. Physical affection and companionship become compensation for the restrictions.
Women in Gilead support the totalitarian state by willingly participating in it. Serena Joy, a woman with no power in the world of men, exercises authority within her household and enjoys her tyranny over Offred. Aunts, especially Aunt Lydia, act as agents of the Gileadean state, indoctrinating other women into the ruling ideology and monitoring rebellion.
Atwood’s message is bleak, as she condemns Offred, Serena Joy, the Aunts, and Moira for their complacency. She suggests that even if they stopped complying, they would likely fail to make a difference. In Gilead, small rebellions or resistances do not matter, and Offred escapes due to luck rather than resistance.
Complicity
The Handmaid’s Tale explores the ways in which ordinary people become complicit in the acts of a totalitarian regime. The novel’s women, including Serena Joy, are victims of the Gileadean state but often choose complicity rather than rebellion. The Aunts are among the worst perpetrators, responsible for torture and psychological abuse. Offred, a character who hates and fears the regime and does not believe in its values, accepts her role without complaint. She refuses to call the Ceremony “rape” in her own head, as she believes nothing is happening there that she hasn’t signed up for. Offred’s choices prompt us to wonder where passivity ends and complicity begins.
Seeing
The Handmaid’s Tale explores the feminist concept that men’s perception of women in a male-dominated society can be a form of control and violence. Offred, a character with “white wings,” feels constantly observed and threatened by eyes, such as the “blind plaster eye” and the “fisheye” on her bedroom ceiling. The secret police of the Gileadean regime, known as the “Eyes,” are depicted as male, with their emblem being a winged eye. Offred compares eyes to penises, comparing them to penises. The novel also warns that feminist concepts alone cannot protect women from male domination. Aunt Lydia, the only character who explicitly states that men’s perception of women can be a form of violence, suggests that even feminist concepts can be used to oppress women.
Reproduction
The Handmaid’s Tale argues that controlling women’s reproductive freedom is morally and politically wrong. It highlights the suffering of Offred and other Handmaids due to the Gileadean state’s desire to control women’s fertility. The state executes doctors known for abortions, leading to a decline in birthrate. The Handmaid’s Tale warns that women’s reproductive function can be a form of wealth and a “national resource,” warning that power figures will always be tempted to control women’s bodies.
