Questions and Answers
How does Atwood explore feminism in her work?
From several perspectives, considering its flaws, but ultimately recognizing its importance.
What is one of Atwood's intricate themes in The Handmaid's Tale?
What does Offred realize about storytelling?
It is a re-interpretation of something else and not an exact description of the truth.
What theme does Atwood raise regarding culture in The Handmaid's Tale?
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What does Atwood suggest about gender conflict in society?
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In Gilead, what serves as the foundation for Offred's captivity?
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The Handmaid's Tale criticizes the Bible itself.
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What role does rebellion play in The Handmaid's Tale?
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What storytelling method is employed by Offred in The Handmaid's Tale?
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How does Offred use language to cope with her reality?
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What theme in The Handmaid's Tale illustrates the stripping away of individual identities?
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What has become the overarching goal of the Republic of Gilead?
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In The Handmaid's Tale, second wives are not allowed to become Handmaids.
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What does the theme of Passivity indicate about women in The Handmaid's Tale?
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How is love portrayed in The Handmaid's Tale?
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What is denied to women in the world of The Handmaid's Tale?
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What is the distinction between 'house' and 'home' in The Handmaid's Tale?
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The Gileadean regime executes anyone identified as ___ and ___ and destroys pornography.
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Match the themes to their descriptions in The Handmaid's Tale:
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What does Gilead's official vocabulary aim to achieve?
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In The Handmaid's Tale, the state allows women to vote.
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What ultimately allows Offred to escape from Gilead?
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What flaw does Atwood suggest exists within the feminist community in The Handmaid's Tale?
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Study Notes
Theme: Identity
- Characters in The Handmaid's Tale have lost their true identities, being renamed and repositioned within societal classes (Handmaid, Wife, Martha, Econowife).
- Female identity revolves around fertility instead of individuality or intellect, illustrating a collective dehumanization.
Theme: Children
- In Gilead, children are viewed as scarce commodities, crucial for the regime's survival and future.
- Birth mothers face death sentences if they fail to produce children and have no custody rights over their offspring.
- Fertility is allocated based on the power and status of men, turning traditional family dynamics upside down.
Theme: Marriage
- Gilead's society prioritizes first marriages, yet allows for the existence of Handmaids as surrogates.
- Marital problems persist, such as misunderstandings and lack of intimacy, despite the societal reverence for marriage.
- The separation of husbands and wives further undermines the institution of marriage.
Theme: Passivity
- Characters are forced into passivity to survive, particularly women, who are stripped of financial and social power.
- Survival requires acceptance of new identities and suppression of emotions; rebellion is met with severe punishment.
Theme: Love
- Love is largely a memory rather than a practiced emotion in Gilead, with characters often suppressing feelings for safety.
- Connections are fragmented, and intimacy becomes clandestine, resulting in a sense of longing and nostalgia.
Theme: Women and Femininity
- Women's roles are confined to domesticity, with strict prohibitions against intellectual engagement, work, and financial independence.
- Fertile women are reduced to reproductive vessels, while their individuality is suppressed.
- Occasional small acts of self-care or rebellion remind them of their former identities.
Theme: Home
- The distinction between "house" and "home" is clear, with Handmaids unable to form true attachments to the homes in which they are placed.
- Brothels, surprisingly, evoke a more home-like feel, filled with remnants of the past that resonate with familiarity.
Theme: Reading, Writing, Storytelling
- The reliability of truth in the story is ambiguous; the narrator alters details, showcasing the subjective nature of storytelling.
- "Reconstruction" serves as a means to cope with and reinterpret traumatic experiences.
Theme: Freedom and Confinement
- Power structures confine even the elite; Handmaids face severe restrictions, with their social status compounding their imprisonment.
- Fertility both binds Handmaids to their roles and paradoxically offers a fleeting chance at freedom from execution.
Theme: Women's Bodies as Political Instruments
- Gilead is constructed around control of reproduction, positioning women as subjugated entities solely valued for fertility.
- Women lose their individuality and societal roles; they exist merely as vessels for childbearing, stripped of autonomy.
Theme: Language as a Tool of Power
- Gilead's official vocabulary distorts reality to maintain control, stripping women of identity through prescribed titles.
- Language is weaponized to legitimize oppression and marginalize certain groups, enhancing the regime's grip on power.
Theme: The Causes of Complacency
- Complacency arises from individuals accepting oppression if they perceive small compensations.
- Female characters often inadvertently support Gilead, wielding their limited power over each other to assert dominance.
Theme: Power
- Gilead embodies a theocratic dictatorship where power dynamics are top-down with no means of appeal; surveillance is ubiquitous.
- Individual tactics of defiance and manipulation emerge within this oppressive structure, highlighting the struggle for personal autonomy.
Theme: Sexuality
- Sexuality is tightly controlled; the regime fears and seeks to suppress it through strict prohibitions and punishments.
- Illicit sexual behaviors emerge as acts of rebellion against the oppressive governmental structures, with the potential for empowerment.
Theme: The Place of Individual in Society
- The novel questions the balance between societal needs and individual rights, revealing flaws in utilitarian reasoning.
- Gilead’s approach to fertility fails to consider men’s roles, leading to irrational and harmful practices.
Theme: Feminism
- Atwood explores feminism’s complexities in Gilead, revealing both solidarity and competition among women.
- Characters embody diverse feminist viewpoints, showcasing the struggle against marginalization while recognizing feminism's flaws and importance.
Theme: The Power of Language
- Language serves as a medium of resistance and identity; storytelling acts as a crucial survival tool.
- The regime's restrictions on language enhance its significance, as Offred uses it to cope with her reality and regain a sense of self.### Moral Relativism
- Atwood explores whether one can judge a culture from outside its boundaries, suggesting that it is indeed possible.
- Gilead’s culture is markedly different, yet the reader inherently judges it based on shared human relationships and power dynamics evident across societies.
- The narrative highlights similarities across cultures, supporting the notion that moral judgments can be formed regardless of cultural differences.
- Raises questions about the political implications of her narrative and whether it critiques specific cultures that readers may feel exempt from judging.
Gender Conflict
- The story posits complex questions about gender dynamics without straightforward answers.
- Offred and Luke represent differing positions within Gilead's regime, challenging presumed equality despite their love.
- The Commander's comments reveal that improvements for men under the regime come at the expense of women.
- Examines whether gender conflict is more prevalent than conflicts arising within the same gender groups.
- Relationships among women are fraught with division, illustrated by hostility between Wives and Handmaids.
- The dynamic between Offred and Nick offers a rare glimpse of positive interaction, underlined by Nick’s willingness to take risks for Offred’s well-being.
Religion & Theocracy
- Gilead operates as a theocracy, intertwining church and state, heavily influenced by Old Testament interpretations.
- Religious references pervade society, permeating social roles and everyday language, with biblical justifications for harsh practices.
- Offred’s role as Handmaid is based on biblical stories, but Gilead distorts these teachings, misusing them to legitimize oppression.
- Tensions arise from the regime’s strict interpretation of religious texts which undermines fundamental virtues like charity and forgiveness.
- Criticism is directed at how theocracy exploits religion for control, rather than at the religion itself.
Fertility
- Fertility symbolizes both Offred's power and the existential hope for Gilead amidst its failings.
- Society attributes infertility issues to various factors, hinting at deeper sociocultural problems tied to women's restrictions.
- Offred’s psychological pressure contrasts with hope and love experienced before Gilead, affecting her fertility.
- Gilead's treatment of Handmaids as objects reduces their personhood, evident in ceremonies that detach them from the birthing process.
- The narrative critiques how collectivism in Gilead leads to the alienation of women from their reproductive capabilities.
Rebellion
- Characters exhibit various forms of rebellion against Gilead's oppressive laws, from Moira’s bold escape attempts to Offglen’s organized resistance.
- The Commander and his wife engage in subtle rebellions, revealing complexities in their characters despite their positions of power.
- Each character’s act of defiance, whether minor or major, underscores the profound horror of Gilead’s reality and questions its stability.
- No character is purely malevolent; instead, their human flaws and desires complicate the portrayal of the regime and its inhabitants.
Storytelling & Memory
- The narrative blends different storytelling techniques, framing Offred's experience as a personal account recorded on a tape.
- Frequent flashbacks reflect Offred’s past life and her internal struggles between memory and current realities.
- Offred's paranoia fosters a habit of fabricating stories regarding her surroundings and relationships, revealing her psychological coping mechanisms.
- The repetitive nature of storytelling creates a profound sense of entrapment, mirroring Offred’s psychological confinement within Gilead’s oppressive structures.
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Description
Explore the crucial themes of identity in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale through these flashcards. This quiz highlights how the novel depicts the loss of personal identity and the societal classification of women, illustrating the impact on their lives and roles in a dystopian world.
