What if one day the world turned upside down and individuals were stripped of all their rights, freedoms and possessions and were suddenly enslaved because a group of people believed that they held too much power? What could they do? Nothing. All their rights are freedoms were gone, not to mention all government officials had been assassinated. Where could they go? Nowhere because all border crossings were shut down and personal bank accounts frozen. What did they do to deserve this? No one even tells them and suddenly they are forced into training centers to learn how to serve those higher up in society. No warning, no escape, no hope. Left all alone, their families taken away, they are prohibited from speaking to anyone in their position, and all reading and literature is outlawed. Does this sound like something from a societal horror story? Guess what? It is all part of history.
English: Illustration for The Handmaid's Tale, a n...
Handmaid under the Eye
The Handmaid's TaleSomething similar happened before in Germany in World War II, but this is not the society being described here. One day this could be the future for all women in North America.
The society depicted in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is a reflection of past authoritarian societies presented in a futuristic world. As she was a strong feminist and grew up in a liberal society, it was possible for her to create this warning for future generations because Atwood believed that once a people are granted extensive rights, they can just as soon be taken away.
Authoritarian societies have always existed at various given times in society. They rule with an iron first and are ruthless when dealing with rebels or free-willed individuals. Margaret Atwood articulates that:
The society in The Handmaid's Tale is a throwback to the early Puritans... The early Puritans came to America not...
Atwood's Handmaid
This essay describes how history may repeat itself less we be wary. That the totalitarian societies of the Puritans and Nazis have a connection was a thought I had not contemplated before. That the Puritans came to America not for religious freedom but to set up a Theocracy is interesting. The society that the handmaids live come about because the previous society simply was dying from too much freedom is ironic indeed. In the new society the handmaid is free from rape when it is not a "union" prescribed by god, but she can be forced to have sex with a man she cares nothing about, is that not rape? This essay raises important issues that we should be concerned with. The control of women is prevalent in many totalitarian societies today. How many women today have to cover their faces because men say it is the right thing to do?
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