The Handmaid's Tale

The author of the Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood, creates a world where women are oppressed by the Commanders and the Aunts and brainwashed into thinking that in exchange for giving up all personal liberties, they gain protection. The problem with this solution is, the violence the women are being shielded from happens to be occurring, only now it is legal. The commanders are legally allowed to have sex with the Handmaids in a uncomfortable ritual that is no where near consensual but not quite rape, this is explained in a quote on page 94. "I do not say making love, because this is not what he's doing. Nor does rape cover it: nothing is going on here that I haven't signed up for." Although the Handmaid's are well aware of what goes on in their world, they are far from happy about it. The Handmaids do what most would do when placed in an uncontrollable situation, they accept it. The women of this world are told that it is honorable to have children this way, in a ritual void of love or emotion all the while the wife of the Commander is in the room holding the Handmaid. Many of the women find a way to cope with this, and realize that if they want to have children, this is their only option. This touches upon the fact that humans have an instinctual need to fulfill certain biological needs, like women having children. They will do whatever it takes to reach this goal, it is sad that this is the answer to the problems the world once had. The leaders just created a new set of problems ands and helped no one. The are also made to feel proud to reproduce and do their duty to humanity, and that is all it is, a duty. For a woman is not even allowed to keep her child and must give it up to the Commander's wife. Their society has perverted the relationship between man and woman and also mother and child, by stripping it of love and tenderness. The leaders have even twisted the words of the bible to give the illusion that this society is just following the path of God. The same problems this world has tried to fix have become the fundamental rules and ideas that they now live by. The entire society is hypocritical, it is trying to save the women from violence but they take away the women's choice, voice, and sexual freedom, which ironically were the same causes they fought for. Trying to radically change the world to be safe for women backfired and left the women caged and "Protected" from their own free will. Atwood is trying to prove the point that radical groups who try to find a grand solution to the problems of the world often resort back to the original problems that they were trying to abolish and end up doing more bad than good. This also points to that fact that anything radical or completely one way is not a solution, although the world prior to this had its problems creating a world opposite of this will not solve everything. This novel leaves us with the question which is more important; the ability to decide and fail or never choosing at all.