The Tale of the Handmaid is a 1985 novel by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood. Despite being a work of the 1980s, the popularity of The Handmaid’s Tale has recently increased thanks to the HBO series of the same name. In addition, there are some differences in the series and the book, but I will not focus on them; in fact, we will focus on what this work aims to convey, in the reflections that arise both from the reading of the book and from the visualization of the series.
The series and the book take us into a not too distant future where women’s rights have been completely eliminated, in this context, there has been a retreat towards traditional values, taking them to the extreme, Margaret Atwood immerses us in a terrifying future, especially for women, that is, we could achieve this future if we allow ourselves to be guided by fear , a future that has similarities to the present and the past, in this way the work allows us to incorporate a critical filter in our gaze.
- Society.
- Wholly patriarchal.
- Is deeply rooted in religion.
- So they end up taking passages from the Old Testament in a very literal way.
- This society was not born overnight.
- In fact.
- It gradually develops in response to a system in which fear has spread Wars.
- Infertility and extreme situations will cause fear to take over the population and.
- As a result.
- The most conservative gain power and transform society.
This setback causes women to lose all their rights, their only function is to reproduce, on the cusp of the pyramid of this society are men, especially commanders, who will have three wives at their disposal: the wife, whose only function is to serve her husband; a martha, women who are dedicated exclusively to domestic work; and finally, a nurse, a woman in charge of raising the children of marriage.
These maids wear red, a symbol of fertility. They lose their name, who converts?(From, in Portuguese) in the name of the commander they serve. In this way, their status as an object and property is explicit, the nurses do not even fulfill the role of mothers, it is the wives who are responsible for raising their children, the nurses are just a fertile uterus.
Offred is the protagonist and narrator of this story, through flashbacks presents us her present and her past, it is she who introduces us to this society and explains how things work, the state does not want women to think or be free. He just wants them to perpetuate the species. In this way, power in the future is assured. Ofred can’t choose anything about his life, his clothes and his body. It all depends on the family you serve as a maid.
Maids can only have sex with the commander through a type of ritual called “ceremony. “The commander’s wife also participated in the ceremony, she has to hold the nurse and put on a certain way to make it look like she’s being fertilized. The scenes are very visual, very uncomfortable and really disturbing.
Women cannot think, speak, read, go out, decide, they have lost everything, even their names. The Handmaid? S Tale presents us with a really harsh and unpleasant reality, a totally hermetic and terrifying society, but one that is neither remote nor improbable.
In recent years, the term dystopia seems to be gaining ground in the world of film and literature. After all, what is dystopia? In general, it could be said that it is the opposite of a utopia, that is, something that shows us the worst possible face of a non-existent society. Works of the first half of the twentieth century, like 1984, by George. Ray Bradbury’s Orwell or Fahrenheit 451 are some of the references to the dystopian genus.
This genre, often seen in the context of science fiction, has its roots today, that is, it is based on the possible negative consequences of current behaviors or trends, so a dystopia is to take a situation to the extreme as horrible as possible. . Thus, it is possible to satirize or criticize something contemporary. The fact is that, in the face of dystopian work, our gaze becomes critical of the present and our everyday reality.
Dystopias have become popular, reaching the comic book world with works such as “V de Vendetta”, series such as Black Mirror and films. The truth is that, far from bothering us, we seem to love these works more and more. These panoramas of An Unreal and terrifying future, where people’s rights have been completely suppressed, make us rethink our current situation. In this way, we can be vigilant and continue to fight for our rights.
dismantle the idea that patriarchy could never succeed. Based on dystopia, the work presents us with a tremendously frightening future. Today, the idea of dictatorship may seem distant in many countries, but history attacks this idea. It denounces that, even in the most developed country, we are never safe from a setback. Besides, we can always end up falling back into a dictatorship.
Fear makes people react to an event, in that context, they can decide to support those who promise to guarantee protection and peace, despite this, some of the most fundamental freedoms can be respected, after all, this is not something we only see. in dystopia, history has shown, many times, that it is possible.
O Conto da Aia’s business is fully controlled, i. e. oppressed and without free press, there is no freedom of expression or thought, so anyone who dares to reveal something suffers terrible consequences, Margaret Atwood did not have to imagine the fantastic creatures, terrifying machines or unusual elements to capture a darker future in her work, after all , nothing is more scary than thinking about the occurrence of something terrible like this, so use dystopia to draw us a world that is not so far away and impossible Then maybe we can open our eyes.
Feminism emerges as a quest for equality between men and women, it is opposition to an ingrained hierarchy that gives men advantages and superiority over women, presents a world in which feminism no longer exists, a world completely opposed to these ideas. There, men are not only above women, but they are also the only authority.
Being a dystopian work, we can say that The Story of the Maid is a reminder of feminism. A way to remember its importance and the value of equality between men and women. After many years of fighting for women’s independence and rights, the women of The Handmaid’s Tale became slaves, living in a world they never thought could exist.
An authoritarian regime will lead us to servitude, to the loss of our rights. A patriarchal society, an unequal world. The Handmaid’s Tale shows us everything we don’t want to be, a place we never want to get to. Thus, we can be aware of the need for the fight for equality today.
“We live, as always, ignoring everything. Doing little is not ignoring, do we have to work for it?. – The tale of the servant-