The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Handmaid's Tale
Book Review: A Prescient Vision of the Near-Future
Summary: 5 Stars
I highly recommend this book to everyone out there in the ether. Read it closely-- this is what happens when the religious right wins. I am amazed that Atwood was able to see our future so clearly when she wrote this book in the early 1980s.
In "The Handmaid's Tale," the Bible Thumpers have overtaken our government, demolished the church-state barrier, and installed their own vile brand of theocratic fascism in the Republic of Gilead. (Take note: they rise to power by citing a constant threat of unnamed terrorists, necessitating police state measures.)
In Gilead, everyone is segregated into a strict caste hierarchy. Men may be the Commanders, who are in charge, the Eyes, who are the agents of the Panopticon who whisk away any deviants, the Angels who wage the faraway wars, etc. Women's options are more strictly delimited: they may be the Wives of the Commanders, Econowives of the lower ranks, the Aunts who dominate and control women of the lower ranks, the Marthas who do menial household chores, the prostitute Jezebels, and the Maids like the narrator Offred.
As a Maid, Offred's sole purpose in life is to breed with her Commander. The manner in which Commander Fred attempts to "fertilize" Offred simply must be read to be believed. Interestingly, the Gileadans cite Biblical precedent to support this bizarre method of surrogate conception. Maids are terminated if they prove unable to conceive.
Since Offred's life options are so severely restricted, most of the novel takes place in her head. She reminisces about the time before, when she was able to marry, own property, and have her own children, the gradual increase in restrictions, and her failed attempt at escape. The novel is crushing in its illustration of a life thwarted, stunted, and defeated, and a woman made into an empty childbearing vessel. Reading the book, I was reminded of prison memoirs-- Offred has no chance of an external life, and is trapped in a life of solitude and regret.
Some people might say that such a future is unthinkable in our democratic society. I would recommend that you speak to any member of the extreme evangelical ministries, which view Jefferson's separation of church and state as a lie and an illusion to be abolished, and believe in the literal, inerrant truth of the Bible. I would also recommend that you read V.S. Naipaul's "Among the Believers," concerning the Islamic revolutions in Iran and Pakistan. Gilead's corporal punishments for heresy, dismantling of all democratic institutions like the press, and mandatory "Prayvaganzas" closely track what happened in Iran after the Ayatollahs overthrew the Shah.
I would place this excellent book on par with "1984" and "Brave New World." "The Handmaid's Tale" is necessary reading in this day and age.
Book Review: A Really Good Book
Summary: 4 Stars
The Handmaid's Tale was an awesome book from my perspective. I love books that deal with the future and books that deal with the changing of society. This book takes a look at a future where fundamentalist conservatives take over. I loved it because it is a satire of the religious right so to speak. It is a what if type of book. For me, what is great about it is that something similar is very possible. Don't get me wrong. It is a little extreme but it is plausible in so many ways. For example, with the push from conservatives to overturn Roe v. Wade. Or with Bush in office pushing the views of the ultra conservative right. This book puts me in mind of other books like 1984, or It Could Happen Here, or Darkness at Noon. I loved it and wish I could find more books like it. This was my first introduction to Margaret Atwood. I really liked the way it ended but I don't want to give it away. Read it and read it closely. Read it and think about the world today. It will definately make you think.Book Review: A Stark and Chillingly Beautiful Tale
Summary: 5 Stars
The Handmaid's Tale is a novel of stark and chilling beauty. The most frightening story is often not the most gruesome story, rather it is the story that is not so far removed from our own present day reality. The spartan, strictly regulated, puritanical world that is the subject of the novel is paralleled by the economical use of words by Offred, the narrator of the story. Offred recalls longingly through bittersweet reminiscences, the world she once knew and never truly appreciated until it was snatched away from her grasp. As the narrator's story unfolds, the reader learns of the role Offred plays in the mundane, frightening existence granted to women living in her society. She is part of a world where women are treated as asexual objects, while the ability to reproduce is divorced from being a mother and set upon an inviolate pedestal. In this frightening world, not quite different than our own, fertility is one of the last remaining bastions of feminine power. Sex is a passionless transaction conducted by means of a perversely, unholy triangle of Husband, Wife, and Handmaiden. After I finished reading the Handmaiden's Tale, I was left with the desire to begin to make an effort to appreciate the mundane and seemingly meaningless rituals which are a part of daily living. It is only when one is given a glimpse of the consequences of losing an entire way of existence does one finally begin to appreciate what is already within their grasp.Book Review: A Timely Reminder
Summary: 4 Stars
This book makes me grateful to be living here and now. It also makes me concerned about what could happen even in the United States under the right circumstances. Most people wouldn't worry about the United States actually turning into Gilead (where national security concerns prompoted religion to control the government and restrictions on education and information), but I do realize that it takes work to maintain the current level of freedom.
My only issue with this novel is that the story ended unresolved. Perhaps that wouldn't bother you, but I wish I hadn't been left hanging.
Book Review: A Unique Perspective
Summary: 5 Stars
The Handmaid's Tale is Margaret Atwood's profound insight into the dystopian society that may exist if we as a people continue with our traditions of the oppression of women. Yes, the phrase "oppression of women" connotes the notion that women in our society are beaten and abused, but our society's discreet methods of repressing women give off a similar psychological effect. While society has progressed along in that women are now allowed to vote and run for political office, it has taken much too long for our mainly male-dominated society to consider females an equal gender (Where are our female presidents?). Atwood's depiction of a dystopian civilization is a perceptive look at what the world would be like if we continue to suppress women and their rights.
Eloquently written through a handmaid's observant point of view, The Handmaid's Tale presents novel ideas that present messages which could easily translate into today's society. While we may not realize it, we as a people take many of a woman's roles in life for granted. It is the woman who normally takes on her husband's surname in matrimony, but it is hardly ever the other way around. In Atwood's proposed civilization of Gilead, the matrimonial nomenclature takes on a whole new meaning. The protagonist Offred is a handmaid to her household, promised to her commander. She is "of" Fred, so to speak, and the rest of the women bear similar names- Ofglen, Ofwayne, Ofwarren, and so on. In a feminist argument, Atwood brilliantly challenges the concept of women taking on their husband's family names, as the women lose their identities in the process, marking complete submission to their male spouses. Women who are with child are envied in Gilead and those who are barren are degraded. That women must endure the hardships of labor while their spouses stand by and watch is an element of life that many underestimate. It is these minor details that truly exemplify Atwood's intellect in fabricating her dystopian society, making extremities of such small measures that we normally take for granted.
As a male, the book truly opens my eyes as it gives an alternate perspective of life if women were truly subjected to such measures. Despite the fact that the conditions present in The Handmaid's Tale could be considered by many to be outlandish to today's society, Atwood's message should be taken into deep consideration. Atwood creates a hypothetical world where America, rather than progressing forward, backtracks and resorts to its traditional gender roles where woman are kept for the sole purpose of bearing child. My appreciation for women has certainly been increased, as the book emphasizes the importance of women's rights today and how dire it is for these rights to be maintained, as society can easily, as The Handmaid's Tale shows, return to an antediluvian culture of male dominion. Through the portrayal of an anti-utopian society, Atwood conveys what may seem as imminent threats to society.