It should be no surprise to anyone that I’m writing about this book.  It should surprise you that it has taken me this long into my life to actually read Atwood. What have I been doing with the last 30 years of my life?!

The Handmaid’s Tale is one of those landmark texts, the kind that generations upon generations of inspired readers share, handing you their well loved, worn copy. Looking at you with gleaming, affected eyes, they eagerly push the book into your hand with a smile that reads of change and opened minds.

Maybe I’m being too sentimental and overselling Atwood.  Still, my point is that The Handmaid’s Tale was written with an important purpose, and 30 years later it still excels at that purpose. (Well I’ll be damned…I just realized that this year is the 30th anniversary of the book…huh…perfect!).

The premise is as follows:

In the not so distant future, the United States has erupted into a completely different world known as Gilead.  In response to increasing liberalism, feminist movements, changing views on religion, etc., Gilead has restructured the entire nation, issued total control over the remaining society, and outlawed anything and everything from women in the workplace to wearing makeup to printing books,  Only one state religion is allowed and women possess only 3 jobs: Wife, Martha, or Handmaid (though you could count the Aunts as a fourth, but they’re an extension of the Handmaid).  Women exist to serve their roles as related to their house and man. This is how they contribute to the greater good of society.

Atwood focuses on the Handmaid, Offred (Literally Of Fred). Most of her days are spent alone, in silence. She is not allowed to read. She leaves the house once a day to purchase food at the market.  Monthly she goes through the Ceremony where she has sex with the Commander (aka Fred), hoping to conceive by him. Offred is one of the valuable women who still have viable ovaries in this transitional society. If she cannot conceive, she will be deemed worthless.

First Edition Cover (source Wikipedia)

Atwood fills Offred’s days with monotony, reflections on her life as it as, and dreams of her life before. We are given glimpses of her lost hopes, her missing family, the horrors of the transition into the Handmaid’s role, and her struggles in her current household where she just wants to survive a little longer. She can barely even hope to find a way out. The story is structured to make us feel the sluggish, oppressive, passing of time, the tense fear of committing the slightest sin. The whole society, not just women, are controlled and stifled to an extreme.

In the extremeness of her story, Atwood creates a lens through which we can critique our current culture.  The world of Gilead is just a funhouse mirror version of our own, twisted, curved and quite cracked.  Still, its basic structure comes from our world’s very real issues with gender roles (male as well as female), religious influence, political power, and the domestic space of the home.  The norm of the world is a blanket we wrap around ourselves.  Atwood’s ability to tear it away through her close scrutiny is why The Handmaid’s Tale remains a phenomenal unconquerable text.

Obviously, I’ve touched on perhaps my favorite discussion point, so I’ll share a few texts below if you’re interested in further reading. Many more exist, but these are ones I’ve found particularly enlightening.

Of Woman Born: Motherhood by Experience, by Adrienne Rich.*                  *This one above all closely relates to Atwood’s work.

The Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan.

The Second Sex, by Simone de Beauvior.

Sexual Politics, by Kate Millett.

I’d love to hear your thoughts or any books, articles, (non-fiction or fiction), you would like to share!