| The Handmaid's
Tale |
||||
| Author: Margaret Atwood | |
| Age: Upper high school and older. | |
| Genre: Speculative fiction. (Most books stores will put this one in the general fiction section. The book is about the future, but is not scientific, thus cannot satisfactorily be grouped with science fiction. On the other hand, most bookstores do not have a section devoted to speculative fiction, thus, the general fiction designation. Since I'm not limited by a bookstores inadequate genre labels, I will place the novel in its proper catagory.) | |
| Topics for Discussion: women's rights, polygamy, patriarchy, class/caste systems, the effects of radiation, war, Old Testament family/societal structure | |
|
Summary: The novel is set in a future when an extended world war has devastated and radically changed individuals, nations, and even society in general. Unfortunately, some of the damage is irreparable; as a result of biological and chemical (and, if I remember correctly, atomic) warfare, most people have been left sterile. In a desparate effort to procreate, the new government has rounded up every woman who has ever borne a child and is still of child bearing age. These "handmaids" are then sent to live with high-ranking officials and their wives in order to produce viable offspring. They have no freedom whatsoever and, as the bound property of their "commander", take on his name, suggesting that even their names no longer belong to them. The novel centers on a handmaid named Offred (of Fred). She longs to escape, but knows it is an impossibility. The only relief she finds is when her commander begins to secretly allow her to read magazines and play board games with him in the dead of night. But her time is running out; if she does not become pregnant soon, it will be assumed that she has become sterile and she will be sent to a labor camp. In a desperate effort to conceive, she begins sleeping with the chauffeur, a crime for which both can be put to death. She is willing to take the risk, though, and perhaps willing to risk more when she discovers that this man could possibly help her escape. |
|
| Review: I'm a pretty big fan of speculative fiction, and this, in my opinion, is a very good example of the genre. Well written and at least feasible, the novel brings you into a horrifying world, especially to a female reader, where no woman is free to decide her own fate. | |
| Multimedia: I have only seen a short clip of the film version. It is definitely not a big Hollywood production, but the short bit that I did see followed the story well. | |
| Christian Perspectives: I am a bit torn in recommending this book. Personally, I absolutely loved it but also recognize that there is much in the novel which may be objectionable to a Christian reader. The plot obviously revolves around a perversion of family structure and sexual relations. Not so obviously, the changes in society seem to be the result of a radical religious fringe group gaining power and implementing their interpretation of Old Testament solutions to infertility. While the antagonism towards Christianity specifically, and organized religion in general, is not overt, the careful reader can pick up on the allusions. On the other hand, it is difficult to believe that even the most conservative, Biblically based docterine could possibly result in the society Atwood depicts; thus, I am able to enjoy the novel as a critique of a society that would allow such extreme voilations of human rights (such as Nazi Germany), which I feel was actually Atwood's goal in writing the novel. Rather than critiquing the church, the novel points out the extremities a society may come to when those who know better do nothing and remain silent. | |
| Links and/or texts for further study: |
| ©2004-2005 by Teresa Shobe. Unless otherwise stated, all content on this page is the property of the webmistress and may not be reproduced without permission or cited without proper documentation. | ||||
