The Handmaidens Tale

Gilead, the imaginary dystopia depicted in Margaret Atwood's (1986) The Handmaid's Tale, is run by a totalitarian regime through a rigid hierarchy. All weapons of oppression used by fascist regimes in the real world are employed in Gilead: death, arrests, torture and brainwashing (Atwood, 1986, p. 32). Spies in secret roles are scattered among the population to report crimes and arrest people for their religion, beliefs and past activity. In addition, Gilead's destruction of clothes, books and institutions of learning, are reminiscent of the Communist takeovers of China and Vietnam. Totalitarian leaders destroy these things in order to take over not only the physical beings of people, but also their minds. Thus, they wipe out all other sources of information or reminders of a different lifestyle.

However, in spite of the consistent and austere fatade and rules that are imposed on the general population, Gilead's Commanders are exempt from these rules. For example, they have access to forbidden products, such as seductive clothing and magazines that should have been burnt (Atwood, 1986, p. 219). They also have a secret club where they have access to arrested women who serve as prostitutes, though they do not officially exist in the hierarchy (Atwood, 1986, pp. 236). There is also a black market where Commander's Wives have access to illegal products such as alcohol and cigarettes. The existence of these places that violates the official rules testifies to the hypocrisy of th

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ved the lives of women. In the narrator's conversation with her Commander, the Commander asserted that men and women were unhappy about sex before they transformed the system. In the old society, men and women were no longer interested in marriage. According to him, the new system has improved the conditions for both men and women. Furthermore, by allocating women into different functions, he claims that the system saves them from sexual harassment (Atwood, 1986, p. 210). While the totalitarian system of Gilead most resembles real-life fascist regimes such as Hitler's Germany in the past, dictatorships in South America and Communist takeovers, it also shares some qualities with certain societies that are not oppressive. The Japanese society provides an excellent example. In Japan, the society is highly stratified with clear demarcations among companies and schools that provide future employees to these companies (Ouchi, 1981, pp. 18-9). Even within the organization of each corporation, the vertical movements of employees are also pre-determined. Employees are expected to work in their capacity and promoted only after a specified period of ten years, regardless of their job performance (Ouchi, 1981, pp. 23-4). However, unlike t

Category: Literature - T