The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. The first edition of the novel was published in 1985, and then again in 1998 with additional editing to update language that might be construed as sexist. It has since been expanded into a short series on Hulu, which has also garnered popularity for being an example of dystopian fiction. The novel is set in the near future, where women’s rights are almost nonexistent, and fertile women (called Handmaids) are forced to serve powerful men as a replacement for their wives.
The story follows Offred, one of these handmaids. She tells her tale of how she became part of this society after taking an “Econowife” course that explained what would happen if certain disasters occurred, which then led to the implementation of sterility on most healthy women through similar disasters. With no other option, women who were unable to bear children turned toward becoming Econowives or surrogates for families who could not produce any children. However, once this happened, it resulted in the rest of the women in society losing their rights.
The end result is that once a woman can no longer produce children, or if they go against the rules of society, they are banished to The Colonies, where they eventually die due to radiation poisoning (Atwood). Because Offred’s life is dictated by her role as a Handmaid who has “two weeks to go until [her] next appointment with the Commander” (4), she often tells herself stories in order to pass the time. One such story was when she would stay awake at night with her friends when they were younger and tell them an epic tale about a futuristic world where people swapped genders every day.
In this fantasy world, there were three sexes: male, female, and neuter. The men would dress in woman’s clothing or neuter clothing to blend in with society during the day because it was illegal for them to express their dominance over the women. This way of life however, was not all that mysterious because people knew what they were doing in order to fit in (Atwood). Offred’s tale about a world where genders swapped daily seems like it is purely fantastical; however there are societies where this type of social norms could be seen as plausible. One example is Margaret Laurence’s The Fire Dwellers .
It tells the story of Marjorie Cameron, who lives on the edge of civilization with her father after her mother when she is banished from her community. The reason for why she was exiled is never explicitly stated; however, it is because she does not conform to the rules of society and tries to find her own truth. Since women were not allowed to go against this, she fled and took Marjorie with them (Laurence). This dystopia society is where people exist in a very strict caste system. There are those who live in luxury and peace at the top of pyramid – these are called “Fire Dwellers”.
Then there are those who work as slaves for the higher-ups – they are called “House Folk”, or “Gatherers” if they also have families with their partners (Laurence). The Fire Dwellers exist in luxury and peace because they have the ability to use their own intuition, a thing that is a sign of weakness among the lower levels of society. This ability allows them to “devise codes that will allow [them] to communicate with one another” (Laurence). However, these abilities only work so long as they are not caught using them.
It is suggested in both The Handmaid’s Tale and The Fire Dwellers , that the women who do not follow the rules of society are banished from it for their disobedience, leading them down a path where they eventually die off or live in isolation. In addition, this theme is present in other works such as The Chrysalids , a story about a post-apocalyptic society where people with telepathic abilities are shunned from society and either killed or sent to The Fringes. In The Chrysalids , the main character David’s household decides to break away from this rule after his brother finds out he is telepathic.
In The Handmaid ‘s Tale, Gilead is like any other dystopia in that it has strict rules on what women can do with their lives. Whether they follow these rules directly influences the outcome of their life; whereas men are not as restricted because they seem to make up more of the higher ranks within Gilead (Atwood). As seen later in the novel when Offred imagines how her life would have been if she had been born a man, the men of Gilead have all the power and control within Gilead society. Though these societies seem to be completely separate from one another, they all follow the same pattern as far as their rules for women go.
This is not because they are books that focus on life as a woman in a patriarchal culture, but because they either create new laws on what women can do with their lives by sending those who disobey them to The Colonies or turning them into slaves – or make no mention at all of what happens to disobedient women. During the day because it was illegal for them to express their dominance over the women. This way of life however, was not all that mysterious because people knew what they were doing in order to fit in (Atwood).
Offred’s tale about a world where genders swapped daily seems like it is purely fantastical; however there are societies where this type of social norms could be seen as plausible. One example is Margaret Laurence’s The Fire Dwellers . It tells the story of Marjorie Cameron, who lives on the edge of civilization with her father after her mother when she is banished from her community for committing adultery with a Fire Dweller. Marjorie is found by the Gatherers, who take her away from her father and bring her to live in an isolated community where women are treated almost like slaves (Laurence).
Like The Handmaid’s Tale, The Fire Dwellers also has many parallels with Atwood’s dystopia because of its gender dynamics. In their society, it is strictly forbidden for women to act dominant; but when they break this rule it is heavily punished (Laurence). Though at first glance the two societies seem like completely different ideas, they follow the same pattern of what happens to women who do not abide by certain rules. For example, if a woman in Gilead is found to be disobedient she is usually killed or sent away to The Colonies, which are areas where women are forced into hard labor.
