Women Between Oppression and Resistance in a Totalitarian Society in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Abstract

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a Dystopian novel that reveals some predominant feminist issues such as subordination, marginalization, suppression and exploitation used for an absolute sexual pleasure. It strives to display the issue of inequality towards women in a male chauvinist society, uncover the crisis of identity and oppression threatening them in the very same misogynistic society. Moreover, it resorts to illuminate their subservience and their hopes for freedom. These women are depicted more as objects rather than individuals following restricted rules. They are manipulated by a ruthless theocracy that determines them by their bodies ‘as a twolegged womb’ not their persona. There are few icons used by Atwood like calling flashbacks and narration by the protagonist to denote women’s strength, resistance and their fervency to be freed. These symbols took place in a society ruled by a super male power that allowed all forms of oppression and violence against women, as men were not blamed for any sexual abuse or insult women could face. Such totalitarian regime used some ideologies, religious references as well as propaganda to manipulate women’s behaviour and their thoughts. Likewise, this virile society used different tools as those of surveillance. Women were watched every single day via the so called ‘the eyes’, being punished to death for any mistakes they make for the sake of a total control. Atwood endeavours to crystallize some other kind of disobediences against the totalitarian regime as well as the call for gender equality