Eva's Blog

  Dear diary,   Today was all about preparation for the Ceremony. Offred needed a bath and guess who had to supervise? It's me, of course. As if I didn’t have enough things to do as it is! And let me tell you, she took her time as well. I was certain the meat would be burnt by the time I got out. As for last week, when I asked her for steak, she brought back chicken. What is so hard about just following orders? I had an easier time with the one before her. In any case, her occupation is a disgrace. What would motivate a woman to become a handmaid? You should be ashamed to give your body away to random men! I can't help but make faces whenever I see her red attire. She tries, from time to time, to get to know us. It tires me to talk to her since I'm not interested in doing so. Often, I catch her hiding near the door, listening in on my conversations with Cora. Something about her feels suspicious to me. My dear diary, you heard about her first here. She is bad news. Last wee...

  The Exposition In the very first chapter of the novel, the main character relives one of her memories of the Red Center. The Red Center, as we can understand it, is a prison-like holding location for women of Gilead. The Center consisted of dormitories “in what had once been [a] gymnasium.” (p. 3) And of a football field enclosed with barbed wire. They are granted “walks, twice daily, two by two” (p.4). We understand quickly that this center is funded by the government because they are given “army cots” (p.4) and “army-issue blankets” (p.4). The girls are constantly being monitored whether it be by the Aunts inside or by the guards outside. A hierarchy among the supervisors is quickly established. Gender defines the role and the responsibilities that you possess in Gilead. Although the Aunts have power over the inmates, they are seen as less important than their male colleagues. As a matter of fact, “even they could not be trusted with guns. Guns were for the guards, specially p...

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is, of course, part of the science-fiction genre. In spite of this, the novel draws much of its inspiration from real historical events and antiquated societal norms of different eras. The book was written in the mid-1980s, in both West Berlin and Alabama. So, the societal beliefs of the time and the history behind those specific locations should be reflected in the story. First and foremost, the 1980s were a time in which feminist progress and preoccupations about the future coexisted. The previous decades had been a big help with the acquisition of women’s right to vote in 1920 and the Sex Revolution of the ’60s and ’70s. Yet, in the 1980s, there was a common fear that these advances in women's rights would be reversed and society would lose the progress it had made, particularly after the election of Ronald Reagan. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood clearly illustrates these concerns as women do not have the right to vote or possess control over...