The Handmaid's Tale - What are the main methods of control in the Gileadean regime and how are these portrayed?

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Nicola Evans                                                                                                  1st November

                        The Handmaid’s Tale

What are the main methods of control in the Gileadean regime and how are these portrayed?

      The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood is a dystopian science fiction novel. Novels of this genre present imagined worlds and societies that are not ideals, but are instead terrifying or restrictive. The Novel is set in the late twentieth century in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian and theocratic state that has replaced the United States of America. Extreme changes have been made by the government to the modern Western society as we know it now. Society has transformed into patriarchal ideology and women’s freedom has become completely restricted. Due to high infertility rates in Gilead Handmaid’s have been assigned to couples who have trouble conceiving and now must live by a strict religious military regime and worship puritan beliefs. The government decided to make these changes because they did not agree with how society was operating before. They believed the environment was becoming neglected and after the sexual revolution in the 1960’s and 1970’s there was a moral decline. Marriage was becoming more and more uncommon and women were becoming more independent and powerful also their image became sexier, with mini skirts and colourful tight tops. The government in Gilead felt society was getting out of hand and something had to be done. Propaganda was used to brainwash the Handmaid’s into accepting their new regime as ‘normality.’ They were taught to believe that in the time before women were ‘lazy’ and ‘they were sluts’ they were told this to persuade them that the way they used to live was wrong.

        Gilead first came about when birth rate began to decline, women thought ‘there was no sense in breeding,’ because they were convinced that ‘the world would explode.’ As a result of this attitude towards reproduction the government took control and replaced women’s freedom with this religious military regime which involves giving birth to a child for a couple who cannot conceive. However this regime did not takeover immediately, the first stage of the takeover was the assassination of the President and the congress. Everyone was shocked but they were informed ‘everything was under control,’ this was to keep people calm and assure them everything was fine. However people, including Moira, knew things were going to change. Moira claimed ‘they’ve been building up to this,’ Moira had been expecting something to happen for a while. From then on things began to gradually change, gradually taking away peoples freedom ‘newspapers were censored’ to prevent people from seeing the news and Identipasses were introduced which people approved of ‘since it was obvious you couldn’t be too careful.’ Also there was a conservative backlash. Too much pornography had become available so ‘the porno-marts were shut’ people agreed that these had been a ‘nuisance’ but still peoples freedom was gradually being prized away from them. They weren’t able to do things of their own free will anymore. As the weeks went by extreme changes were occurring. Women were fired from their jobs. Offred was told ‘you can’t work here anymore, it’s the law,’ not only were they not allowed to work anymore but their accounts were ‘frozen.’ However men could still work and receive money so women became completely dependant on their husbands or male next of kin. It was important for the government to take control of what is broadcast on the news because this propaganda boosts morale. Before the ceremony the Handmaid’s were allowed to watch the news Offred believed ‘it could be faked,’ because they were always shown ‘victories, never defeats,’ but that’s because nobody wants ‘bad news’ it would bring their spirits down. It was also important for the government to get rid of universities because these gave people a choice of what career they wanted to do but ‘such freedom now seems almost weightless,’ people are not free to choose their own lives anymore, they are instructed by the government what to do so universities are no longer needed.  

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      The control over people’s lives was so powerful that it took away peoples individuality. Everyone in Gilead has a clearly, defined role and they are colour coded according to their status. This made it easier to control them but it also took away their individuality. The Handmaid’s are at the bottom of society. Each Handmaid is dressed head to toe in red ‘the colour of blood,’ which represents childbirth or their monthly cycle. This signifies the Handmaid’s role in society because their function is to produce children. Martha’s were recognized for wearing a ‘dull green’ dress ‘like ...

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