The Handmaid’s Tale Review

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood is a one of its kind thought provoking, dystopian anthology . For me this book is unique in the sense that I saw the series on Prime Video first. Then I read the book. I usually do it the other way round. Seeing and reading the Handmaid’s Tale gave me an eerie feeling.

What is the main idea of The Handmaid’s Tale? Is The Handmaids’s Tale worth watching?

It is one of the most powerful dialogues on the themes of subjugated women in a patriarchal society called Gilead. Loss of female agency, independence and individuality is the main theme. It explores ways in which these women put up a resistance in an attempt to gain individuality and independence.

June Osbourne a.k.a Offred

Gross human rights violation, womens rights violation, outright cruelty and unfair practices in a society gripped with the fear of being without children is the general subject of this story. A woman named “Offred” a.k.a June Osbourne rises like a phoenix in the story. She narrates her brave story of trials, tribulations and escape.

Is it really the women?

Seeing the Handmaid’ Tale really made me think very hard. A world where women were no longer able to reproduce. Or is it really the women? There are a select few fertile women left, who are herded up. They have the grave responsibility of bringing children into the world. Each household has a “Commander” and a “Wife”. They are assigned a handmaid with the sole purpose of producing children.

On paper it is the man of the house who fathers the child through a (un) holy ceremony. But in reality it is often a helpful doctor, a passionate driver or a hidden lover who contributes the Y-chromosome. But nobody talks about it. Infact talking about male infertility is taboo and illegal. The official narrative is that the women have all gone barren because of the sins of men and women. In Gilead , it is illegal for women to work. Reproductive rights are a distant dream and females arr basically treated as chattel.

Scary reality

What scared me the most ? The dystopia shown in the story could easily merge into reality in a patriarchal authoritarian society. A society in which women are inferior beings. Where a woman’s sense of being gets definition with respect to her male partner.
For anybody interested in female empowerment, feminism, women’s rights and gender sensitive topics, this book is a must read.

Power of Words

Margaret Atwood published this book in 1985. Even after more than 30 years,the story is still relevant today . Recently in the year 2021, the Canadian Government launched a stamp to honour Margaret Atwood. Adorning he stamp is one of Atwood’s most powerful lines, from her poem Spelling, “A word after a word after a word is power”.

 ‘This post is part of #CauseAChatter with Blogchatter’