Gender and Power in the Handmaids Tale Essay

Topic Question What understandings of the issue of gender and military unit are gained from characterization of men and women constructed in the text studied?The nonion of forcefulness is a fundamental building block of any ancient, redbrick or futuristic rules of order. The retainers tale by Margaret Atwood is an example of the distribution of indi guttert crosswise a futuristic society, specifically a patriarchal dystopia. The exponent which women hold in this society is minimal compared to that held by men, but this is not an unquestionable reality. The issue of gender and queen and highly subjective by nature and throughout this novel this fact is emphasized and the topics interrelated. Women demonstrate this power with their possession and use of language, sexual practice, quality and make up the exploit of their own autonomy. Men within this society to a fault experience repression and disempowerment. Their struggle is center on the absence of emotional needs, al ong with sexual tensions world relieved for pleasure rather than reproduction. Atwood creates these power struggles through the characterization of both men and women within the text.In terms of female characterization, Offred is an elementary character. macrocosm a first person narrator, she offers incredible insight into the military personnel which Atwood has created and her reactions to it, and thus her own means of power. The means in which language is employ shapes this insight incredibly and demonstrates how she apprise gain control. The Republic of Gilead imposes strict security review on language, ranging from forbidding all women except Aunts to read. decided that stock-still the places of shops were too a lot temptation for us. Now places are known by their signs alone. p35 to intertwining biblical rhetoric into everyday language. a whirlwind better than the Chariot, much better than the chunky, practical Behemoth.Gilead even removes the Handmaids names, in thi s society the are know as OfMale name here in reference to the Commander in which they are placed with. Throughout the novel, Offred resists these rules. She creates her own vision of the world through the use of English. Poetic devices are utilized and repeated from the use of a simile in her description of a young guardian His skin is pale and looks unwholesomely tender, like the skin under a scab. p31 to the use of repetition to emphasize top dogs. I am, I am. I am, still. p 293 Her fault, her fault, her fault p82. As AngelaCarter, an English novelist once said Language is power and in this respect, Offred has great power in a patriarchal society.The power of language is not all that Offred posses. The characterization of her relations with males in the novel is also important to the notions of power and gender. Similarly to language, sexuality is heavily controlled and repressed in Gilead, especially that of females. The Handmaids (Of which Offred is) don in skirts that are an kle-length, full, collect to a flat yoke that extends all over the breastsp18 with sleeves that are full p18. Her wickednessgown is also long-sleeved even in summer p201. It is accepted that those within this community will not have sex before conglutination nor express themselves through the form of masturbation They have no outlets now except themselves, and thats a sacrilege p32 or pornographic mediums. There are no more magazines, no more films, no more substitutes. p32Offred exerts power in these repressed circumstances by going against the convention of Gilead and embracing her maidenlike features. She takes an active role in resisting this subjugation by tempting the young Guardians. I move my hips a little, feeling the full red skirt sway around me. p32 The kiss she demands in during a unknown game of scrabble with the Commander is also a reflection on the power of her sexuality and choice. The Commander, a high level male wants Offred to kiss him. I want you to kiss m e p149. She is given the power in this situation, as she has the power to refuse. The power which Offred, as a woman, has in this oppressed society imputable to her sexuality is an important issue.The notion of choice, specifically extrinsic choice is demonstrated with the Commanders want for a kiss is also apparent in other parts of the text. Choice is power and she always has some choice. The idea of existentialism is valid here she always has self determination, even if under duress. If she does not wish to stay a Handmaid she could depart for the colonies and become an Unwoman, shipped of to the Colonies with the Unwomen. where she would have the power of autonomy. The Mayday resistance is also a choice make by Offred. She is asked by Ofglen to search the Commanders room, to give information to the resistance, but she chooses not to. You could go into his room at night, she says. p282Opting to stay as she is, contentwith her relationship with Nick, she exerts power to say no. J ezebels is also another option, when tour there with the Commander he offers for her to stay there You might even prefer it yourself, to what youve got. p250 She is aware of the decisions which she can make in these situations, There wasnt a lot of choice, but there was some and this is what I chose. p105 It is through this characterization which her power lies.In addition to these choices Offred along with other females have innate choices and power, being a female with viable ovaries they have the ability to reproduce. In Gileadean society this gives them a huge power advantage due to declining giving birth rates and increased infertility, sterility and genetically mutated babies. a graph, showing the birth rate per thousand, for years and years a slippery slope, down past the zero line of replacement. p123 Ironically, it is due to this power advantage that they are control. Suicide is also another intrinsic power which all characters in this novel possess, although, its charac terization in the Handmaids is the approximately prominent. The concept that suicide is an ultimate bid for freedom and exertion of power is an understood perception of characters within The Handmaids Tale.The removal of all objects which could be used to hurt oneself from the Handmaids rooms portrays this. I know why there is no glass, in front of the water-coloured picture of blue irises, and why the window only opens partly and why the glass is shatterproof. It isnt running away theyre afraid of. p17 as well as Offreds musings when she believes she will be captured. The notion of suicide becomes very real to her as a means of escape and power. I could cotton gin the bed sheet round my neck, hook myself up in the closet and throw my weight forward, p304 These intrinsic powers exist within the characters of The Handmaids Tale, the help form the society of Gilead and show the possible choices which can be made by its citizens.Moira is an embodiment of the power which females hold in Gilead. She epitomizes those who fought back and were not exclusively obliterated. She lives on the outskirts of Gilead and rejects its values whilst still existing as an institutionalized portion of the society. in relation to her clothing Government issue. p254 She chooses the pick path toOffred. Moira fled the red center, succeeding on her second try. Moira has escaped p140 Moira didnt reappear. p143 So here I am. They even give you face cream. p261 She exists in an outreach of the government, under the power of the patriarchy, and yet doesnt suppress herself to the point which other females within The Handmaids Tale do. She still engages in homosexual acts, its not so bad, theres lots of women around. Butch paradise, you might call it. p261 cigarettes, and implied drinking and drugs. . and theres drink and drugs, if you want it. p261 You want a cig? p255 Moiras characterization holds power in this society, particularly over herself and her wants and needs.The control of wan ts and needs is a way in which this society functions. It is a patriarchy which suppresses all women and most men, though men have inherently more rights. This is exemplified through the character of Nick. The characterization of him is paradoxical by nature. In hierarchal terms, Nick has little power. He is a low level guardian without even an Econowife. He lives here, in the household, over the garage. Low stats he hasnt been issued a woman, not one. p27 He is perceive by those in power to have little of it. He doesnt rate. p27 In reality, he has power. He has chasms of intangible power. He has knowledge of Mayday either due to his involvement in it or the eyes Its all right. Its Mayday. Go with them p305 Nick, the private Eye. p305 and has access to the black market.He has a cigarette stuck in the corner of his mouth, which shows that he too has something he can trade on the black market. p27 He manages to engage in a physical and emotional relationship with Offred whilst still maintaining the guise of faithful Gileadean citizen though even then, the only reason he able to start this relationship was due to the Commanders wife ordering him to bed with Offred. I was thinking of Nick, she says and her voice is almost soft. p216 The idea the he influenced this fighting is always a possibility however, as he has initiated contact with her prior to that. Then he winks. p28 The power which Nick holds in this novel is that of intangibility. His power is never outright stated, but the implications of it are visible.This is a raw contrast to the tangible power displayed in Commander Fred.The characterization conveyed through him shows he is a sloshed public figure and may have even orchestrated the creation of Gilead. Weve given them more than weve interpreted away. p231 Which, in a way makes him the creator of his own demise as he too is suppressed by the patriarchy he is not having his emotional needs met, and thus has to search elsewhere. In doing this he gi ves power to someone else in order to fulfill these needs, this apparent when he asks Offred to his study at night to play scrabble. Id like you to play a game of scrabble with me p148 Despite this, he remains locked in traditional beliefs about gender all weve done is return to Natures norm. p232 and his power is a result of his male gender.Gender and power are integral parts of the society portrayed in Margaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale, as with any society. Understandings surrounding these issues are shew within this novel. The characters within Gilead deal with the different forms of power which they encounter, including that of language, sex, choice, intrinsic and extrinsic notions and the effect of a dystopic patriarchal society has on its citizens. These forms of power are explored through the characterization of both male and female characters. Overall, The Handmaids Tale intertwines the issues of gender and power expertly and her constructed characters carry for the notio ns of power contained within the text with ease.BibliographyThe Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood