Who has read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood...?

Question

... and could tell me what it is about. I have read the first 27 pages and cannot understand what is going on!!! Help please!

Answer 1

This ought to get you off to a start--

The story is about what happens when a bunch of patriarchal and racist fascists use a religion to reshape society. "Loose" women are put into brothels, sterile women put to work doing menial and manual labor, while fertile women are rounded up and given to the upper class men to have babies since their wives can't. All sexuality is controlled by the men in power, and anyone other than them who breaks the rules is executed.

Good luck and enjoy!

Answer 2

I have - it's a kind of parallel universe (hopefully) set in the not too distant future. Pregnancy and giving birth to a healthy child is rare becuase of the terrible damage done to the environment by our generation. Pro-creation is basically the most important thing in th culture. Men and Women are split into groups. The wives are women married to commanders and they are the heads of the households. Households have a handmaid and these are the ones who are fertile. The handmaids have sex with the commanders when they are most fertile but it is like a ritual with the wives and commanders assuming the position but the commander actually penetrates the handmaid.

If the handmaid gets pregnant then the household has a high status and all the wives of the community get together for the birth. The wife of the household with the pregnant handmaid is treated as if she is the one giving birth and all the handmaids also gather to sit together during the birth. It's weird because the wives are the highest females in society but the handmaids are treated like servants and it's all a bit uncomfortable as the wives feel useless.

It's quite chilling reading but I recommend you read it all. You have to read it where there's no distractions as you need to concentrate!

Answer 3

I did at A Level good book - set in the not too distant future, it depicts a previously western society such as America having experienced a government coup and become a religious state were women must cover themselves and have few civil rights.

In addition, the majority of woman in this future are infertile and only a select few can have children still - these women are made to sleep with and bear children for high ranking officials and their wives.

Anyone who dissents from the regime is publically executed

In the handmaids tale - the central character remembers what her life was before, and paints us a grim picture of the future.

It's a dystopian novel and has a lot to say about women's role in society.

Answer 4

Not really all that hard to figure out.
Religious fanatics have taken control of the country and a disease has made a lot of women sterile. A handmaid is the new slave class:breeders. They have no rights, are not allowed to read or do anything that might stress themselves. They wear a uniform that marks their status At the time the book opens it has been 10 years since the takeover.
Anything else I say will ruin the book.

Answer 5

I've read it. It's a book that doesn't come together until later on.
Atwood is one of those writers.........she confuses you the whole way through, and then when you finally get it, she ends the book!
It's all very sciencefictional and weird, but she is an amazing writer.
If the book is too much, there's always the movie which is pretty good actually.
Might help to read the book and appreciate the language when you can visualise and understand the story!
Good luck, and keep at it!

Answer 6

Seen the movie so I'm never gonna read the book.
I could tell the book would be too much like hard work.
Basically it is about a women's view of how society treats women, shrouded in a science fiction world, so that the author doesn't have to rely on reality. Could of made a good story out of it, but I would suggest the author has spent too long staring up her own ....... and not gotten out enough.
And no I am not a misogynist, just don't like anyone of either sex who spends all their time whining. It makes life a tedious experience.
My advice, chuck it and read some good female authors.

Answer 7

I studied it for A-level and I love it. It's a feminist dystopia. Basically, because of pollution etc, population numbers have dropped dramatically, and a patriarchal political group has taken over and established Gilead. Women who are potentially able to have children are assigned to "Commanders", members of the political elite, who will attempt to bear children with them. Any woman who is infertile, too old etc. or who has three postings without bearing children is sent to the colonies, where most die. The narrator Offred is assigned to the commander Fred, since she is "of Fred". She has accepted the lifestyle of Gilead to save her life, but she hates it and constantly remembers her boyfriend, and their child in the time before Gilead.
This is a basic summary of what happens without giving away too much of the plot. I hope you find it helpful. If you need more you can buy Letts or York notes on the text in most bigger bookshops. Good Luck!

Answer 8

I read it years ago. It is about a male oriented society where women have been subjugated and are in the role of slaves. It's a tedious, pretentious book. 27 pages is a major accomplishment. Google it for a synopsis.

Answer 9

The first part of the book is difficult. About halfway, you'll begin to get the sense of the story. Modern society returning to some customs of the 19th century, as told by a servant. Voodoid is right -- very depressing. Remember, like "1984," this is fiction.

Answer 10

I studied it for A-Level English and it does take some getting into. I didn't get it at first either. But keep going, it will all fall into place and then you'll want to read it again from the start! It's a very interesting book.