The Handmaid’s Tale – part 1

Initially, Offred provides insight into what her life used to be like, and what it has become in the house of the Commander. She narrates how her individuality has been deterred by the nation of Gilead, and how she was separated from her husband and daughter. Her only real responsibility as a handmaid in the Commander’s house is to have impersonal sex with him, because of declining fertility numbers. There are no freedoms granted to women of this society: leaving the confines only on shopping trips, not being able to even completely close doors, and are under the constant monitor of a secret police force. It is interesting to note, that Offred had a single mother who was a feminist, and that her best friend was fiercely independent. In the old world pornography, prostitution, and violence against women took place, yet in the nation of Gilead they almost sought to sanctify women by removing them of their rights. They were no longer allowed to have jobs, or own property. In my opinion, the greatest source of irony throughout the first part of the novel is based off of how the women of Gilead were supposed to be more pure, only because they sacrifice all of their rights. It’s almost like in the Gilead theocracy, the options are to find happiness in blindly accepting the rules and conditions of the totalitarian government, or to live as an outcast.