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Paige Barrow

Professor LeRoy

English 102

December 3rd, 2021

Analysis of The Handmaids Tale

Margaret Atwood is best known for her gothic fiction writing style and feminist

perspective. Many of her works involve gender, power, and identity. She often writes about

women seeking relationships with the world around them. Most notable is her infamous

dystopia The Handmaid’s Tale. The feminist idea of The Handmaid's Tale focuses on a male-

dominated society that controls women in the form of violence, taking away their rights, their

identities and controlling them based on their ability to have children, where rape is seen as an

ordinary part of society. In The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood does not simply state her

feminist views. Rather, she uses a complex, witty, dry, and dark narrative that jumps between

past and present. Renee Nault's graphic novel adaptation of The Handmaids Tale emphasizes

handmaids as a symbol for women’s rights by portraying the original novel as a very frightening

modern-day visual.

For the reader to understand the novel, they should understand some of the

background at the time the novel was written and understand how the issue of women’s rights

is still in conversation today. Atwood described her approach when writing The Handmaids

Tale, “Am I a propagandist? No! Am I an observer of society? Yes! And no one who observes

society can fail to make observations that are feminist. That is just . . . commonsense” (qtd. in

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Neuman 138). The novel was influenced by women’s movements and women becoming

complacent in a time where women’s rights were seeing improvements in things such as

careers, education, and abortion access. Atwood wanted to point out how fragile women’s

rights were by how easily they can be taken, how much these rights were opposed and how

much they were threatened. Neuman stated that by 1984, in the United States, the gains

women had achieved during the previous decade had come under attack from several

directions (Neuman, 141). The graphic novel adaptation by Renee Nault was made to captivate

the 21st-century audience by capturing the most important fragments of the plot to get the

message of how limited women’s rights are and how easily they can be taken. In today’s

society, women still face being shamed for showing their breasts. If women dressed

provocatively, it's seen as consent to rape them because they “asked for it.” Offred states, “It

was my fault. It was all my fault. I led them on. I deserved the pain” (Atwood, Chapter 5). Even

though a lot of the bigger issues for women have been addressed like education, the right to

vote, and equal pay. Women are still seen as objects and face sexual harassment. Some jobs are

seen as men’s jobs and women are otherwise seen as inferior. Women are underrepresented in

politics, with the majority of government officials being men. States are beginning to question

women’s abortions right and some have taken that freedom away. Men are enabled to make

powerful decisions about women’s bodies and what they are allowed to do with them even in

the modern 21st century. There is still not enough fairness, women are not treated with

appreciation and respect. Nault's graphic adaption to the handmaid’s tale tries to bring the

freedoms of women into the spotlight, while also bringing up how hard they had to fight for the

rights they did have. Offred’s mother stated, “You don’t know what we had to go through, just

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to get you where you are” (Atwood, Chapter 8). Seeing the novel in a visual puts things into a

scary perspective. Especially when you see the freedom of abortion taken away in the novel,

which is also happening currently in the U.S.

The men of Gilead thinks they are protecting women from dangerous things like

pornography, rape, and divorce. “We’ve given them more than we’ve taken away. Think of the

trouble they had before” (Atwood, Chapter 13). Ironically, this is the same society that enslaves

women and rapes them to bear their children. “Gilead is a society that has outlawed

pornography and sexual images of women, yet one of its basic organizing principles is the

sexual objectification of the Handmaids” (Dunn, 78). Gilead thinks it is helping women since

they are no longer meant to suffer as single mothers, they no longer have to worry about

financial stability or having to possess a job. “And if they did marry, they could be left with a kid,

two kids, the husband might just get fed up and take off, disappear” (Atwood, Chapter 13). The

graphic adaptation by Nault shows a chilling visual of Gilead’s ceremonies that instantly gives

you that cold, twisted feeling of rape. While the handmaids are expected to lay there, you see

how the wife is an accomplice too, holding down the handmaid as her husband violates her.

Gilead puts the spotlight on the women of Gilead as god’s special creations. However, Gilead is

far from that. As stated by Matthews about Gilead, “It is a depiction of post-apocalyptic

America, made largely sterile due to environmental disaster and governed by a sect of male

Christian fundamentalist” (Matthews, 637). The men of Gilead oppress women, dividing them

into gender characterized groups and governing their reproduction. The commanders are

powerful men in Gilead who possess ownership over handmaids. The eyes are the police of

Gilead. The guardians of the faith guard the borders with guns. Regardless of the status of the

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men, there is not a single woman in the novel that possesses any type of power more than

man. They value women based on their ability to carry babies following old Christian

fundamentals. “This way they’re protected, they can fulfil their biological destinies in peace”

(Atwood, Chapter 13). Women are confined to the walls of Gilead and under constant

surveillance by men. The only protection that women have is defined by their social status and

their biological makeup.

The story is narrated by Offred, who offers insight into Gilead. Atwood uses the

flashbacks of Offred’s past life to bring the reality of the current nightmare of Gilead. In

particular, the narration shows how socially restricted on the outside women are and how the

only space for free speech or thought is inside their minds. However, Offred is not the only

voice. There are often times when Aunt Lydia pops up speaking as if putting words in Offred’s

head and oppressing her thoughts. The women in Gilead are unable to even speak to one

another. Language and identity are the two most obvious things taken from women. Offred

states, “I have another name, which nobody uses now because it’s forbidden” (Atwood,

Chapter 2). Gilead uses these things to effectively oppress women by taking their names and

banning them from reading or writing. This is done by naming them based on their job,

reproduction, or housewife, and only naming them by the house of the commander they serve.

Another way they took the freedom of language away is in everyday life, even stores don’t hold

names now. “You can see the places where lettering was painted out, when they decided that

even the names of shops were too much temptation for us. Now places are known by their

signs alone” (Atwood, Chapter 2). Gilead also uses women against each other by putting them

in power struggles amongst one another. The wives have to sit back and watch as their

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husbands have sex with another woman. Unable to speak to one another, Martha's and wives

hold secrets. “She knows where they’ve put her then, where they’re keeping her. She’s known

all along. The bitch, not to tell me, bring me any news, any news at all. Not even to let on”

(Atwood, Chapter 13). As newer handmaids arrive, they become increasingly more obedient,

handmaids like Offred lose people they can trust and openly talk to. Creating an oppressive

totalitarian society using language amongst women as their biggest barrier.

Atwood uses the flashbacks of Offred’s past life to bring the reality to the current

nightmare of Gilead. There is no way for the women of Gilead to avoid the harsh reality of their

current existence. The women are color-coded to label them. The Martha’s are housewives,

shown as green. The handmaids are sex slaves, dressed as nuns in all red. The wives, dressed in

blue. The significance of the Handmaids being dressed in red to symbolize blood, to further

objectify them based on fertility, red is also the color of menstruation and childbirth.

Throughout the graphic novel, the color red sticks out like a sore thumb, it is bright and bold, in

a very dull Gilead your eyes immediately go to them. The color red can also mean life or death

for the handmaids, if unable to birth a child within 2 years they face the penalty of death. “You

don’t have a lot of time left” (Atwood, Chapter 4). The death penalty the women of Gilead face

if incapable to carry and birth a child is revolting. Women are faced with the harshest

punishment, for something that may not be their fault and the capability of men to conceive is

not taken into account. “There is no such thing as a sterile man anymore, not officially”

(Atwood, Chapter 4). Nault does a great job showing the past and the present bringing the

colors of Gilead to life. All of Gilead is represented by dark colors, greys, blacks, and browns, it

is very depressing. Offred's previous life shows all the vivid colors, streets filled with bright

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shops and revealing clothes women once wore. Nault also depicts this by showing Offred often

in her room, dreaming about these memories as an escape, she uses this awareness to help her

survive Gilead. As Neuman stated, “It also shows her as having gained political awareness and

as reassessing her earlier more individualist positions” (Neuman, 143). It is obvious Nault wants

to keep showing this image because the future generations of Gilead will not have these

memories, what is Gilead’s society will become normal to them. Future generations of women

in Gilead will not understand or know what freedoms women once had. Imprisoned and color-

coded as objects, only to appease men and seen as normal in the systemically oppressive

society.

In Nault's adaptation, she often shows the coldness and freedoms stripped from women

by using space. Serena Joy, the commander’s wife, is often shown in a blank white square as if

to show how empty and lonely the women in Gilead are. Also, Offred is often depicted in a dark

space alone, with only the thoughts in her head, since women are not allowed to speak freely.

“The people of Gilead-especially the women – are always confined: by the strict rules, by the

walls of the buildings which they cannot escape from, or even by the streets” (Machala, 189).

Another way Nault shows how much freedom is taken by women is by showing the maids when

they walk, they walk in pairs and are always fenced in by the walls of Gilead. Women are often

shown the violent and assertive power men have over them when they walk past the hanging

wall. Nault uses an entire page with a large dark stone wall, dramatizing doctors who once

supported abortion rights now hung to death on display as an example.

As a result of the oppression of Gilead, women are made to feel uncomfortable in their

own skin. Offred cannot even stand to look at herself to undress and get a bath. “I don’t want

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to look at something that determines me so completely” (Atwood, Chapter 4). Women have

been broken down into nothing more than sex slaves that must be obedient. They are unable to

enjoy simple vanities of life like lotion. Instead, they hide packets of butter in their shoes to

smear all over their faces. Now unable to read by law, something only a man can do. When the

commander invites Offred into his office to play scrabble, this shows how much power they

have over women. Games once played by the elderly or on family game nights are now

forbidden. If you pay attention to the scrabble board in Vaults adaption chapter VIII, she shows

what type of words hold power in Gilead, words like zygote and pear. Showing you that the

only thing that matters is a women’s capability to produce a child, they are just a vessel or an

object. Then you have the Jezebels club, a secret club for men’s pleasure. Women are forced to

dress in skimpy clothes for men’s visual pleasure. The commander takes Offred, forcing her to

wear a skimpy outfit and makeup. The commander makes sure to have his arm around her,

holding her like a prized possession that is his. “In her illegal relationship with the Commander,

Offred’s subordinate position serves to flatter the man and reinforce his power” (Dunn, 80).

This club further shows how the men in Gilead objectify women. The guardians in the novel

stare at the handmaids as they walk by, unable to touch women, in return, Offred shakes her

hips to have a sense of power. “The moment conforms to feminist theories of the male gaze,

which reduces women to objects (often sexualized ones) rather than active, individual subjects

(Dunn, 78). The ridiculous things that men do to women to reinforce their power shows how

little they think of them. The women have no choice but to be obedient, if not they face the

wall, being taken in a black van by the eyes, or being sent to the colonies to work in toxic waste

as slaves until they die. In an effort to protect herself Offred decides to give up. “There’s no one

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you can protect, your life has value to no one” (Atwood, Chapter 15). Offred’s obedience is her

only way of having power and she uses that to her advantage, to have more freedom, and to

survive.

Undoubtedly the feminist dystopia of Gilead is far from anything like the past. There are

no positive images of women and no happy endings. Naults visual adaption of the novel shows

just how twisted the society of Gilead is. One article stated, “Through Offred, we can envision a

means of subversion and resistance, even within oppressive institutions, where submission

becomes a gesture of self-affirmation and power” (Matthews, 654). The novel addresses how

the biological makeup of women defines them and how their bodies are gendered objects. The

novel shows you how Gilead stripped women of their rights by taking away their freedom of

speech, forcing them to wear objectifying clothes, and forcing them to carry their children by

using excessive force. The most eye-opening part of this entire novel is startling, the truth of

how possible it could be.

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Works Cited

Atwood, Margaret, et al. The Handmaid's Tale. Nan A. Talese, Doubleday, 2019. 

Dunn, Jennifer E. "CRITICAL CONTEXTS: Feminism and The Handmaid's Tale." Critical

Insights: The Handmaid's Tale, Jan. 2010, pp. 74–88. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-

com.ccproxy.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=48267757&site=eds-

live&scope=site.

MACHAŁA, KATARZYNA. "The Handmaid's Tale Vs. The Handmaid's Tale. The Graphic

Novel as a Modern Reading of the Traditional Novel." Brno Studies in English, vol. 47,

no. 1, Jan. 2021, pp. 181–203. EBSCOhost, doi:10.5817/BSE2021-1-10.

Matthews, Aisha. "Gender, Ontology, and the Power of the Patriarchy: A Postmodern Feminist

Analysis of Octavia Butler's Wild Seed and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale."

Women's Studies, vol. 47, no. 6, Sept. 2018, pp. 637–656. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1080/00497878.2018.1492403.

Neuman, Shirley. "CRITICAL READINGS: 'Just a Backlash': Margaret Atwood, Feminism, and

The Handmaid's Tale." Critical Insights: The Handmaid's Tale, Jan. 2010, pp. 138–152.

EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.ccproxy.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=lfh&AN=48267760&site=eds-live&scope=site.