Haunted by a Handmaid

Written in 1984, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is a literary gut punch. It has been saddled with nearly every literary label under the sun from science fiction or feminist to dystopian or speculative fiction. Truly, it is an amalgamation of all of these terms because it borrows a bit from each area. The horror of the novel, however, lies in its inherent possibility.

The story takes place in the not-too-distant future. The president has been assassinated and Congress "machine-gunned" by a group of Islamic fanatics...or so the citizens are told. The Constitution is suspended and a new law is in place: women are no longer allowed to hold property or jobs, own or acquire money, and are no longer allowed to read. The government has been overthrown by an extreme Christian-fundamentalist theocracy who turns the United States into the Republic of Gilead. Because of the high rate of birth defects and the plunging numbers of healthy Caucasian births, any woman of childbearing years with "viable ovaries" is taken from her family and forced to train as a Handmaid. Handmaids have but one responsibility: become pregnant and carry that child to term. These women are garbed in red with white "wings" around their face to act as blinders. Other women are chosen to serve as household servants or Marthas, and wear green. The highest rank of women is that of the Wives, who wear blue. Each household is run by a Commander, the husband of a Wife. If the Commander and his Wife are unable to conceive (which, in this government, is always the fault of the woman, never the man), they are assigned a Handmaid. The Handmaid lays with the Commander once a month in hopes to conceive. After three failed pregnancies, the Handmaid is declared an Unwoman and sent off to The Colonies to clean up toxic waste (with an expected lifespan of no more than three years).

Punishment in Gilead is taken very seriously. If a woman is caught reading (a sin for women in Gilead), the third offense is punishable by the removal of a hand. Attempts at escape are met with instant death and any kind of dissention from the government or their official brand of Christianity is rewarded with either a Salvaging (public hanging) or a Particicution (a ceremony in which you are beaten, then dragged in front of a mob who will rip you apart). There are very few friendships in Gilead, as the Eyes (government spies) are everywhere and executions are frequent. However, the novel's main character Offred ("Of-Fred", named for her Commander) retains hope that she will someday be reunited with her husband Luke and their daughter. Through the horrors that exist in Gilead and the novel, the reader is buoyed on by Offred's recollections of her former life and by the quiet hope to which she clings.

Often considered a sister novel to works such as George Orwell's 1984 or Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange, Atwood's story of a simple Handmaid is a tale that is sure to haunt any reader for years to come.

For other reviews of this novel, please see the following:
Powell's Books
Amazon Reviews
Good Reads