What is the message of The Handmaid's Tale?

What is the message of The Handmaid's Tale?

The Handmaid's Tale explores the ways in which ordinary people become complicit in the appalling acts of a totalitarian regime. Although the novel's women are all to some extent victims of the Gileadean state, many of them choose complicity rather than rebellion.

What is The Handmaid's Tale Based on a true story?

The Handmaid's Tale is NOT based on a true story. The drama is science fiction, set in a dystopian future where a totalitarian regime has overthrown the US government and created the Republic of Gilead. But the show, based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel of the same name, is inspired by religious and political history.

What is The Handmaid's Tale about short summary?

The Handmaid's Tale is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was the United States. Gilead is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state, and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate.

What is the main problem in The Handmaid's Tale?

Major conflict The Republic of Gilead has subjugated women and reduced Handmaids like Offred to sexual slavery. Offred desires happiness and freedom, and finds herself struggling against the totalitarian restrictions of her society.

What happens in the colonies?

The Colonies are areas of North America that have been contaminated by pollution and radioactive waste. Gilead, using the system devised by Commander Joseph Lawrence, often sends women convicted of various crimes, known as Unwomen, to the Colonies, to punish them.

What caused infertility in Gilead?

But what's the cause? In The Handmaid's Tale, infertility is linked to another one of Gilead's prominent problems: pollution. As revealed in the season 1 episode "A Woman's Place," inorganic farming and radioactivity are to blame for declining fertility.

What does the phrase under his eye mean?

“Under His Eye” refers to the Christian God, as God is supposedly always watching the Handmaids and their every move, since the Republic of Gilead, the extremist religious society they live in, is “blessed.” The phrase also refers to the powers that be, the very human elements of Gilead's society.

Did Serena Joy create Gilead?

Serena Joy lives her life comfortably as the wife of Commander Fred Waterford. And she was paramount in the creation of Gilead in the first place. Elite Daily reminds us Serena was a religious author and public speaker prior to the creation of Gilead.

What does Blessed be the fruit mean?

"Blessed Be the Fruit:" Gileadean for "hello." Handmaids use this line to greet each other to encourage fertility. The common reply is, "May the Lord open." The Ceremony: The monthly handmaid ritual meant to result in impregnation.

What does the phrase Nolite TE Bastardes Carborundorum mean?

Below his feet read the words, "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum," in bloodred. ... In the context of the story, the idiom roughly translates to, "Don't let the bastards grind you down," but it's composed of made-up words.