The Handmaids Tale

What genre is the novel?

Dystopian and speculative fiction

What event in 2021 amplified the resonance of the novel?

The destruction of American democracy: the storming of the US Capitol in 2021 by Trump supporters.

Authoritarianism

the blind submission to authority, repression of individual freedom of thought and action, rejection of political plurality and use of strong central power to preserve the political status quo.

Word to describe the Historical Notes

Metafictional: the author draws attention to the literary work as an artifact and is self conscious about the story telling and its narrative structure.Highlights the dichotomy between the real world and the fictional world of the novel. The attention directed to the process of fiction composition could be parodying the revealed truths.

What did the historical notes reveal about the Commander?

He was probably a participant in the first of the top- secret Sons of Jacobs Think Tank at which the philosophical foundations of Gilead were developed, indicating his role in shaping the oppressive regime.

The Sons of Jacob aim to replace…

the liberal democracy established by the Founding Fathers with a theocratic dictatorship.

Where is the novel set?

Around the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge (Massachusetts)

Why is the setting significant?

Proximity to Salem - where the infamous Witch Trials occurred during 1692 - 93.

Characteristics of the Salem Witch Trials

Mass hysteria, religious mania and vicious in-fighting

What does the Salem Witch Trials foreshadow?

The ultimate downfall of Gilead

Who are the Sons of Jacob in the Biblical sense?

Jacob, also known as Israel, is a patriarch in the biblical narrative whose twelve sons became the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel. Their mothers are Rachel and Leah.

What did the Sons of Jacobs use to launch ‘___’

Theonomic ideology to launch a revolution

What is the term used to describe how the Sons of Jacob overthrew the government?

Coup d’ etat

Who did the coup d’ etat target?

The highest echelons of the US government.

What language technique is used to describe the how the far-right Christian movement orchestrated the overthrow of the US government? What is said? What effect does this create?

Polysyndeton. ‘They shot the President and machine gunned the Congress and the army declared a state of emergency’. This slows the rhythm of the prose juxtaposing the barbaric violence utilised by the Sons of Jacob in their pursuit of power.

Jacob was one of the Bible’s ___

patriarchs

The Sons of Jacob imposed what kind of law?

martial law (and suspension of civil liber

Atwood’s Republic of Gilead borrows selectivity from the historical model of…

The 17th century Puritan forefathers of America.

What beliefs do Puritan New England and Gilead share?

Their passion for traditional values

What did Kaler write about Puritan New England?

New England Puritan women were assigned names like ‘Silence, Fear, Patience, Prudence, Mindwell, Comfort, Hopestill and Be Fruitful’ so as to be ‘reminded … of their feminine destiny’

Gina Miller - Puritan New England linkage quote

they were not allowed to use combs or mirrors or wear anything but plain and functional clothing. (From Gina Wisker, Margaret Atwood: An Introduction to Critical Views of her Fiction).

Who is Mary Webster?

Atwood’s relative who who underwent attempted hanging as a witch in 1683 but survived her ordeal

Who is Professor Perry Miller

Atwood studied at Harvard under Professor Perry Miller, the great scholar of the Puritan mind

What was Fredrick Waterford’s (Commander) fate?

Accused of ‘liberal tendencies’ as he was in possession of a substantial and unauthorised collection of heretical pictorial and literary materials and of harbouring a subversive’

A03: Link to Commander - name a historical revolutionary who consider themselves being ‘above attack’ and were proved wrong

Leon Trotsky - key figure in establishing the Soviet Union, which he was exiled from in 1929 and subsequently assassinated in 1940.

What was the Commander’s prior job role? What role did he have in the establishment of Gilead?

Former businessman (parodying those who enter the political arena for personal gain and attention - eg) Trump and Reagan) and market researcher (ironic- Gilead operates under martial law and is characterised by economic stagflation and limited supply and rationing). Contributed to the naming of the Aunts after ‘familiar and reassuring commerical products’ (seen today Aunt Bessies and Uncle Bens). There is a symbiotic relationship between a name and its non-verbal correlative. He also designed the scarlet costumes worn by the Handmaids.

What is heresy and what significance does it have to the Gilead regime?

Heresy is the holding of beliefs that does not align with with Gilead’s own notion of Christianity. The crime against heresy is absolute. It is engrained into the hierarchical structure, thus the social class itself. Heresy ensures that outlying voices/ thoughts are filtered through and rebellion remains underground and implicit rather than overt.

Chapter 45 - prayer significance

• Lexical choices?

• Imagery?

• Religion?

Anaphora - ‘I’ll give up Nick, I’ll forget about the others, I’ll stop complaining’

Imagery related to vessels/ containers ‘I’ll empty myself truly, become a chalice’ - explores her compartmentalising of her thoughts.

-Contractions, when considered the extended ‘I will’ seem futile due to Offred’s lack of autonomy.

-Chalice: the cup of wine which is administered during the celebration of the Eucharist.

-sense of finality of the regime and reflects her subconscious belief of the iterative nature of the regime - seems inescapable. (seen in the recycling of names - Ofglen new/ old)

-Chremamorphism reflects on the success of the regime.

Perhaps Offred feels that Gilead is synonymous with God’s intent. Maybe Offred utilises religion to maintain her sanity and views Gilead and God as separate entities - believes in predestined fate. Despite everything all she wants is salvation and thinks that God has ‘let her off’.

-Asyndeton: listing of promises is overwhelming and is wholly unconvincing.

‘I don’t want to be a dancer’ C45 - allusion?

Allusion to the 1948 film ‘The Red Shoes’ in which the main character dances herself to death.

Engrained Gilead beliefs - excess female liberation is damaging

C45 key moments and significance

4+5 = 9 (Cat has nine lives - but Offred chooses to give up the her life to the ‘uses of others’)

• Offred reflects on the news that the old Ofglen hung herself. There is uncertainty between reality and the truth which heightens Offred’s doubts ‘Unless this woman is lying’.

Variation on the Christian doctrine example C45

‘She has died that I may live’ - varied due to the original phrase being ‘Christ died that we may live’ - the parallel engages with the idea that rebellion inevitably leads to a sacrifice.

What was the name of the fictitious massacre in America that was used as justification for the Muslim travel ban?

The Bowling Green Massacre. (2017) - entirely fictitious.

Highlights the ‘imagined’ Islamic threats that the Sons of Jacob used to justify their takeover with.

Highlights the importance of access to news which is not tainted with bias.

Profiteering of xenophobia and post 9/11 fears.

What are the central themes of the dystopian novel?

1) Environmental destruction - uninhabitable places on earth or settings preparing for collapse.

2) Governmental control

3) Loss of individualism

4) Survival

5) Technological control