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The Handmaid’s Tale,
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Karla
I think that may be somewhat true. But I felt that it was more of an attempt to use Offred's past to force the reader to be more objective when viewing the Gilead society. If Offred had been a paragon of virtue, married to her high school sweetheart, happy wife and mother with no vices, readers would be too focused on the indignities she faced to really read the novel. But she isn't perfect. She smokes, drinks, has an affair, disapproves of her Feminist mother. She's humanized. So instead of reading and thinking "no, this can't happen to poor Offred who has never done a thing to hurt anyone," we think "this is insane, no woman deserves this." She isn't the ultimate victim. And because of that we can see how the widespread the suffering is. Even Serena Joy, who basically brought her misery on herself, doesn't deserve what this fanatic society has done to her.
Nikos Dunno
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MaryAlice
They harvested women to be handmaids. They wanted women who had children (fertile) so Commanders could choose a maid to bear his child.
Women who married a divorced man was considered to have committed adultery, therefore an unfit mother. She would make a suitable handmaid.
Women who married a divorced man was considered to have committed adultery, therefore an unfit mother. She would make a suitable handmaid.
Taylin
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Jan 30, 2017 08:32AM · flag