Margaret Atwood

 Published in 1986  Contemporary “future”  Dystopian : Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian & theocratic society  1 st person narrator – Offred, whose story is told in the present tense and through the frequent use of flashback

Atwood expresses some criticism of feminism, but her real target is the religious right  The feminists of Offred’s childhood do burn porn, but Gilead uses the concept of “sisterhood” to its own advantage

 Gilead society is built around the control of women, specifically women’s reproduction, but being prowoman/prowoman rhetoric does not lead to positive outcomes

 Language as a tool is common in dystopian literature  Women are referred to as Wives, Handmaids, Marthas and Aunts; those on the outside of society are referred to as “Unwomen”  The police, for example, are referred to as “Guardians of the Faith”  Store names are Biblical: Loaves & Fishes, Milk & Honey

 The idea that as long as there some form of compensation, some form of satisfaction, people can get used to almost anything

 Sexual violence in pre-Gilead society is used as justification for the current society  The Handmaids  Jezebels

 RED – sexuality, blood (menstrual & child birth), sin (think Scarlet Letter)  CAMBRIDGE, MA – Place of America’s 1 st intolerant religious society, 17 th C Puritans. Also the home of Harvard University, a place founded to pursue knowledge, now a place of persecution  EYES  FLOWERS