The Handmaid’s Tale Tutorial Kira Dowie

“The choice of language might imply particular attitudes; the way knowledge is presented might be the product of particular values; and the way an idea is represented in a text might have been influenced by a particular ideology” Discuss to what extent all OR parts of this statement are true via a study of The Handmaid’s Tale.

As a group spend 2 minutes discussing the use of language and literary techniques within The Handmaid’s Tale.

The manipulation of language is an obvious example of Atwood’s implication of certain attitudes in her novel. Use of biblical references The name “Gilead” is derived from a Biblical location, which was extremely fertile and pure whereas Gilead within the novel has been destroyed by pollution and disease. However, they choose not to refer to the negative aspects of the Bible’s Gilead, for example; “Gilead is a city of wicked men, stained with footprints of blood”. The name “Handmaid” even comes from a story in the Bible; “When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, Give me children or I shall die! […] Then she said, Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees, and even I may have children through her.”

The naming and grouping of women within the novel is used as a means of segregation. There are the Handmaid’s, Martha’s, Wives and Econowives and Unwomen Even the men are divided into the Eyes, Angels and Commanders All are again, Biblical references and are a way of segregating and controlling everyone

The use of language within the novel is poetic and decorative with extensive use of imagery and other literary techniques. It is often used to juxtapose cruelty with vulnerability – for example: “We would exchange remedies and try to outdo each other in the recital of our physical miseries; gently we would complain, our voices soft and minor key and mournful as pigeons in the eaves troughs.” Or weakness with power – “His skin is pale and looks unwholesomely tender, like the skin under a scab.” Language is warped to fit how the regime wishes it to be; “There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it.”

Take a few minutes to discuss in your groups the way knowledge is presented within the novel, in terms of who has access to it and who does not.

The women of Gilead are forbidden from accessing any kind of knowledge extending further than necessary to follow the regime. When Offred finds the message, “Nolite te bastardes carbondum” in her wardrobe it is a sense of freedom, despite not knowing its meaning. Knowledge is a form of escape for her, and a way of keeping herself grounded; “I sit in the chair and think about the word chair. It can also mean the leader of a meeting. It can also mean a mode of execution. It is the first syllable in charity. It is the French word for flesh. None of these facts has any connection with the others. These are the kinds of litanies I use, to compose myself. (19.8-9)”

“The Bible is kept locked up, the way people once kept tea locked up, so the servants wouldn't steal it. It is an incendiary device: who knows what we'd make of it, if we ever got our hands on it? We can be read to from it, by him, but we cannot read.” – Knowledge is literally locked away, ironically even the Bible is forbidden despite the importance of religion within the regime. They aren’t even allowed to read signs, “…they decided that even the names of shops were too much temptation for us.” Their exchanges with others are even limited to set phrases such as: “Blessed be the fruit” and “May the Lord be open” all of which allude to religion.

The restrictions of knowledge within Gilead represent the power of knowledge and value of education. The women are not allowed to have access to this kind of power. Hypocrisy of the men being entitled to access to such knowledge that the women are not, Offred describes the Commander’s room as an “oasis of the forbidden”.

Discuss in your groups the idea of gender roles in this novel and how this has been influenced by the ideology of the role of women.

Within the novel women are stripped back to their biological functions and defined by their fertility - “We are two legged wombs” This idea of the role of women is derived from the Bible’s representation of women and that their value is linked with their ability to procreate. They are told, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” taken from the Bible, enforcing the regime’s ideology that a women’s role in society is to reproduce. The bible states: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.”

Overall I believe that all aspects of the statement are true. Language is used to imply a negative attitude towards religion, and By withholding knowledge from the women, it is presented as a form of power and in this way is a product of the value of education. The idea of gender roles and the role of women within the novels is representative of these ideologies placed upon women.