1. Group Novel Presentation:
The Handmaid’s Tale
By Margaret Alwood
Jayne Ingram, Thea Enns, Joy Simms, Shelby Kurt, Eugene Nam

2. About the Author

3. Margaret Atwood
Born Nov. 13th 1939, (70 years old) in Ottawa and moved to Toronto at age six
Graduated from high school in 1959 & Bachelors degree from Victoria College in University of Toronto and her masters degree from Radcliffe College
Went on to study Victorian literature at Harvard university in & was getting her PhD but she never fully completed it
Favourite writer and role model was Edgar Allan Poe
Written more than 35 books (novels, short stories, poetry, literary criticism, social history and books for children)
Some of her books have been published in 22 different languages
Atwood uses her words & voices of her characters to sell her values and her stands on social issues and her views on the inequalities in the world

4. Margaret Atwood: Accomplishments
Has given many lectures at University of British Colombia, Sir George Williams University of Montreal, University of Alberta, & was an assistant professor at York university for English
Has received more than 55 awards
Civil rights has always interested Atwood and she was active in Amnesty International (an organization that helps free prisoners throughout the world)
President of the Writers' Union of Canada from May 1981 to May 1982, and was President of International P.E.N., Canadian Centre (English Speaking) from
She and Graeme Gibson are the Joint Honourary Presidents of the Rare Bird Society within BirdLife International. Ms. Atwood is also a current Vice-President of PEN International

5. Margaret Atwood and The Handmaid’s Tale
Voices strong feminist themes through her writing
In several of her books the female protagonist is the representation of “every woman” who is victimized and minimized by gender and politics
The Handmaid’s Tale novel portrays the strength and proactive nature of women as they struggle with inequality
The Handmaid’s Tale was eventually made into a motion picture

6. Interesting Elements

7. Language/Diction
Diction is an indicator of where power and control lie.
Characters are given titles that indicate their status. Names are taken from handmaids while other characters are addressed by titles that demand respect. Offred is of lower class.
Class is a major theme of the novel.
“Guns were for the guards, specially picked from the Angels” (pg. 4)
“Don’t call me Ma’am, she said irritably. You’re not a Martha” (pg. 17)
Atwood's made up words have evident meanings that define the changes in society. Language has evident differences between our world and Gilead.
"'Hello,' he says. It's the old form of greeting. I haven't heard it for a long time, for years. Under the circumstances it seems out of place, comical even, a flip backward in time, a stunt."-Offred with the Commander (pg. 159)
"I almost gasp: he's said a forbidden word. Sterile." -Offred, of the doctor (pg. 68)
Offred often narrates meanings behind words and phrases.

8. Power
Government power is one of the large themes of the novel (along with feminism). Problems of today's society (government being too far left) are exaggerated to emphasize a point. 
Ex. The Commander, a symbol of governmental power, abuses his authority.
High Powers control citizens using force and fear: The wall, weapons, spies everywhere, meetings, showcases etc.
“But I could see out into the corridor, and there were two men standing there, in uniforms, with machine guns” (204)
"Like them, even, to plant the passport forgers themselves, a net for the unwary. The Eyes of God run over all the earth." -Offred about getting caught at the boarder (pg. 223)
"Last week [the Guardians] shot a woman, right about here. She was a Martha. She was fumbling with her robe, for her pass, and they thought she was hunting for a bomb." (pg 23)
"Beside the main gateway there are six bodies hanging, by the necks, their heads tied in front of them, their heads in white bags tipped sideways onto their shoulders." -The Wall (pg. 36)

9. Feminism
The second main theme of the novel. Atwood wrote the novel to take a stance by exaggerating unjust treatment to women.
"Mother, I think, wherever you may be. Can you hear me? You wanted a women's culture. Well, now there is one. It isn't what you meant, but it exists. Be thankful for small mercies"-Offred after birth (pg. 147)
“Women can’t hold property any more, she said. It’s a new law. Turned on the TV today?” (pg. 206)
“They’ve frozen them, she said. Mine too. The collective’s too. Any account with an F on it instead of an M” (pg. 206)
Women are for babies, and sex; nothing more.
A Jezebel is a term for an infertile women who worked at "the club." Jezebel was originally a name from the bible of a Queen who turned people away from God to Idols, and promoted sexuality.
Passage on page 157

10. Symbolism
The colour red, blinders, Eyes, the Wall... are all symbolisms of control and power of the totalitarian government. The symbolism emphasizes fear and helplessness in the citizens: another large theme of the novel.
“I look up quickly: it’s a black van, with the white-winged eye on the side. It doesn’t have the siren on, but the other cars avoid it anyways.” (195)
“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum” (p. 103) – do not let the bastards grind you down.
“We’re supposed to look: this is what (the bodies) are there for, hanging on the Wall. Sometimes they’ll will be there for days, until there’s a new batch, so as many people as possible will have a chance to see them” (pg. 36).

11. Paralleling Our World
Atwood's themes tend to be exaggerations of problems we have in our society: feminism, government control, class struggle.
She parallels the worlds by referring to structures in Gilead from our world and by having the flashbacks throughout that indicate what happened to the old world that caused it to be morphed from a democracy with it's many "problems" to a seamlessly "perfect" totalitarian society.
"Newspapers were censored and some were closed down, for security reasons they said" (201)
Passage on page 167 paralleling the Holocaust

12. Rhetorical/Literary Devices

13. Analogy

14. Foreshadowing

15. Flashback

16. Bibliography
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. Canada: O.W. Toad Ltd, 1985.
Handmaid’s Tale cover art:
Two Handmaids:
Black van:
Nightclub:
Pregnant lady:
Brick Wall:
Cartoon eye:
Mother and daughter:
The Handmaid’s Tale video: