The Handmaid’s Tale Critical Essay

Aunt Lydia tells the handmaids that there are 2 kinds of freedom: freedom from and freedom to. How does Atwood present ideas about freedom in this novel? The Handmaid’s Tale, one of Margaret Atwood’s most celebrated works, uses the central theme of freedom and confinement throughout the novel, outlined in one of the novel’s most famous quotations, “freedom from and freedom to”. In the novel, Atwood is examining freedom, and the lack of, in society today through the lens of the totalitarian Republic of Gilead. The lack of freedom in the book is highlighted almost immediately, when in the second chapter of the novel tells of how ‘there is no glass” in her room, and how “the window only opens partly and is shatterproof”. The escape-proofing of the window highlights immediately for the reader that the Handmaids within the novel are captives; they are held against their will doing a job that they do not wish to do, and hence escape is a serious risk – the Handmaids are simply glorified prisoners. This image is enhanced earlier with reference to the removal of the glass, as well as the later hints that “they’d removed anything that you could tie a rope to”. Not only are they prevented from escaping but they are prevented from taking their own lives. To the reader, of course, this seems sensible - however the very fact that they have had to do this hints that it may be preferable for the Handmaids than the situation they are in, and hence the lack of freedom they must have, not just physically within the room but within the wider Gilead society, is clearly shocking – and that is without examining the darker route that they do not even have the option to take their own life. The illusion of freedoms and choice is another theme that runs throughout the book, used as a criticism by Atwood on modern society. During the Ceremony, we are told that our Handmaid “didn’t have much choice, but there was some”. On initial examination, this would appear to demonstrate a level of freedom for the Handmaids, but that is without seeing the alternative – certain death, sent to clear toxic waste off the planet. Therefore, the Handmaids were only given the impression of having a choice, as by rejecting to become a Handmaid they were sentencing themselves to certain death. Although this does not appear to be a state execution, that is effectively what it is, and hence by including this ‘choice’ Atwood is making a comment on the lack of certain choices within modern society - especially for women, feminist critics would argue, being that this novel is written off the back of the second wave feminist movement. Furthermore, the fact that they were given two options to choose from is not freedom at all – as Marxist critics argue, freedom is not quantitative, it is absolute or not at all, and here the latter is true. Shockingly, even the very appearances of the Handmaids are restricted within the novel. The outfits they were are likened to that of a nun, “a sister dipped in blood”. The total coverage of their bodies is a form of oppression in society that falls within the “freedom from” category – the handmaids are given freedom from their own bodies. Many other literary works use the idea of appearance to segregate characters, as is prevalent works of dystopian fiction – take Lord of the Flies, for example, when one group uses body paint to indicate their descent into madness. Atwood was further influenced by the Holocaust, and hence the segregation in appearance here is not dissimilar to that of the Star of David used to identify Jewish people at the time of the way. The use of blood is far from

Aunt Lydia tells the handmaids that there are 2 kinds of freedom: freedom from and freedom to. How does Atwood present ideas about freedom in this novel? accidental, and refers not just to the colour of their outfit and the fertility it represents, but also segregates the Handmaids out and uses blood to represent the pain that they feel in reference to their segregation, as well as being an indicator of danger, creating symbols of danger and leading to isolation and a lack of freedom. It is clear that the Handmaids are extremely restricted, however it is important to recognise that, in Gilead, men are victims too. Take, for example, the way in which The Commander, a senior official in Gilead, is forced to creep around going to Jezebel’s as it is illegal. The fact that he even has the facility to do this, however, demonstrates that he has far more freedom than the handmaids do themselves. Sorry it’s not quite finished!