The novel The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, has been around for quite a while now. The Handmaid’s Tale came out in 1986, which makes it incredible that it still appears on bestseller lists. Not many books can make that claim. So, with quarantine keeping me home for a while, I decided to read it.

The Handmaid’s Tale is only sort of historical fiction. It’s more an alternate history, a version of the near future in which an authoritarian theocracy rules the United States. The subjugation of women is severe, and the state goes to great lengths to monopolize access to information.

Plot of The Handmaid’s Tale

It’s hard to know how to describe everything going on in the book in something relatively brief like a blog post. Additionally, I’ll point out that when the book appeared in 1986, the genre of dystopian fiction was fresher. If I’d have read it thirty years ago, I might have a different reaction than I do today because it would probably feel more original.

The narrator is one of the women trapped by this repressive system of state control. Her name is Offred. As in “Of Fred.” The other handmaids she meets have names like Ofglen and Ofwarren. That is, their names derive from the men whom they are subject to, rather than having names of their own. Taking away someone’s individuality is a great way to make them part of a system. That’s why all of us hate being “treated like a number.” It’s dehumanizing and meant to repress dissent.

This choice of narrator is excellent but limiting simultaneously. The writing is intensely personal, meant to give one perspective on the frustrations and inner conflict produced by this society. Offred is by turns rebellious, docile, and mildly suicidal, but never content or happy. However, because the book is so interior, there is little dialogue and the reader spends the entire story wondering how this kind of repressive government ever appeared in the United States in the first place. Because reading is off limits to women like Offred and she has little access to information, however, the reader never finds out the details, which for me was extremely dissatisfying. Maybe some appear in the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale.

Message of The Handmaid’s Tale

The book has a 1984-ish feel at times, although I preferred 1984. Perhaps the strongest message is that authoritarian societies based around controlling women are all about sex. Sex is one of the strongest themes in The Handmaid’s Tale in both an explicit and implicit way. That is, after all, what handmaids like Offred are for—producing children in a society with a declining birthrate.

There are many other scenes with implicit messages, however. When Offred meets Japanese tourists, for instance, they ask her if she is happy with her role in society. Offred answers in the affirmative, of course, because she’s in public and must answer that way. This is, it seems, lightly disguised commentary turning the tables on the Western stereotype of Eastern societies as closed, inscrutable, and in need of more individuality.

Likewise, in the scenes where Offred plays forbidden games of Scrabble with her Commander. Because she was born before the great change in government and has education, she usually wins. One point is the waste in talent of subjugating women who could be adding to society. Another is the absurdity of treating women as inferior. But perhaps the greatest lesson here is that if a nation denies women education long enough, in time, there will be generations with no prior experience to tell them that things should be different. They’ll be taught their second-class status is natural and be unable to envision anything else.

The part of The Handmaid’s Tale I wish received more attention was the Colonies. These were, it seems, sites of toxic cleanup, and there seemed a great number of them. Indeed, it was this toxicity to land and water that was responsible for the declining birthrate of society. A fair warning, coming on the heels of Three Mile Island’s near disaster in 1979, but this was another part of the story that felt underdeveloped.

In the end, my reaction to The Handmaid’s Tale is about the same as my reaction to the last couple books I’ve reviewed. I liked it enough to keep me reading, but not enough that I’d recommend it to someone as something they need to check out. Score this one 7 points out of ten.

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