ISBN-10: 038549081XPublisher: Anchor Books
Published: April 1998
311 pgs
From the blurb:
Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are only valued if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the days before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now....
Imagine if you are living in the near future, where women are ripped off from freedom and are no longer in control of their bodies, what would you think? Or better still, what would you do? This is exactly what happens in the Republic of Gilead, whereby women are being treated like breeding machines and their movements are strictly controlled. They are divided into different classes and each has her own role to play; e.g. the Wives held the highest 'rank' amongst all women as they are the wives of the Commanders, the Marthas are like housekeepers while the handmaids will do whatever the Commanders or their Wives ask them to do, but basically their role is to procreate and if they failed to do so in two years' time, they would be labelled as 'Unwoman' and/or to be sent to the Colonies.
In this story, it is about a woman called Offred. In a narrative tone, she tells her tale about her role being a handmaid and the kind of life she is living. Actually, Offred is not her real name. All handmaids' names begin with an 'Of' followed by their Commanders' names; this is to tell that they belong to a certain man (Commander) and they are nothing but objects.
Before this happens, Offred used to have her own life, her husband and a daughter. However, there is not much mention about her past life although the readers are given a glimpse of how the society has changed bit by bit and how these women's life took off a drastic turn as they are not allowed to read or write; even the basic stuff like money, bank accounts etc are being wiped off.
Margaret Atwood has crafted a frightening yet thought-provoking tale in The Handmaid's Tale. Though it is a fiction, what really terrifies me is that one never knows what elements in this story will become a reality in future, e.g. the nonentity of paper money, the massive role of surrogate mothers etc.
I could not say I like or dislike this story, but the author's prose, the premise and the characters are the main factors that allowed me to keep on reading. One of the things I quite enjoyed is the author did not really tell the story in a straightforwardly manner but let her readers guess and find out what happens as they read along. The only thing that disappoints me is the ending, because I would want to see it all nicely wrapped up. But maybe that is not so important, as I would like to think this book serves more like a reminder to us, telling us we should be grateful for what we have and to appreciate life and the people around you. This is a powerful book that I would not forget in a while.
Other blogs reviews:
Bold.Blue.Adventure
Book-a-Rama
Care's Online Bookclub
In Spring It Is The Dawn
Reading Reflections
I would also like to thank Alice for passing this award to me. Alice's blog is one of the coolest blogs I ever know and I am very happy to call her my friend. Thank you so much for everything, Alice!I am going to take the simplest way and pass this award to all my blog buddies (you know who you are!). Thank you for reading and for your friendship! You guys rock!
No comments:
Post a Comment