Initial Post on The Handmaid’s Tale The selected work is The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985). Citation:Atwood,

Initial Post on The Handmaid’s Tale

The selected work is The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985).

Citation:
Atwood, M. (1985). The Handmaid’s Tale. McClelland and Stewart.

Subjects in developmental psychology are called themes and topics.

The main topics in The Handmaid’s Tale are oppression, gender discrimination, extreme religion and attempts to fight against it. She uses the book to show Gilead, where women are ruled by men, cannot act freely and the source of their happiness is determined by how many children they have. The subject examines how humans and groups deal with situations of oppression.

Ways in which the Author Inserts the Themes Within the Work

Offred, the main character, lets us see the world as it would be lived by a person under a controlling government. Gilead’s descriptions of the Ceremony and hangings highlight the amount of oppression present in the book. The book letters make it obvious that gender inequality occurs when women are put into defined roles and their rights get stripped. It gives itself authority by changing what the Bible means, so that handmaids’ names are the same as their masters’ names. We notice resistance in Offred’s memories and the little ways she tries to break the rules she is given. With the book moving between happenings in the current generation and days in history, readers are invited to reflect on the effects of people accepting and continuing with the status quo.

It encourages readers to examine who has power, the role of religion in politics and how rights decrease, all things useful for considering current challenges.

Reference

Atwood, M. (1985). The Handmaid’s Tale. McClelland and Stewart.