Rebellion in The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood Essay

Rebellion in The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood Rebel is a term, which is highly weighed down with emotion. In society today we perceive a rebel to be a figure opposing a much stronger majority. We distinguish the rebel to be a character who fights for his/her own ideals. We see a person that will do anything almost being ruthless to destroy the boundaries set up against him/her by the stronger mass. We witness the rebel as an individual who deliberately defines a battlefield and two fighting fronts. The rebel is constantly is resisting. The only way he/she can defend his morals and values are to strike the greater that condemns his/her values and morals. Unfortunately today there are many misconceptions and†¦show more content†¦As one can see from the name, this societys absolute moral backbone is formed by Christian fundamentalism. Radiation and chemicals have contaminated the physical world in which this society dwells. As a result the fertility rate has drastically reduced the fertility rate. The government has introd uced handmaids, who are young fertile females whose job is to act as surrogate mothers. They basically are wombs on two legs. If they fail to conceive three times, they guaranteed death by working at the colonies. The reader follows the life of a handmaid called Offred. We witness how Offred distances herself from the system day to day. Our protagonist Offred is a character, which we can easily categorise. It is hard to perceive Offred as a rebel. However if Offred is at all to be labelled a rebel she must belong to the class of rebels that act passively. During the novel there are only a small number of occasions where Offred acts actively. There is great contrast set up by Atwood to emphasise Offreds inert behaviour. Atwood presents to us the character called Moira. Moira is Offreds best friend. I feel that I recognise Moira to be the active rebel. Moira is the one who goes on demonstrations. Moira is the one who from the first step into the red centre wants to leave it. Moira cannot see any boundaries. She is the one who escapes the red centre. She is character that does not respect authority. Moira is aShow MoreRelatedThe Handmaids Tale Gender Inequality Essay1067 Words   |  5 PagesHandmaid’s Tale and Women in Modern Day Society Picture being in a world where women no longer have the freedom to purchase items, instead all of their money can be found in their husband’s account. This is the life of the Handmaids; their lives reflect those of slaves because they can’t go anywhere alone, have no money of their own, and live in constant fear of being sent to the Colonies. Small parts of gender equality can be seen in today’s society. 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