Handmaid 2

freedom mean to you?

The meaning of freedom is different for each individual. For some it may be the freedom offered to immigrants fleeing torment of their home countries to seek refuge in other countries. To a sixteen-year-old boy, freedom has only one true definition, driver s license.

INTRODUCTION

Many fictitious novels written today mirror real life; this tactic can provide readers with a sense of formality. Yet in some cases, fictitious novels provide readers with the shocking realization of a society’s self destruction. We believe The Handmaid’s Tale, written by Margaret Atwood, falls in the second category. An important issue is raised in this novel, the issue of freedom.

Throughout the novel, there were many cases where lack of freedom was portrayed. Offred uses different tactics to cope with her situation. She is trapped with in a society compressed of a community riddled by despair. Though she is not physically tortured the overwhelming and ridiculously powerful government mentally enslaved her. Offred lives in a horrific society, which prevents her from being freed. Essentially, the government enslaves her and takes away her freedom simply because she is a female and she is fertile.

Unlike men, women have been facing lack of freedom for centuries, and often women experience harassment and discrimination. In today s society, females

The handmaids are the most important individuals, and the government finds many ways to segregate them from the rest of society. They ultimately have no control to make any decisions, and no ambition to escape, because they have witnessed the punishment.