The Handmaid’s Tale

COMMENT ABOUT THE DYSTOPIC ELEMENT IN ATWOOD'S THE HANDMAID'S TALE

The Handmaid's Tale is an excellent example of dystopian literature. Opposite from utopia, a perfect world, dystopia presents the world in all its negative aspects. Thus, technological advances and war have left the Republic of Gilead in a  sorry state. The Handmaids are merely valued for their ovaries and must lie down while the wives witness their husbands' attempts to impregnate another woman. All human closeness is condemned. Women who were once wives and mothers must endure their roles as Handmaids. Religion is a business as the Soul Scrolls print out prayers. Knowledge and education are reserved for only a few. In this dystopian world, every person's waking moment is carefully monitored, "Under His Eye," and as Offred discovers, the van will come and take the disobedient away. In this world, humans are enslaved, punished, and tortured, allowed no love, light, or enjoyment - dystopia!

I haven't read this book, but it sounds a lot like 1984...very controlled and less than perfect in almost every way.

This is definitely dystopian novel.  This novel, actually, depicts, in my opinion, a nightmarish society for women.  It is sadistic and oppressive and shocking, only some elements of the dystopian society depicted in this novel.  The most shocking part of this novel is how the women are treated.  The handmaids are treated as birthing vessels and are taken advantage of and abused.