The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood(6)

 Margaret Atwood created this totalitarian childless world that skillfully hides the actual historical events used to shape the novel. While reading the novel I noted that none of the characters are pure evil. Everyone is affected by the Gilead. There are memories showing the happy times of the pre-Gilead period and it always contrasts with the present Gileadean nightmare. The handmaids are affected the most in this new system as their sole role was to bear children for the Commanders whose wives could not. Even their names were formed by “of” plus the name of their commander, as Offred once said “everyone’s on the take” (Atwood).

There is huge tension throughout the novel created by almost all the characters. As Gilead has intense power over everyone resistance is unavoidable. Even the Commander, having all the privilege, being a wealthy man, powerful and having a contribution in designing the Gilead performs small scaled rebellions. One of his rebellions is when he calls Offred to his room alone which is not allowed and the reason why he called her was to play Scrabble. He broke the rules by doing that. The commander wants a deeper emotional connection and cares about Offred enough to break the rules for her.

Moira is one of the other characters that resists against the Gilead. She manages to escape from that imprisonment. Offred admired her bravery contrasting it with the passive feeling of security of the other Handmaids. She even imagined to herself what Moira could say while escaping the Red Center. Even though Offred had no idea where Moira was she believed that Moira made it and was still alive. Offred on the other hand is very interesting in terms of thoughts and actual actions. She makes sure to follow the rules and acts obedient but her thoughts are much more violent and rebellious. 

Through the novel characters willingly do actions forbidden by Gilead. Even the ones that hold power and advantage from the Republic still break the rules. The cracks appear in this society when the ones that seem to benefit from its laws choose to bend those rules and find ways to break them. 

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