Title: The Handmaid’s Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Genre: Dystopian novel, Science Fiction
Year of Release: 1985
Review: Why is it in dystopian novels and films, it more often than not is set in America? Is there something unique in the makeup of that country that makes it prone to collapse on a gargantuan scale? And does the rest of the world just ignore the chaos erupting in that corner of the world, and continue on sanely?
The particular oppressive regime in The Handmaid’s Tale has come as a result of the most evil of modern innovation – contraception. Falling birth rates have triggered a mass revolution by conservatives who view abortion and contraception as ultimate attacks on God. Who knew conservatives could be so influential in the States? In an astonishingly short amount of time, they transform the once liberal society into a veritable Garden of Eden. Well, for the fortunate few at least.
Women are granted three options in this new virtuous society – become a Wife, a Martha (a maid, essentially), or a Handmaid. The Handmaid’s purpose is to redress the catastrophic effects of liberalism. Basically, she’s a baby making machine.
The story is written by one such Handmaid, Offred (who belongs to a guy called Fred. The length of time it took me to figure out her name was Of Fred is embarrassing). In places, the tension is palpable. You don’t get second chances in this book. One slight infringement of the rules and you get taken out. It’s like the Mafia.
The writing is expertly precise, the premise is original and the narrator is genuinely likable.
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
Quote: “The three bodies hang there, even with the white sacks over their heads looking curiously stretched, like chickens strung up by the necks in a meatshop window; like birds with their wings clipped, like flightless birds, wrecked angels.”
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