The Handmaid's Tale
This post contains my review of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. (SPOILERS)
Favorite Quote
“I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former name, remind myself of what I once could do, how others saw me.”
Author: Margaret Atwood
Published: 1985
Genre: Literary Fiction
Length: 311
First Impressions
I am very fond of Margaret Atwood’s poetry. In fact, one of my favorite poems is February. And I am always delighted to see it as Poem of the Day from The Poetry Foundation on the first day of February each year. So, I was very excited to read her prose for the first time and was not disappointed.
The Writing Style
Key Themes
- Feminism
- Politics
- Gender roles
What Worked Well
Strength 1
Margaret Atwood’s prose is {something here}. To create Offred’s voice in such a way she is not bitter, or angry. But also not devoid of hope or filled with resignation. A critical balance, and one that surprised me. Offred, and all the other Handmaids’ situation warrants anger, and spite,. It is what one would more or less expect if you had had your life ripped away from you
Strength 2
What Could Have Been Better
Point 1
As far as ambiguous endings go, this was very well done. The imagery in the final scence as she is lifted (christ-like, angel-like? My knowledge of religious symbolism is lacking) into the van – left me feeling rather optimistic. I am not sure why, this could be because I had seen the first season of the show way back, and was aware Offred’s story continued.
Also, the fact it was not quite overnight. I think the show expands quite a bit on the lore of the fall of the U.S. and the rise of Gilead.
Memorable Passages
“Whether this is my end or a new beginning I have no way of knowing: I have given myself over into the hands of strangers, because it can’t be helped. And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light.“
“That is what you have to do before you kill, I thought. You have to create an it, where none was before. You do that first, in your head, and then you make it real. So that’s how they do it, I thought. I seemed never to have known that before.”
Final Thoughts
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
Read from [2024-09-19] to [2025-01-16]
Related Reading:
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro