Holly VanRenselaar

Ms. Gardner

English 10H, Period 4

21 November 2017

Harrowed Handmaids, Biblical Betrayal

Callaway, Alanna A. “Women Disunited: Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale as a

Critique of Feminism.” ​Scholarworks​, San Jose State University, 2008, Master’s Theses,

scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4501&context=etd_theses.

Margaret Atwood’s chilling novel ​The Handmaid’s Tale ​portrays a republic, the Gilead,

with a harsh patriarchal power system. With basic human rights taken away from

women, men control nearly every aspect of life. However, the male-dominated society

isn’t just fueled by the men themselves, but also the women who feed into the degrading

of other women. Alanna Callaway’s thesis reveals how using the female-on-female

hostility and hatred within the Gilead divides women and keeps them from uniting and

rebelling.

Callaway explains how envy is a large cause of the female hatred that churns within the

Gilead. A Handmaid jealous of another Handmaid, usually because of a successful

pregnancy or birth, will harbor resentment. A rivalry is created, causing alienation that is

furthered by limited interaction. The divide is strengthened by the different jobs or roles

that women hold in the Gilead. Wives, who hold the highest position, look down on the

Marthas, Handmaids, and Econowives, while Marthas often dislike Handmaids, and

Econowives despise them all. This feeds into the creation of tension in most households
 and in the restricted social lives of women. All women become estranged from each

other, and when closeness, communication, and compassion are taken away, and life

becomes a competition, they can only assume and take things at face value, creating

the hatred and hostility that the patriarch wanted all along.

Finn, Ed. “Margaret Atwood on Why The Handmaid’s Tale Didn’t Predict the Future.” ​Slate

Magazine​, 12 Sept. 2017,

www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/09/margaret_atwood_on_the_han

dmaid_s_tale_prophecy_and_the_role_of_sci_fi.ht

Many 21st century readers of ​The Handmaid’s Tale ​compare the current conditions in

America to the dystopia of the Gilead. With politics askew, legislators harsh, and news

unreliable, it’s easy to think that Margaret Atwood practically prophecised a bleak

American future, but, according to Atwood herself, this is not the truth. In Ed Finn’s

interview with Margaret Atwood, Atwood explains why her bestselling novel did not

predict the future.

When Finn asks what Atwood’s reaction to people’s prediction comments, she answers,

“​T​he answer is no, I did not predict the future because you can’t really predict the future.

There isn’t any ‘the future.’” She then goes on to state that there are many possible

futures, so the future can be speculated, but not predicted. The Handmaid’s Tale is

based on the happenings in the 1980s, and what might become of America if these

trends were to continue.

Gulick, Angela Michelle. “The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: Examining Its Utopian,

Dystopian, Feminist, and Postmodernist Traditions.” ​Iowa State University Digital

Repository​, Iowa State University, 1991,

lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1063&context=rtd.

The Handmaid's Tale​’s dystopian society is heavily influenced by Biblical times and

traditions. Many laws and regulations are based on Biblical customs, particularly derived

from the Old Testament, but not to honor or obey them. Angela Gulick explains how the

religious context is instead used to mask the true intentions of the lawmakers, which is to

obtain complete control over women.

Everything within the Gilead echoes Biblical tales. The blue of the Wives’ dresses

symbolizes the Virgin Mary, while the red Handmaid dresses symbolize Mary

Magdalene. The names of stores, such as Loaves and Fishes, Daily Bread, and All

Flesh, connect to Biblical stories. Gulick stresses that the largest Biblical parallel and

influence is the role of the Handmaids, whose sole purpose is to bear children for their

Commanders. In the story of Jacob and Rachel, located in the book of Genesis, Rachel

is unable to bear children, and tells Jacob, “Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and

she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.” The use of

Handmaids is ultimately justified by this religious tale, giving the government a way to

rationalize the treatment of women as property.

White, Gary. “Planned Parenthood Official Talks about Polk Legislators' Bills Targeting

Women's Reproductive Rights.” ​The Ledger​, The Ledger, 16 Nov. 2017,

www.theledger.com/news/20171115/planned-parenthood-official-talks-about-polk-legisla

tors-bills-targeting-womens-reproductive-rights.

While the horrific happenings in Margaret Atwood’s Gilead seem foreign and impossible

in today’s America, women’s rights protests and reproductive-targeting bills are

becoming more and more relevant. Women’s rights involving reproductive rights,

especially regarding abortion, have been threatened by lawmakers who want to make

abortion access harder or even illegal under certain circumstances. Gary White details a

recent silent protest related to reproductive rights.

In Florida, the League of Women Voters stood in silent demonstration, holding signs that

bore slogans such as “Our bodies, our business, our rights” and wearing red cloaks and

white bonnets reminiscent of the ones worn by the Handmaids in ​The Handmaid’s Tale​.

This demonstration was held on November 15th, 2017, hours after a Planned

Parenthood address had been made at the United Methodist Temple. There, the

unfairness and religious bias of anti-abortion bills made by state legislators were

discussed. The chapter president of the League of Women Voters, Trudy Rankin, stated,

“​I’m shocked the government wants to support clinics that support a religious value

wherein so many areas of our life as a democracy religion is not brought into it.”