maiaaaa's Reviews > The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale tells the story of a dystopian society where the United States government has been overthrown. Although published in 1985, many of the topics discussed throughout the novel are still seen today.
The main themes of this novel is the loss of reproductive rights and loss of female agency and individuality. As such, our protagonist, Offred, who once had another name, is reduced to that of a Handmaid, a woman whose only task is to bear children for the Commanders, the ruling men in this society. All Handmaids are dressed in red to differentiate them from the other women, and to group them into the same category. They are given new names to strip them of whatever individuality they might've had.
"My name isn't Offred, I have another name, which nobody uses now because it's forbidden."

Overall, this book definitely scared me in a way I didn't expect it to. When things written in a dystopian book start to sound a lot like the real world, what else can you expect? I thinks it's something we should all read at times like this, not to scare us but as a warning. The way Offred narrates what is happening deeply connected with me, raw details are not censored and I think that makes the story much more believable. It is scary to think that some people read this book and see nothing but a woman telling the tasks she does throughout the day, rather than the way she's been delimited to fit a role in the society she lives in.

"I hunger to commit the act of touch."

"These women could be undone; or not. They seemed to be able to choose."

"We are containers, it's only the inside of our bodies that are important."

“The Commander’s Wife looks down at the baby as if it’s a bouquet of flowers: something she’s won, a tribute.”

“We are two-legged wombs, that’s all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices.”

"Death makes me hungry."