"The Handmaid's Tale": Complicity or Helplessness?
I think its important to preface this by saying that I'm not a female, so while I may try to sound sympathetic in this review the reality is I am reading this novel from a privileged position. I have no personal experience involving hardships faced by the protagonist or women worldwide and even to this day I still struggle and attempt to be conscious of my own intersectionality compared to others.
With that said, I really did enjoy this book. If I had to describe this book, it would be a slow burn, but also like a slice of life story. While you won't get any grandiose battle for freedom, nor any epic adventure of escape, this novel is still a fantastic read. Written by acclaimed author Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale centers around a women, who some call June, who has been unwittingly forced into servitude under the new power known as Gilead.
Throughout this tale, readers follow the life of June as she simply attempts to live her best life under this regime that has befallen at least parts of America. Interlaced these everyday goings of her are flashbacks that provide a nice breadcrumb trail for readers to follow, revealing more about her past life, the events leading up the new regime, and the process she underwent to become a handmaids.
While I wouldn't necessarily call this the most captivating book I read, it was riveting enough that I felt compelled to finish it once I picked it up. I do have to admit as someone who is personally a fan of fantasy and adventure novels I did feel a little left out to dry during the novel as nothing dramatic ever happened. Although in that sense I suppose the book did achieve its intended atmosphere.
As referenced in the title, the book has a general theme of both complicity and helplessness, with June constantly teetering between being a helpless victim who has simply given into the whims of society, while also trying to find some a path of freedom, whether it be to Luke, her daughter, her mother, Moira, or to Canada. Personally, I thought this aspect of the novel was well done, especially near the climax where June is taken by her commander to what is basically a brothel.
Specifically, the entire novel June has basically been creating these multiple scenarios of everyone close to her, pretending that they're both dead, alive or somewhere in-between. This lack of closure is what provides her hope that there is a better world out there for her, that Moira escaped, her daughter isn't subject to the whims of this brutal new society, that her mother and Luke died painlessly. However, once June meets Moira in the brothel she realizes that perhaps there is no hope for her and she too should simply give in to her more carnal desires.
Afterall, throughout the entire novel Moira almost serves as a foil to June, someone who is willing to act and be brash, compared to the more complacent June who simply follows what others tell her. After witnessing her friend basically lose all hope, finding out her daughter has been given away to new parents, and discovering her mother has been condemned to toxic wastelands, Moira stops trying.
It is at this point, that readers begin to wonder, is she complicit in the system that treats women as nothing more than objects, or is she helpless, simply trying to make the most out of her situation. It is at this point she stops communicating with underground groups and simply succumbs to the lust, proving that even the protagonist is not free from her most inner desires.
Final Score: 80/100
In conclusion, I would say that this book is a fantastic read and an excellent commentary on the religious right and their perspective on women. As a man it did make me think about the way I view women currently, as while I don't objectify women, I would say I used to be sexist to some extent as a child. While this book didn't open my eyes to anything new, it reminded me that knowing about the fears of women and truly understanding them are two completely different things.
With that said, I really did enjoy this book. If I had to describe this book, it would be a slow burn, but also like a slice of life story. While you won't get any grandiose battle for freedom, nor any epic adventure of escape, this novel is still a fantastic read. Written by acclaimed author Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale centers around a women, who some call June, who has been unwittingly forced into servitude under the new power known as Gilead.
Throughout this tale, readers follow the life of June as she simply attempts to live her best life under this regime that has befallen at least parts of America. Interlaced these everyday goings of her are flashbacks that provide a nice breadcrumb trail for readers to follow, revealing more about her past life, the events leading up the new regime, and the process she underwent to become a handmaids.
While I wouldn't necessarily call this the most captivating book I read, it was riveting enough that I felt compelled to finish it once I picked it up. I do have to admit as someone who is personally a fan of fantasy and adventure novels I did feel a little left out to dry during the novel as nothing dramatic ever happened. Although in that sense I suppose the book did achieve its intended atmosphere.
As referenced in the title, the book has a general theme of both complicity and helplessness, with June constantly teetering between being a helpless victim who has simply given into the whims of society, while also trying to find some a path of freedom, whether it be to Luke, her daughter, her mother, Moira, or to Canada. Personally, I thought this aspect of the novel was well done, especially near the climax where June is taken by her commander to what is basically a brothel.
Specifically, the entire novel June has basically been creating these multiple scenarios of everyone close to her, pretending that they're both dead, alive or somewhere in-between. This lack of closure is what provides her hope that there is a better world out there for her, that Moira escaped, her daughter isn't subject to the whims of this brutal new society, that her mother and Luke died painlessly. However, once June meets Moira in the brothel she realizes that perhaps there is no hope for her and she too should simply give in to her more carnal desires.
Afterall, throughout the entire novel Moira almost serves as a foil to June, someone who is willing to act and be brash, compared to the more complacent June who simply follows what others tell her. After witnessing her friend basically lose all hope, finding out her daughter has been given away to new parents, and discovering her mother has been condemned to toxic wastelands, Moira stops trying.
It is at this point, that readers begin to wonder, is she complicit in the system that treats women as nothing more than objects, or is she helpless, simply trying to make the most out of her situation. It is at this point she stops communicating with underground groups and simply succumbs to the lust, proving that even the protagonist is not free from her most inner desires.
Final Score: 80/100
In conclusion, I would say that this book is a fantastic read and an excellent commentary on the religious right and their perspective on women. As a man it did make me think about the way I view women currently, as while I don't objectify women, I would say I used to be sexist to some extent as a child. While this book didn't open my eyes to anything new, it reminded me that knowing about the fears of women and truly understanding them are two completely different things.
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