Essay Database

Power issues in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood The Handmaid’s Tale, a satiric dystopia by Margaret Atwood, contains a complex power structure. The novel details the methods through which power is used and abused in the different classes of people in Gileadean society. It describes how the Commanders, the men ‘in charge,’ secure their power through manipulation of the social structure, which includes gender and status, segregation of society and how God …

…power by manipulating people with rewards and punishments and changing their values. They use God to justify their actions. It shows how oppressed groups of people can also gain power in their own ways. The power issues are complex in this novel but they accurately portray how people are likely to act in such a situation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography** All quotes taken from the book (printed recently) - pages numbers may not correspond to your copy.