Book Review: The Handmaid’s Tale

“Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum” 

George Orwell and Audelous Huxley are the masters of dystopian futures and science fiction, but no writer has ever shaken a society to the core as much as Margaret Atwood. Her devastating look at female subjugation at the hands of religious male zealots had millions of people shuddering in horror at what society had fallen to. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale had a magnificent revival after the book was turned into a critically acclaimed television show that was released in 2017. To many viewers it was no co-incidence that the show was released a mere year after the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States. I’m not a particularly big fan of co-incidences, but you have to admit, that’s a big one. And, as the Trump administration rolled on and certain women’s rights were then restricted, the release of ‘The Handmaids Tale’ was rather eerie.

But we’re not here to talk about the television show, we’re here to talk about the book. And what a book it is. Set in a dystopian future where the united states has been overthrown and a new totalitarian Christian order has replaced it instead called ‘Gilead’. You meet the main protagonist of June, now a Handmaid re-named Offred. Her identity has been stripped because she was married to a divorced man, making her an adulteress. Because she was fertile, having given birth to a daughter called Hannah, June is forced to become a Handmaid. ‘Offred’ is the name given to her because it signifies that she belongs to Commander Fred Waterford. Every so often June has to undergo the ‘ceremony’ which is ritualised rape in order to conceive a child for the commander’s barren wives. Only the wives are barren, never the men. Handmaids are not allowed to read, or even show that they can read, they wear long red dresses with white veils. Colour is of huge significance, the ‘Wives’ wear various shades of teal, the ‘Martha’s’ wear green and the ‘econowives’ wear simple stripped black and white garments. 

One day June finds small scratch marks in her closet, with the words ‘Nolite te bastardes carborumdorum’ meaning ‘Don’t let the bastards grind you down’. She is rife with curiosity; she often wonders about the last girl who was ‘Offred’ before her. The girl had hung herself and June has no idea why. It later turns out that Fred Waterford, isn’t like the other commanders, he invites her round to his room every once in a while, for a game of scrabble and even lets her read. He also offers to get her anything she might need, including face cream. At one point he sneaks her out of the house to a hotel where there are girls, alcohol, makeup and June’s old friend Moira. Moira who fought to escape from her indoctrination, was eventually captured, she was given the option of either being worked to death in the colonies or being forced to become a sex worker. Moira doesn’t seem to mind; in fact, she goes on to explain to June that it really isn’t so bad working in the hotel and she doesn’t mind it at all. In fact, it’s better than what she expected it to be. It was rather Machiavellian of Fred to bring June to the brothel because in meeting Moira, June learns exactly what happens to you when you resist the laws in Gilead. Moira, the once feisty Moira has had her will broken, she is not who she once was. June never sees her again after that. It becomes clear that Fred brought the previous Handmaid on similar excursions.

But let’s talk about the Wives, Serena Joy despises having a Handmaid and the ceremonies they have to go through, to her they are enduring humiliations, a slap in the face. She helped to build this society and this society rejected her because she was a woman. The irony isn’t lost on the reader. Serena Joy even lets June have a secret affair with the new chauffer Nick but is distraught when she finds evidence of Junes evening with Fred. And June contemplates suicide, just like the last Handmaid before her. why? Because the consequences of her ‘philandering’ with Fred could be horrendous, but only for her. 

Atwood had drawn on historical puritan influences in the making of this novel, in fact the fanaticism of the Handmaids during the labour is reminiscent of the hysteria around the Salem witch trials (read ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller and you’ll see what I mean) The hysterical groaning and panting the Handmaids make during the birthing ritual reflect the mass hysteria that women went through during the witch trials; how it spreads, hysteria is infectious, it reinforces the fanatical ideology of Gilead. Just like the women accusing one another of being witches, it cemented the puritan ideals of good women. Well behaved women. Silent. Obedient. Do-as-you’re-told, women. Never in a position of power, women. Indeed, Atwood dedicated this book to one of her ancestors Mary Webster, who was accused of being a witch in Puritan New England. So, New England was her perfect crucible for ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’.

At the end of the book, the reader is thrown into doubt. It is clear that Gilead has fallen and that the story June tells has been recorded on tapes. We don’t know if she escaped the regime, but what we are given is that the names she uses throughout like ‘Fred’ and ‘Serena Joy’ don’t seem to exist. As well as some other inconsistencies, which throw doubt as to whether any of it is real. It is also poignant that the two people holding a seminar of the Handmaids tale, are both men. Atwood deliberately throws the female voice into doubt, as the voice is being filtered through two men. It is then left up to the reader to decide whether we believe the devastating tale we’ve just read or whether to cast t aside. The small issue is, why would all the horrendous things that take place in the novel be ‘fiction’ why would someone make that up?