Totalitarian Society In The Handmaids Tale By Margaret...

In the book The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood, the story’s setting takes place in a totalitarian city, in which the government forces their will upon on the citizens and chooses what they will do in the future, especially for women. The decreasing birth rates causes the formation of this civilization, but the reader soon learn that the way the government tries to fix this problem is wrong, as it leads to more problems such as trust issues, and the inability to see others as equal. The characters in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale all have unique symbolism that represent a real-world problem of having a totalitarian society and how people would act towards it, that can be seen in their personalities, which allows for the reader†¦show more content†¦Throughout the story, Moira stands for a symbol of hope to our narrator. She expresses this feeling when she says, â€Å"Just to catch sight of a face like that is encouragement. If I could just see Moira, just see her, know she still exists.†(73.) It is clear that one of the motivations for surviving and getting through this way of life is her friend. But as the story goes on we find out that the totalitarianism eventually breaks her down in the end. Offred finds out she is still in the society working a place called Jezebel’s (a strip club), and once she sees that not even Moira who has a â€Å"strong and perseverant† personality couldn’t make it out, she herself begins to lose hope. Moira represents that after a while, a society built like this one, structured after a totalitarian government can break down even the strongest of spirits. She shows the difficulty of escaping this sexual totalitarian government, and how once a part of this society it is hard to escape; But Offred tries to fight this way of thinking, but because everyone is so â€Å"on guard† due to this society structure it eventually leads to trust issues with everyone. The way the society is set up in the story, it has lead to nobody knowing really who they can trust. This especially applies to Offred, since her mind set is †I’ve crossed no boundaries, I’ve given no trust, all is safe.†(160) With thisShow MoreRelatedFeminism In The Handmaids Tale1709 Words   |  7 PagesRepublic of Gilead, a dystopian world with a patriarchal society, is displayed in Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale. More specifically, the novel takes place in what used to be considered the United States but is now being called the Republic of Gilead where freedoms and rights have been excluded, especially for women. The society nurtures a â€Å"theocratic, patriarchal, nightmare world created by men, with the complicity of women† (â€Å"Margaret (Eleanor) Atwood†). 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