An essay written as extra work, graded A+, on the theme of Power in The Handmaid's Tale.
Note: the essay was a practice essay submitted to a teacher prior to studying quotes and hence, it focuses predominantly on the theme and not the quotes.
Power
In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, the theme of power is a pervasive and central
aspect of the story. The novel is set in the near future, in a totalitarian theocracy called Gilead
where women have been stripped of their rights and reduced to the status of property.
The ruling governance exerts control over every aspect of the lives of its citizens, and the
wenches, the novel's protagonist, are particularly affected by this power dynamic. The wenches
are forced to bear children for the ruling nobility, who are unfit to conceive on their own. They
are stripped of their names, their families, and their autonomy, and are treated as little farther
than breeding machines.The wenches have no power over their own bodies or their own lives,
and are forced to submit to the will of the ruling governance.
The government's power is also apparent in the way it controls the wenches' studies and
passions. They are constantly covered and instructed with the governance's testament, and any
divagation from this is met with severe discipline. The wenches are tutored to believe that their
domination is for their own good, and that their part is to serve the lower good of the society.
The power of the governance is also corroborated through the use of violence and fear. The
wenches are vanquished to brutal corrections for any contraventions, and the governance uses
public executions as a means of maintaining control over the population. The wenches are also
constantly alive from the trouble of the" wall" where people are executed in public.
The novel also explores the theme of resistance and the power of the individual to repel the
government's control. The protagonist, Offred, struggles with the oppression she gets and the
ways in which it affects her internal and emotional state. Despite the government's efforts to
control her, Offred is suitable to hold on to her sense of tone and her humanity. She's suitable to
repel the government's control through her inner studies and remembrances, and through her
connections with other characters who give her a sense of expedient and community.
In conclusion, The Handmaid's Tale is an important exploration of the theme of power. The
novel shows how a totalitarian governance can ply control over its citizens and strip them of
their rights and autonomy. It also explores the ways in which individualities can repel this control
and hold on to their sense of tone and humanity. The novel serves as an exemplary tale of the
troubles of giving too important power to any one group or government, and the significance of
guarding individual rights and freedom.
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