A Handmaids Tale

[julielenore]

I have read this Margaret Atwood book many times. I find it to be terrifying yet somehow prophetic and so ahead of its time.
It seems as though things could go this way, with the US govt being like it is, and with our dependance on electronic commerce. Just wondering what others got out of the book.

[abac]

I absolutely loved this book. (I'm in the middle of another Margaret Atwood right now.) I definitely think the idea is terrifying, but never considered it a realistic possibility, nor ahead of it's time. Quite the opposite. There was a story from the bible that was very similar, (the basis for the story, I assume,) where Sarah couldn't conceive, so God instructed Abraham to sleep with Sarah's maidservant, Hagar. (I think I got those names right. It's in Genesis anyway.)

How do you see things going this way? And what does our dependance on electronic commerce have to do with it? I thought the idea was that women couldn't conceive, so handmaids were used. Or are you thinking more of surrogate mothers for convenience?

Interesting. I'm curious to see what others will have to say.


I love Margaret Atwood.

[LiamnEmma]

Yes, I've often thought of it as well. Our dependance on electronic commerce? How easy it would be to turn off all cards, accounts and devices known to belong to a person with that little "f" designating gender on the account...yeah, I've thought about it many times since I first read the book. Maybe it's a U.S. thing, what with the Patriot Act and all--I forgot to read your locations before responding--maybe I'm just a cynic who believes many/most males to believe somewhere in their hearts that women *should* be subservient and if they could only find a way...maybe I saw Stepford Wives too many times as a young child...maybe maybe maybe. But I also felt it was ahead of its time when I read it about 10 years ago. I haven't read it since then though, so I know I've forgotten a ton of details. Maybe I'll suggest it to my book group for a re-read.

[Fishygirlsmom]

I haven't read the book, but I've seen the movie a few times. Really freaky.

In the movies the wifes would NOT get pregnant (it was below them) and so the handmaidens were called into action.

I thought it was absoultely horrifying how the babies were literally ripped from the mothers never to be seen again. I'm so glad Sarah won out!

[alegna]

I LOVE that book. One of assorted futuristic books that I can see bits of our lives heading toward...

-Angela

[merrick]

I read it recently too. Very scary. I can definitely see it as a possibility in this country in the future.

[Hollycrand]

Fishygirlsmom,

I thought that the 'blue' women in the movies were sterile, which is why the 'handmaidens' were chosen - they were the only ones left who could have children.

[philomom]

That book and movie were my worst nightmare.

And yes, in that world, sterility is rampant. The handmaid's fill a vital role.

[Fishygirlsmom]

Ok, I totally must have missed that.

I better getthe book, does it explain it in the book?

Oh another book that is great is called "A Strange Tomorrow". I totally see that happening in the distant future.

[robinkate]

I read the Handmaid's Tale several years ago but was reminded of it recently when I read Reading Lolita in Tehran. The women in Iran weren't forced to be handmaids so the parallel isn't exact, but they lost almost all their freedoms. It made me wonder if it could happen here. I hope not.

[zinemama]

Fishygir'smom - Like most movies based on books, the film of HT really deviated from the book. It did not imo convey nearly the sense of dread and the way things deteriorated - not to mention that many incidents werejust plain made up. The book's ending is much more ambivalent and to me, more realistic. I hope you enjoy it!

[zaksma]

You all have totally peaked my interest in this book- I am going to HAVE to go and get it now.

So the women that were sterile- how did they get this way?

[abac]

I'm still not sure how you all see us heading toward this in the future???

[PinkSunfish]

[QUOTE=abac]IAnd what does our dependance on electronic commerce have to do with it? QUOTE]

Because in the book the Gilead were able to take over and close the borders very easily and suddenly because all commerce was electronic. All of a sudden the new authority was able to ensure that people didn't have any independent means. If all the records of your wealth are electronic and society operates on a "cashless" basis then it isn't a great leap to imagine that it could easily be "switched off".

I re-read the book very recently and I remember saying to my DH that we should really make a stash of barterable goods just in case ! You wonder if such a thing could happen by accident as well as by more insidious means.

As I remember it the majority of both men and women were sterile as a result of the war but I can stand to be corrected on that.

[abac]

Originally Posted by PinkSunfish

Because in the book the Gilead were able to take over and close the borders very easily and suddenly because all commerce was electronic. All of a sudden the new authority was able to ensure that people didn't have any independent means. If all the records of your wealth are electronic and society operates on a "cashless" basis then it isn't a great leap to imagine that it could easily be "switched off".

That makes sense. I guess I was thinking only about the actual handmaids roles as surrogate mothers and wasn't seeing a connection between this and electronic commerce. So is that what everyone is referring to when they say they can see this happening to us in the future? I had assumed people were talking about forcing women to be surrogate mothers.

It wasn't long ago that I read this book, but I forget a lot already.

[LiamnEmma]

Anubis, yes, that's what I'm referring to. I think it's a mite scary.

And PinkSunfish, I love Good Omens! I was at Treading in Dogs**t (formerly All Foreigners Especially the French, formerly Things Not Working Properly When You've Given Them A Good Thumping, never actually No Alcohol Lager, briefly Embarrassing Personal Problems, formerly known as Skuzz).

[Aquaduct]

I doubt whether Atwood's book is particularly prophetic of the future. First of all, if you look at the most industrialised societies women are far more equal than in say, the third world, which is usually more patriarchal.

And while sterility or rather sub fertility in "modern" societies is definitely rising, due to environmental pollution (prevalence of heavy metals, xenoestrogens etc.), sub optimal nutrition due to depleted soils and consumption of overly processed foods, I think the evidence is clear this is happening in both men and women. Men's sperm counts are steadily getting lower, and that's a fact.

I think if we look at what is happening with cloning, and IVF fertility treatments we have a greater clue as to the rather horrible future the masters of consumer industrialism have in store. You could say that future has already started to happen.

Atwood's book does sound good though. She's a good writer.

[Mama Rana]

Originally Posted by Fishygirlsmom

Oh another book that is great is called "A Strange Tomorrow". I totally see that happening in the distant future.

Could you tell me more about this book? I couldn't find it listed on Barnes & Nobles.



I read Handmaid's Tale in college (so ancient history :LOL). I remember one of the options for follow-up assignments was to pull examples from current papers and news magazines of things going on in the world similar to Atwood's distopia(sp?). I chose a different assignment cuz I just couldn't see it, but a friend did this one, and I was a little shocked. [though I don't remember any of her examples now--I told you it was ancient history :LOL]

[AsYouWish]

Some really don't see the possibility?

I just recently read the Handmaid's Tale. I found it very interesting that this fundamentalist Christian group -- the Gilead??? -- (whose members already had high rank in society) was able to take control of the government/society by 1. orchestrating an attack on the White House and Congress and blaming Islamic extremists, 2. stepping in and declaring martial law for everyone's "safety", 3. closing off financial means and career options for women, and 4. engaging in bloody religious wars for control of the country. This was all the backstory that led a once-independent woman, wife, and mother with a career at a university to be a sexual and reproductive surrogate without rights or even peripheral vision.

Considering the recent infamous comments from a very much-followed televangelist regarding assisinating another country's president, does such a scenario as presented in The Handmaid's Tale really seem outlandish? I read in U.S. News & World Report recently about the Department of Homeland Security's listing of homegrown terrorist organizations that they are watching. Despite non-government watchdog groups that list approx. 175 organizations, almost ALL of whom are armed right-wing religious-type groups, the DHS only highlighted two left wing organizations (environmental/animal rights groups) as potential threats. Our very right-leaning leadership is in complete denial about our internal terrorist activity. And the Handmaid's Tale is just a story about some internal terrorists and the resultant misery for women at their mercy. It doesn't seem like such a stretch to me. We can only hope it isn't prophetic!

[mahdokht]

Originally Posted by robinkate

I read the Handmaid's Tale several years ago but was reminded of it recently when I read Reading Lolita in Tehran. The women in Iran weren't forced to be handmaids so the parallel isn't exact, but they lost almost all their freedoms. It made me wonder if it could happen here. I hope not.

Actually the women in Iran did not lose all their freedoms. Iranian women are in high political offices, run schools, drive, etc. They are far from equality (as are American women), but nowhere near the position of women in that book.

What struck me most about A Handmaid's Tale, and what I could see happening in this country are the other things that occured. Non whites were forcibly deported if I remember correctly or forced out into the camps along with feminists, homosexuals etc.