A handmaidens tale

A chair, a table, a lamp. Above, on the  white ceiling, a relief ornament in the shape of a wreath, and in the centre of it a blank space, plastered over, like the place in a face where the eye has been taken out. There must have been a chandelier, once. They’ve removed anything you could tie a rope to..

Offred lives in The Republic of Gilead. To some, it is a utopian vision of the future, a place of safety, a place where everyone has a purpose, a function. But The Republic of Gilead offers Offred only one function: to breed.

If she deviates, she will, like dissenters, be hanged at the wall or sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. But even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire - neither Offred's nor that of the two men on which her future hangs.

Especially in today’s world,I feel that the themes of the handmaidens tale (exploring everything from desire to propaganda)is incredibly important.I love how the themes in this book where both very obvious in the way that ideas where taken into extremes but also incredibly nuanced in how those themes where chosen to be explored.

I also incredibly enjoyed both the character of Offred as well as her unique character voice and how it delicates throughout the story.I found that despite her being an unreliable narrator and the plot weaving in out of the present time and past memories it was really interesting to watch her experience Gilead.Her character managed to be both unique but also reflected and represented every woman .

And to top it all of ,Atwood’s writing is of course impeccable.Everything from how she dives into the story pulling you in with sensory lists to way that she highlights and warns us about the expansion of Gilead is engaging despite the morbid nature of the story.Especially in a world where censorship is becoming more common ,I cannot recommend this book both to examine yourself and society.

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