An essay by an A-level English Literature private tutor + A* student.
An essay on power in the openings of The Handmaid's Tale and Frankenstein
Edexcel English Literature A-level
How does Atwood present power in the opening to the handmaids tale ?
In her Dystopian novel published in 1985 Atwood presents power through language, her
lexical choices often lead a reader to contemplate the meanings of words, Atwood
presents language to have the power to manipulate and oppress the citizens, in particular,
women of Gilead. At the time of writing Reagan was running for president in America, he
was known for his slogan ‘make America great again’ and propaganda protesting for
much of women's bodily autonomy to be stripped in this case his speeches, language
and knowledge he portrayed himself to have- despite not achieving presidency- gave him
immense amounts of power. Having been in uenced by this Atwood tries to show modern
readers the dangers of language when abused - ‘war is what happens when language
fails’
The Handmaids Tale is a collection of diaries written by an individual who is restricted by
the regime of Gilead. The powerful regime can ignore the past and can remove any
physical reminder of it, this idea is initially shown in the removal of O red’s past name; in
the opening of the handmaids tale we discover that the regime has erased the handmaids
previous names and have replaced them with ‘O glen/…O red’ meaning ‘property of../
Glen/ Fred’ the handmaids identity as individuals have been erased and they have been
forbidden to use their own names. In this instance language has been manipulated in
order to restrict and remove the identity of the handmaids. The neologism of O red’s
name can also be interpreted as a clever play on words- her name sounds like ‘o ered’
the phonology of her name can be a biblical reference an o ering or a sacri ce, O red is
an o ering to the regime this could be seen as her sacri cing her life to God, her only
purpose being to act as a surrogate and provide children ‘Give me children, or else I die’,
this is both illustrative of the power she has as a fertile women whilst simultaneously
reminding us of her lack of power over her own freedom and path in life. However, looking
through a a patriarchal lens, she could be seen as an o ering to the commanders at the
top of the regime providing children so that their reign can continue; her name is a symbol
of the power that the commanders have over her. Moreover the housekeepers have also
been given the name of ‘Martha’ in the bible ‘Martha’ ran the household but whilst doing
this could not listen to Jesus’s teachings, she is as a result looked down on in the bible
from this we can infer that the lexical choice is meant to further present to a reader that
the new language oppresses women moreover the biblical reference informs a reader that
the o cial language seeks to reject and repress the old language and replace it with
biblical discourse. Atwood’s manipulation of language illustrates the power that the
regime have in order to abuse religious ideals and use them as their fundamental ideals
so that societal norms can be established.
It is widely believed that knowledge is power; this is acknowledged by Atwood and we
see the regime attempt to force the people of Gilead to accept, believe and live by their
ideals. Much like in George Orwell’s ‘1984’ where Big Brother heavily relies on language
and the spies to re-wire peoples belief systems ‘war is peace, freedom is slavery and
ignorance is strength’- in fear of talking to a spy or someone who is a true believer
Winston must keep to the regime; this controls his mind as well as his actions similarly in
the Handmaids Tale in ‘shopping’ whilst walking with O glen admits ‘she is my spy as I
am hers’ from this a reader can infer that O red must constantly omit the truth in fear that
she could be exposed from deviating from the regime. Her obedience in the opening is
shown through her conversation with her partner ‘Blessed be the fruit/..May the Lord
open’ as a means to gain the power of language, the authority manipulates the language
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