The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

I first read The Handmaid's Tale when I was in high school, and I remember being blown away by it. It was probably the darkest, most grownup book I had read up until that point and I realized that I was reading something special and important. When the sequel came out to it last year, I knew I wanted to read it, but I also knew that I would have to reread Handmaid's Tale again first - too much time had passed since my first time and I had a sneaking suspicion that my teenage brain didn't fully absorb everything Atwood was trying to say anyway. My Then Versus Now Challenge gave me the perfect reason to pick it up again.

The novel is set in a dytopian future where the birthrate has plummeted. Environmental pollution has left many completely sterile and causes many miscarriages and birth defects among those that are able to conceive. In the stress and turmoil of this situation, America was overthrown in a coup and reformed as the nation of Gilead. The new nation is intensely religious and has stripped women of all their rights. They are no longer able to have a job, or a bank account, and are not allowed to read. They are under the authority of their husbands and the punishment for disobedience is severe. 

The story follows Offred, a woman living as a handmaid in this world. She was once apprehended trying to escape from Gilead into Canada, and as punishment, she must now serve the Commander and his wife. Handmaids serve as surrogates for prominent families that are unable to conceive. Each month, the Commander attempts to impregnate Offred. If she conceives and delivers a healthy baby, that baby will belong to the Commander and his wife. Offred will then be assigned to another family and start the process all over again. She has no freedom and must follow all of the strict rules associated with her position. It's a difficult and lonely life.

After Offred has been in the household for a little while, both the Commander and his wife begin making dangerous requests of her. The Commander starts meeting alone with her in his study at night, which is strictly forbidden by law. His wife, Serena, fearing the Commander is sterile, encourages her to find another man to impregnate her, which is also illegal. Offred must try to balance their requests and keep herself out of trouble, which becomes increasingly difficult as the story progresses and the Commander and Serena become more forward with their demands. She is torn between everyone's competing desires, including her own, and must decide which path to take.

This novel is incredibly chilling, and I think it has only gotten more effective with age. It's strange to think this, but I feel like the warnings Atwood gives in The Handmaid's Tale hit harder now. One only has to read the news to see the beginnings of a decline - the use of armed force against peaceful protesters , a virus ravaging the world, and a president trying to overturn election results are just the start of the outrages happening these days. It doesn't seem impossible now for something very bad to happen within America, so reading this is extra disturbing in 2020. 

I appreciated Atwood's writing style, which was blunt and fairly simple. Offred's voice effectively conveys her despair and yearning, and she releases details at a good pace. Readers don't learn about Gilead all at once, you learn about it in bits and pieces from Offred's reflections, and each reveal is more horrifying than the last. The world-building is superb and the dark tone is just right for such a grim place. It feels weird to say that I enjoyed a book like this, because the subject matter is so dark, but I did really like it. I think this is a tremendous and important piece of literature.

I'm glad to have reread The Handmaid's Tale, and I think that I definitely got more out of it the second time around. Reading it as an adult brought its subtleties into sharper focus and made its message about the dangers of sexism clear. The horrors of Gilead and Offred's story seem extreme and impossible, but of course, a descent into this kind of world starts small, and sneaks up on you over time. Every law that is passed restricting a woman's rights to her own body and own medical decisions is one more step on a path that could lead to a version of this world. This story shows us the importance of preserving women's freedoms and reinforces the need to protect those freedoms-- to not let small things pile up into something unfathomable under the guise of religion. This is still a favorite novel for me and I'm excited to see how I feel about its sequel, The Testaments, next.

Challenge Tally

Then vs. Now: 26/27

Total Books Read in 2020: 82