The Handmaid’s Tale: What Might Happened In The Future?
Margaret Atwood published The Handmaid’s Tale, in 1985. Hulu adapted it into a remarkable TV series. It’s a dystopian story that might happened to our world, if we don’t prevent it. Starting from the exploitation of women who belongs only in kitchens and beds, to an authoritarian system of government based on a cruel authoritarian using a religion. It’s as depressed as Studio Ghibli‘s Grave of The Fireflies, I think.
In The Handmaid’s Tale, a country forcibly replaced its system from democracy to an authoritarian regime ruled only by men. The new country, called Gilead, changed its whole political system into a caste society, which legalized punishment, like the Jewish camps in World War II or even ISIS.
The Handmaid’s Tale: Woman Exploitation & Low Fertility
This happened as a result of the environmental effects that caused the whole world to experience a child crisis. Similar to Children of Men, by Alfonso Cuaron, female fertility drops significantly. Women, are like property in The Handmaid’s Tale. More like slaves. What I love the most is the idea of possibilty it might happened to us, if we don’t prevent it.
The castes are The Commander, the male rulers who run the world. There are also Wife – The Commander’s wife, Martha — the maidservant, The Eye – the male military guards. Because the world’s fertility has fallen so rapidly, there are very few women who can get pregnant. They called The Handmaids. In Gilead, they arrested them, trained them, by another caste of women called Aunt. More like a pimp. The Aunt will assign the handmaids after they graduated from the bootcamp. They are now belongs to be placed in the houses of the Commanders and The Wives. The Commanders will fuck them in front of their The Wives, which they call as the “Ceremony”. To make them pregnant.
Resistance & #MeToo Movement in The Handmaid’s Tale
After living in Gilead for a while, the main character June Osbourne AKA Offred began to have a spirit of resistance. With Moira, she tried to escape to Boston, hoping to get out of Gilead. However, June failed and get caught.
The handmaids forcing to blame their fellow due to unforgivable mistakes.However, June had won Watherford’s heart. He asked her out to Jezebel. In this place, June met Moira. Moira turns out to be a prostitute in Jezebel. There are two other places besides The Handmaids live. Jezebel, a prostitution site, and The Colony, the chemical mine from which dissidents die.
Kidnapping Children from Their Mothers
What is more interesting, is when the government also kidnapped the children as they are belongs only to The Commanders & The Wives.
Janine or Ofwarren, who gave birth to a baby named Angela who was previously saved by Offred because he was almost suicidal by his own mother. It’s not allowed for women to hold a pen and a paper. Hence, the Commander’s wife was a novelist.
June finally learns that there is an underground revolt going on quietly in Gilead. She finally got the task to get a package from Jezebel. June seduces Commander Watherford to go back to Jezebel, asking Moira to take it, but Moira refuses.
At the end of the first season, after finding herself pregnant, Serena takes June to a house where her daughter Hannah now lives. Serena threatens her to take care of “her baby” if she wants Hannah to survive.
June went back to Commander Weatherford and Serena’s house, where she found the package she wanted which Moira managed to send somehow to Commander Watherford’s house. It turned out that the contents were the contents of the heads of The Handmaids, in the form of notes from mothers on papers about their previous life, their present life and their hopes for the destruction of Gilead.
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