Margaret Atwood

Coral Ann Howells

Key Features: Study methods Introduction to the text Summaries with critical notes Themes and techniques Textual analysis of key passages Author biography Historical and literary background Modern and historical critical approaches Chronology Glossary of literary terms

Notes

The Handmaid's Tale

Iris van der zanden

But who can remember pain, once it's over? All that remains of it is a shadow, not in the mind even, in the flesh. Pain marks you, but too deep to see. Out of sight, out of mind.

Stas

We hold our breaths while Aunt Elizabeth inspects the baby: girl, poor thing

Roman

Der Report der Magd

Lea Hi

Die Zeitungsgeschichten waren für uns wie schlechte Träume, wie Albträume, die andere träumten. Schrecklich, sagten wir, und sie waren es, aber sie waren schrecklich, ohne glaubhaft zu sein. Sie waren zu melodramatisch, sie hatten eine Dimension, die nicht die Dimension unseres Lebens war. Wir waren die Leute, über die nichts in der Zeitung stand. Wir lebten auf den leeren weißen Stellen, an den Rändern. Das gab uns mehr Freiheit. Wir lebten in den Lücken zwischen den Geschichten.

In this multi-award-winning, bestselling novel, Margaret Atwood has created a stunning Orwellian vision of the near future. This is the story of Offred, one of the unfortunate "Handmaids" under the new social order who have only one purpose: to breed. In Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships, Offred's persistent memories of life in the "time before" and her will to survive are acts of rebellion. Provocative, startling, prophetic, and with Margaret Atwood's devastating irony, wit, and acute perceptive powers in full force, "The Handmaid's Tale" is at once a mordant satire and a dire warning. "From the Hardcover edition."

Bethany Jenkins

“Better never means better for everyone, he says. It always means worse, for some.”

“Every night when I go to bed I think, In the morning I will wake up in my own house and things will be back the way they were.

It hasn’t happened this morning, either.”

Margaret Artwood

The Handmaid‘s tale 

Charlotte Squire

It isn't running away they're afraid of. We wouldn't get far. It's those other escapes, the ones you can open in yourself, given a cutting edge. 

Provocative, startling, prophetic, and more relevant than ever, The Handmaid's Tale has become a global phenomenon. Now, in this stunning graphic novel edition of Margaret Atwood's modern classic, the terrifying reality of Gilead is brought to vivid life like never before. "Everything Handmaids wear is red: the colour of blood, which defines us." Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships. She serves in the household of the Commander and his wife, and under the new social order she has only one purpose: once a month, she must lie on her back and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, ecause in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if they are fertile. But Offred remembers the years before Gilead, when she was an independent woman who had a job, a family, and a name of her own. Now, her memories and her will to survive are acts of rebellion. The Handmaid's Tale and its iconic images - the red of the Handmaids, the blue of the Wives, the looming Gileadean Eye - have been adapted into a film, an opera, a ballet, and multi-award-winning TV series. This groundbreaking new graphic novel edition, adapted and featuring arresting artwork by Renée Nault, is destined to become a classic in its own right.

Tatum Miller

Better never means better for everyone, he says. It always means worse, for some.

But if you happen to be a man, sometime in the future. and you've made it this far, please remember: you will never be subject to the temptation or feeling you must forgive, a man, as a woman.

But this is wrong, nobody dies from lack of sex. It's lack of love we die from. There's nobody here I can love, all the people I could love are dead or elsewhere. Who knows where they are or what their names are now? They might as well be nowhere, as I am for them too am a missing person.

I wanted to feel Luke lying beside me, but there wasn't room.

Yvette

I don't want a man around, what use are they except for ten seconds worth of half babies. A man is just a womans strategy for making other women.

They were paintings about suspended animation; about waiting, about objects not in use. They were paintings about boredom. But maybe boredom is erotic, when women do, for men.

Demi

It's like Janine, though, to take it upon herself, to decide the baby's flaws were due to her alone. But people will do anything rather than admit that their lives have no meaning. No use. No plot.

MARGARET ARWOOD

THE HANDMAID'S TALE

Keira 💫

His skin is pale and looks unwholesomely tender, like the skin under a scab.

They didn't think to actually check her 🧍🏻‍♀️

Last week they shot a woman, right about here. She was a Martha. She was fumbling in her robe, for her pass, and they thought she was hunting for a bomb. They thought she was a man in disguise.

He looks at me, and sees me looking. He has a French face, lean, whimsical, all planes and angles, with creases around the mouth where he smiles. He takes a final puff of the cigarette, lets it drop to the driveway, and steps on it. He begins to whistle. Then he winks.

One of the women was called Serena Joy. She was the lead soprano. She was ash-blonde, petite, with a snub nose and huge blue eyes which she’d turn upwards during hymns. She could smile and cry at the same time, one tear or two sliding gracefully down her cheek, as if on cue, as her voice lifted through its highest notes, tremulous, effortless. It was after that she went on to other things. The woman sitting in front of me was Serena Joy. Or had been, once. So it was worse than I thought.

They colour code everything. So naturally if one was to kill the commander's wife and wear her clothes... No one would realize...? Or maybe they would because it is the commander's wife after all. 

There are several umbrellas in it: black, for the Commander, blue, for the Commander’s Wife, and the one assigned to me, which is red.

The door of the room – not my room, I refuse to say my – is not locked.

I get up out of the chair, advance my feet into the sunlight, in their red shoes, flat-heeled to save the spine and not for dancing. The red gloves are lying on the bed. I pick them up, pull them onto my hands, finger by finger. Everything except the wings around my face is red: the colour of blood, which defines us. The skirt is ankle-length, full, gathered to a flat yoke that extends over the breasts, the sleeves are full. The white wings too are prescribed issue; they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen. I never looked good in red, it’s not my colour.

The bell that measures time is ringing. Time here is measured by bells, as once in nunneries. As in a nunnery too, there are few mirrors.

Umm??? This is depressing? But also relatable. 

We learned to whisper almost without sound. In the semi-darkness we could stretch out our arms, when the Aunts weren’t looking, and touch each other’s hands across space. We learned to lip-read, our heads flat on the beds, turned sideways, watching each other’s mouths. In this way we exchanged names, from bed to bed: Alma. Janine. Dolores. Moira. June.

sam kruczek

I was hooked up until the end when Offred seemed to lose hope. Or then again, it wasn't ever lost. Just transformed. I hope that so as much as she has changed, so can her world eventually.

Roseanne

Now a Hulu Original Series The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population. The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment’s calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid’s Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and a tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY SUSPENDED THE CONSTITUTION? THEY KILLED THE CATE? WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK. DID SHE DIE IN THE END? FIDNXISFNEJFJ

Susan

Stunning and terrifying all at once. Hard to put down

Naomi Kemph

Discover the cultural phenomenon behind the award-winning TV series that feels all the more powerful and prescient in a post-Roe vs. Wade world.

'As relevant today as it was when Atwood wrote it' Guardian

I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow; or rather, no shadow unless there is also light.

Offred is a Handmaid in The Republic of Gilead, a religious totalitarian state in what was formerly known as the United States. She is placed in the household of The Commander, Fred Waterford - her assigned name, Offred, means 'of Fred'. She has only one function: to breed. If Offred refuses to enter into sexual servitude to repopulate a devastated world, she will be hanged. Yet even a repressive state cannot eradicate hope and desire. As she recalls her pre-revolution life in flashbacks, Offred must navigate through the terrifying landscape of torture and persecution in the present day, and between two men upon which her future hangs.

Masterfully conceived and executed, this haunting vision of the future places Margaret Atwood at the forefront of dystopian fiction.

'A fantastic, chilling story. And so powerfully feminist', Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other.

what a terrifying read. i picked this up because of what's going on in the united states right now, and I'm very uncomfortable with how accurate it is. they start by targeting porn, then reproductive rights, then women's rights in general. sound familiar? every man and woman in the united states needs to read this book, to open their eyes to what is happening around us. i can only hope reality doesn't follow fiction. 

also, i really hope everyone in this book ended up okay. the abrupt ending was shocking, but realistic considering it was written in present tense.

will

what a terrifying read. i picked this up because of what's going on in the united states right now, and I'm very uncomfortable with how accurate it is. they start by targeting porn, then reproductive rights, then women's rights in general. sound familiar? every man and woman in the united states needs to read this book, to open their eyes to what is happening around us. i can only hope reality doesn't follow fiction. 

also, i really hope everyone in this book ended up okay. the abrupt ending was shocking, but realistic considering it was written in present tense.

what a terrifying read. i picked this up because of what's going on in the united states right now, and I'm very uncomfortable with how accurate it is. they start by targeting porn, then reproductive rights, then women's rights in general. sound familiar? every man and woman in the united states needs to read this book, to open their eyes to what is happening around us. i can only hope reality doesn't follow fiction. 

what a terrifying read. i picked this up because of what's going on in the united states right now, and I'm very uncomfortable with how accurate it is. they start by targeting porn, then reproductive rights, then women's rights in general. sound familiar? every man and woman in the united states needs to read this book, to open their eyes to what is happening around us. i can only hope reality doesn't follow fiction. 

also, i really hope everyone in this book ended up okay. the abrupt ending was shocking, but realistic considering it was written in present tense.

This ended much more abruptly than I expected 

Lili

it was ok. i liked the world building. i don’t think i really liked this writing style. i found myself bored often until the end lol 😭 i want to know what happens in the sequel but i don’t feel too inclined to read it 😔

azaria

Lauren Piper

Leon

'It isn't running away they're afraid of. We wouldn't get far. It's those other escapes, the ones you can open in yourself, given a cutting edge' Offred is a Handmaid. She has only one function: to breed. If she refuses to play her part she will, like all dissenters, be hanged at the wall or sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. She may walk daily to the market and utter demure words to other Handmaid's, but her role is fixed, her freedom a forgotten concept. Offred remembers her old life - love, family, a job, access to the news. It has all been taken away. But even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire. Includes exclusive content: In The 'Backstory' you can read Margaret Atwood's account of how she came to write this landmark dystopian novel 'Compulsively readable' Daily Telegraph

Maureen

"We lived, as usual, by ignoring. Ignoring isn't the same as ignorance, you have to work at it." 

***

I'm glad I finally got around to reading this classic. The plot is interesting and it's unlike anything I've ever read before. We enter in medias res, and I like how Atwood scatters bits of information throughout the book. Offred, at the start, seems distanced and unperturbed. But it's later that she recounts her tragic past. She is walking a tightrope—everything feels so uncertain, and it's this fear of danger that keeps readers on their toes. I just felt there were a few plot holes that were left unaddressed. Overall, it's a great book, and I can see why people loved it so much.

To call this novel “dystopian” is not quite right because what makes it so unnerving is that most of Atwood’s inspiration from real-world events in the ’80s can still be seen today in 2024. These horrors can be and are just within our reach. 

I highly recommend reading! I listened to this as an audiobook, and I think it adds something new to the story.

Riley

To call this novel “dystopian” is not quite right because what makes it so unnerving is that most of Atwood’s inspiration from real-world events in the ’80s can still be seen today in 2024. These horrors can be and are just within our reach. 

I highly recommend reading! I listened to this as an audiobook, and I think it adds something new to the story.

it's a good book but if I didn't have to read it for my English class it would have been better. Some parts were really boring and some parts were really good but then it would just stop. fuck this book lowkey

Giovanna

i mean it's an important book but a star off just for yr 12 lit trauma 

iris 

Mariana

At loss for words. This book can be terrifying and brilliant at the same time.


  nolite te bastardes carborundorum

This beautiful edition of Margaret Atwood's seminal work of speculative fiction features a leatherette cover, gilt edging, and ribbon marker--a perfect gift for book lovers and fans of the Hulu series. The Handmaid's Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population. The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment's calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid's Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and a tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.

The Handmaid's Tale Deluxe Edition

Very disappointed not going to lie 😭 I had high hopes, and I think this book in theory is perfect, but the execution was horrible. The worst book i've read so far this year I'm afraid; and I'm so upset I didn't love it. It was just so dragged out, so long and so boring all the time. Nothing was ever happening and why did it take 275 pages to get a change in scenery. I understand the point of this book; it's very clear. But the excution of this message was just so lame. I'm not a fan of very amiguous plot books, and this book just fully made no sense at all. 

surtified™

first half was a bit boring, got interesting from the second half to the end. wasn’t that satisfied with the ending though

amanda s

re-read for class. better the second time! very rich. 

liya n

hileahrious

To say I “enjoyed” this book is tough, but it is very well-written, so in that sense I did. It’s interesting to imagine how it was accepted at the time Atwood published it originally. Fucking read it, absorb it, and hope it never comes to be.

Sophie Wang

the ending felt rushed despite hundreds of pages of the reader getting to know the narrator. very bizarre pacing for a very inconsequential story and shallow characters.

Laura Mauler

Scarier than the dystopia of 1984 because this one could actually evolve into reality, if the god-believers and right-wingers get enough power.

Anddy G

** spoiler alert **
           Cómo diría Luis Miguel: NO, NO ME PUEDEN DEJAR ASÍ!!!

Que carajos le pasó a Defred? Y Nick que chingados? Quien la delató? ¿Is delatar la palabra correcta? A ver no... Necesito respuestas!! ¿Las encontraré en la serie o en el último libro? 

Wow todo y también que miedo, que angustia, que sensación que todo está perdido con cada capítulo que leía, si quisiera debrayarme hablando de que pasaría si este futuro no fuera distopico sino algo que ocurriera en mi realidad, pff, no acabo nunca.

It has the best, but most frustrating ending ever.

Guinevere Filiaggi

Now a Hulu Original Series The Handmaid's Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population. The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment's calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid's Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and a tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.

Lara Engle

I have mixed feelings about this book that I'm not really ready to articulate, yet. But here are the bullet points.

*Everyone just goes along with it? The history of rioting in the US over events big and small makes this questionable.
*Offred is boring. Really boring.
*The world-building is impressive. To me, the voice and plot are not.
*I feel like I'm supposed to love this book, but I don't.
*The characters are mostly flat and static. They don't seem human. And good or bad, humans are always human, especially in extreme circumstances. They spill humanity all over.
*Overall, I get the feeling that this book doesn't show an understanding of people. In particular, it doesn't show an understanding of modern-day (even 1985) multicultural America and its people.

The Handmaid's Tale Notes

Reviews

Highlights