The Handmaid's Tale

by Margaret Atwood

Our group decided to read “The Handmaid’s Tale” because of the recent publication of Margaret Atwood’s latest book “The Testaments”.  We agreed that we could not read “The Testaments” without going back to “The Handmaid’s Tale” first.  Many of us had already read the first book and returned to it somewhat reluctantly, as it is such a frightening and tragic story.  However, we all felt it was important to do so.

During the discussion, there was a consensus that “The Handmaid’s Tale” is difficult to read, not by its style or structure, but by the chilling dystopian society it depicts.  We all remarked on how strikingly Margaret Atwood’s depiction of this society reflects some aspects of our world today, even though it was published in 1984.  In an essay written by the author and published in the New York Times in March 2017, she speaks about those parallels and how they have only increased.  (Thanks to Christa for providing us with this essay*.)

Another conclusion came from the discussion of this story of fertile women being used to provide babies for a society in which the population has been decimated by some unspecified catastrophic event:  how well the atmosphere and the world in which they live is rendered.  The reader is drawn into this world completely by the vivid descriptions of the physical and psychological environment.    This is what makes reading the story difficult.  Margaret Atwood points out that many historical events served as “strands” which were included in the story – group executions, book burnings, the pregnancies of Swedish mothers enforced by the Nazi regime, child-stealing in Argentina, etc.   All these events, of course, actually happened.

We all agreed that “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a challenging but very important book. 

Christine

*Margaret Atwood on What “The Handmaid’s Tale” Means in the Age of Trump 

www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/books/review/margaret-atwood