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A review by adelphiereads
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
This dystopian book is like Orwell's 1984 if it was written by a woman and written for women. It is a slow-paced book but for a good purpose. The author wanted the readers to have an in-depth experience with the ruminations and emotions of the narrator. An experience that's akin to getting inside the mind of a woman, well...almost. I agree with what the author said in the introduction, that this is a feminist book in a sense that it showed how women are "human beings - with all the variety of character and behaviour that implies - and are also interesting and important..."
Like Orwell's 1984, it is also a warning, a prediction of what the future would look like if men become restless, more egotistical and power hungry. Although unlike the situation in 1984, the minority or the marginalized in this book is the entire women population. Regardless if they're the Wives, Handmaids, Marthas, Ecowives, or Unwomen, all of them are under the intense grip of men. As a woman, this is scarier than 1984's prediction, because I can really see this happening in the near future. It's like I have this innate fear that someday, men would take back what they "let us have", our freedom. For centuries they had our freedom in the palm of their hands and despite the massive progress we've made in the present, I can't shake the feeling that they would take up arms and subjugate us once more. They've done it before, right?
Hence, this book awakened that fear in me but at the same time it ignited a flame in my heart. A flame that will direct me to do whatever I can to prevent this horrendous future from happening. If you want to have that flame inside you, ladies please, read this book.
Like Orwell's 1984, it is also a warning, a prediction of what the future would look like if men become restless, more egotistical and power hungry. Although unlike the situation in 1984, the minority or the marginalized in this book is the entire women population. Regardless if they're the Wives, Handmaids, Marthas, Ecowives, or Unwomen, all of them are under the intense grip of men. As a woman, this is scarier than 1984's prediction, because I can really see this happening in the near future. It's like I have this innate fear that someday, men would take back what they "let us have", our freedom. For centuries they had our freedom in the palm of their hands and despite the massive progress we've made in the present, I can't shake the feeling that they would take up arms and subjugate us once more. They've done it before, right?
Hence, this book awakened that fear in me but at the same time it ignited a flame in my heart. A flame that will direct me to do whatever I can to prevent this horrendous future from happening. If you want to have that flame inside you, ladies please, read this book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault