The Handmaid's Tail by Margaret Atwood

a. Theme: The power of language
Gilead's society it based off of the fact that men have all control. The handmaid's have been stripped of the right to speak and to be heard. Gilead has no room for the opinions of women and have morphed their language into a form of power, or in women's case, another thing that was whisked away from them. Not only was speech taken away, but their names were replaced with titles. They are no longer a person, they are a woman who is there to serve a purpose. Women are specifically designated for their gender roles, such as a Handmaid or a Wife. This is contrary to the definition of men by their military rank. The society transfers their individuality to a system of titles and categories. By depriving the women of their names, it transforms them into an inhuman figure that is easier to take advantage of and use them for their "purpose." Gilead also gives terms to women who are of no use to society such as "Unwomen" and when a certain woman gives birth to a child with a deformity, something out of their control, they are given this title along with the baby being labeled at "Unbaby." Gilead uses language, and lack of, to maintain control over a women's ideology, individuality, and their body.

b. "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" (199).
This quote from Offred in chapter thirty-two provides her with an illusion of hopefulness that Gilead will be terminated. It shows Offred's mental perseverance to keep her hopes up even though day after day she wakes up to reality crushing and containing her within the constricted walls of the society. Hope is the only weapon Offred has against Gilead and is vital to her being. She continuously keeps her hope strong and reinforces it with her mental capability to not give up. Although the obvious answer is to simply give in to the rules of society she still hangs on to the little sliver of hope that she has left. Offred not only refuses to smolder her memories and feelings, she does not get manipulated into being hopeless even after she is always defeated by the harsh hit of reality. 

c. I personally liked this book because it really opened my perspective on feminist views and had an impact on me. Whether it was the same gender as me or if it was about the mistreatment of males, the novel made me realize that this society is not as far fetched as we would like to believe. Certainly we do not have the handmaid's or other twisted rules and regulations such as women being only used for their bodies and forbidden to be able to have a job, but we do have the same discrimination and expected gender roles in our society. Although we are not as extreme, our society still stereotypes women into specific roles such as women only belong in the kitchen or the bedroom. I do not like Gilead, but I like the message that the novel gets across that women are unfairly treated differently from men and that this needs to change in society. My favorite thing about the novel was the ending because I liked how the historical notes gave a closing to the cliff hanger that we were left with after Offred was taken away. It did not finish Offred's specific story, but it completed the tale of Gilead and although the novel was about a handmaid, the real story was about the society of Gilead which tied into the abuse of women. The historical notes was a different ending than most novels, but I think it was necessary to answer a lot of questions that were formed in the process of reading. Overall the novel was very well written and got the feminist message across clearly and was an  impact on saying that society need to change the discriminating roles of women.