This power structure is kept strong by making failures out of oneself and taking away any independence the women may have including the wives. The handmaids are raped and forced into childbirth and the wives are equally imprisoned because they are married to the masterminds of such a hideous society. I cannot imagine living is a society where my choice to have a child is stolen from me. Society that will punish with death or torture if I decide to rebel against child birth. Birth is a gift given to a woman’s body from GOD.
When the head of goddesses saw what Deena did. He got so angry that he made Deena go through the hardest times in life for her to understand how selfish she is and that her selfishness does nothing good but upset people. So he made her have no food or water. All she had was shelter that was made out of straws. If she wanted food she had to go do labor work to earn the money.
If God gives, why wouldn’t he have a right to take away? Job even speaks these words: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (NIV Bible, Job. 1.21). Both Job and J.B. stand for their opinion when their wives tell them to curse God, but start doubting themselves weather they are as innocent as they think when their friends “come to help”, that’s when the main difference occur.
A place where there is absolute belief in religion and reproduction and where women are forced to cover themselves but at the same time are committing sinful sexual acts such as adultery sounds like a society which is inexplicable. The Handmaid’s Tale portrays a Biblical society named Gilead. The element allusion is used in the Handmaid’s Tale to show how higher officials can pervert the religion to their own benefit. Also the ceremony that takes place between the Commander, Offred and Serena Joy has another Biblical allusion. A part during the ceremony is where the commander sheepishly only reads parts of the Bible, and those parts only emphasize reproduction and childbearing – “It the usual story the usual stories.
The growing power of this ‘religious right’ heightened feminist fears that the gains women had made in previous decades would be reversed. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood explores the consequences of the reversal of women’s rights. In the novel’s dystopian world of Gilead, a group of conservative religious extremists has taken power and turned the sexual revolution on its head. What feminists considered the great triumphs of the 1970s—widespread access to contraception, the legalisation of abortion, and the increasing political influence of female voters—have all been undone. Women in Gilead are not only forbidden to vote, they are forbidden to read or write, dress codes are used as a way to subjugate them; ordinary colours become symbolic of their social status while masking individuality, which is discouraged in the regime.
Hanna Graves 09/12/12 THE 2000 In Class Essay Antigone Prompt #1 Antigone, defined by the Greek as against birth/motherhood, or "the opposite of her forbears". Antigone was born into her fathers curse, more importantly born into a world where women are seen as inferior when compared to men. Men must be strong and have the will to fight, women must sit below them and praise. Antigone was born a hard head, she was born stubborn and would not take no for an answer. When she confronted her sister, Ismene, to ask for her help in burying Polyneices, Ismene's fear was clear.
Orthodox Christians most likely rejected feminine descriptions of God due to the strict gender roles of the time. Orthodox women were expected to take on the subordinate role, and Gnostic beliefs contradicted these values. Gnostic holy books often referred to God as both feminine and masculine. The books also suggest that they prayed to both God the Father and the Divine Mother (pagels). This female genderization of God is the primary reason their books were excluded from the New Testament.
Women were thought of as the weaker sex. They were associated as the sex that was unable to do any form of work requiring any muscular or intellectual activity. Women were discouraged from writing and reading. They were expected to marry, have children, and do nothing other than what wives and mothers did back then. This meant, cleaning, cooking, caring for the children and husband, etc.
Adah is crippled emotionally and physically, Rachel is crippled emotionally and grows into a woman constantly seeking approval from low-life men. Orleanna is crippled emotionally and it scars her and affects her relationships with her children. The women are also spiritual captives to Nathan's version of religion, which is presented as fundamental extremism in this novel. None of them experience any of the freedom that true faith allows, which is disturbing, since they are a family of missionaries supposed to be bringing the "good news" to the natives. They are also physically captive.
Women in particular are the victims of the way the Gilead authorities exert control through language. The term Handmaid, for example, is a pleasant-sounding Biblical word that completely disguises the fact that the Handmaids are stripped of their humanity, used as virtual reproductive slaves, and forced to commit adultery.