Complacency Handmaids Tale Essay

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Essay on Complacency: “Central to the purpose of a novel is the presentation of a major theme”. To what extent do you agree with this view? Respond to this question with close reference to the text. The text “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Attwood has a specific purpose to show the idea of Complacency and what its implications could be on society in the very near future. The ideas oppression of women, hypocritical and corrupt nature of people in authority, the power of language and complacency towards the environment all clearly shows how many ways that people are becoming complacent. Paragraph 1. The oppression of women: In the novel, the commander takes advantage of his role by inviting Offred to his room. He knows that Offred has a complacent attitude and that because of his role in authority that she simply cannot refuse. This shows the power that the commander and men in general have over women in society. Offred has a complacent attitude towards the oppression of women both past and present and this is the same attitude that most women in society have. The quote “Be thankful for small mercies”-Offred. Shows that she is now aware of her situation yet is doing nothing about it to improve her situation. This links to society, where women are generally paid less than men to complete the same jobs, yet not enough people care and are complacent and therefore this issue cannot be improved. By showing the oppression of women in the text, Atwood has shown how complacency towards the oppression of women can have serious implications and effect women in every day society. Paragraph 2. Hypocritical and corrupt nature of people in authority. The commander created the regime but he doesn’t enjoy his current situation and is unhappy with his wife Serena Joy. Serena Joy goes against the regime yet she also created it. She watches people at the hall get hung even

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