“A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze,” says the protagonist Offred as she describes her restricted freedom inside the maze. Indeed, throughout Margaret Atwood's literary work The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), the questions of independence and unequal power structure are asked to the readers for them to ponder upon. Today, 30 years after its publication, the novel is still regarded as an excellent piece of work that goes beyond a long time, with the author's keen insight into the dark shades of sexism and patriarchal power. 

The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel which sets in a totalitarian society called Gilead. Throughout the story, the author deals with various measures the establishment used to maintain their power and the means that the women used to resist for the sake of individuality and independence. Through sharp observation toward the dark shade of patriarchal power and detailed depiction shown throughout the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale won the 1985 Governor General’s Award and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987 and later has been adapted into film, opera and television series. 

The story is told in the first-person narrative by a woman named Offred. As can be seen from her name, Of-Fred, she is considered to be a belonging of a commander named Fred, instead of having her own name and individuality. A radical political group called “Sons of Jacob”, arbitrarily uses religion and interprets the Bible to establish justification of their power. Likewise, religion is used to justify enforced sexual surrogacy, allowing the readers to ponder upon how the Bible is employed and manipulated to justify the wrongdoings in Gilead. 

Throughout the whole story, Offred jumps between past and present, recalling the process of women's deprivation of fundamental rights and changes. These flashbacks highlight the gap between the past and the present while at the same time emphasizing its continuities. The unique storytelling style used in the novel is also worth paying attention to. The protagonist’s act of storytelling toward readers which is forbidden in the Gilead, reestablishes one’s fragmented identity and also creates listeners, making the readers join in the action of communication. While reading this novel, readers are not merely reading the story but engaging in a sympathetic act of communication. Indeed, feeling that Gilead is not too far away from the society that we are living in, readers are able to form a close relationship with Offred throughout the narrative. 

With distinctive character structure and detailed description complemented with a considerate attention toward hidden and lost voices under social conventions, the book does not miss either impression and lesson. Indeed, Margaret Atwood continuously asks readers for their participation for the text’s political vision to be realized. After a long story about the society somewhere unreasonable and some repressed, she asks readers, “Are there any questions?”

Book Information
Title: The Handmaid’s Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Year: 1985
Pages: 311