November 2017 Host:  Stephanie

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Summary

This novel depicts a dystopian society where totalitarian power gives women their functions. The women are divided into groups:  Wives (infertile), Marthas (for housework and cooking), Handmaids (fertile) Aunts, or Unwomen.  Unwomen are those who are rebellious and are generally sent to work in toxic waste dumps.  The rest of the women are required to participate in various roles involving procreation due to the falling birth rates. The main character in this story is a woman named Offred (of Fred, the commander she serves).  Offred may leave the house of the commander once per day to the market where signs are now pictures, not words, as women are no longer allowed to read.  Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable, so she desperately wants to get pregnant when she lies on her back once per month with the commander (with the commander’s wife by her side).  Offred does remember her past, a husband and daughter, and she does not know where they are or if they are still alive, and is slowly beginning to forget them.  Parts of the world today operate this way with women having no say in reproductive or other rights, and put into various categories, which is what makes this novel a bit unsettling, along with the possibility that this dystopia is possible.  The Handmaid’s tale is a powerful novel which you will most likely never forget. 

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