Language in the Handmaid's Tale (post 9)


After finishing The Handmaid’s Tale, one prominent theme stuck out to me.  I found that language and its regulation served as a very powerful tool for both the oppressors and the oppressed within Gilead.  For example, the naming system stripped handmaids of their personal identity by forcing them to identify with their commander.  This is perhaps done to send the message to the handmaids that they are property of their owners.  Similarly, the naming system in Gilead gives power to the oppressor by providing names that mask their true intent.  For example, Angels, Eyes of God, and Guardians are all names used to describe male rankings.  The euphemistic terms make it seem like they are performing God’s will by forcing women into subjugation.  This is of course not true.  However, the opposite can be seen in the novel as well.  The oppressed women gain power from language when they show resistance.  In Gilead. Handmaids are forbidden to read and write.  However, Offred find an engraving on the floor of her closet, a message from the former handmaid.  Even though Offred didn’t originally know what the message meant, it gave her hope and made her excited as the prospect of illegally communicating.  I found this theme to be very interesting especially since power through language can be seen in reality too.  For example, when Obama was the president, he refused to use the term “Islamic terrorists.”  This was because he knew how powerful the term could be.  It would immediately engender anger and negative attitudes toward an entire religion even though the entire religion is of course not at fault.  This is only one real world example of language used as a tool of power.  I found it cool that Atwood chose to incorporate this idea into the novel because it is so prominent in society.  I read somewhere that Atwood explained in an interview that she did not include any ideas in The Handmaid’s Tale that did not already exist in the real world.  She just took these ideas and magnified them.  This is obvious in her use of language.

Comments

  1. Abbey CurranNovember 28, 2017 at 4:31 PM

    I think your analysis of Atwood's use of language in the Handmaid's Tale was spot on. Especially when using language that held religious connotations, I felt like Atwood made some comparison's that were extremely accurate. The subtle ways men in the novel oppress women can be seen in the way that the handmaid's identities are stripped from them, and they are given the name of their commander. In addition, the expectations of each women can be determined when you look at the language Atwood uses to describe them, and the ways they connect to religious figures in the Bible!

    Language is an extremely powerful tool. We see the commander's use language to subtly show women where their place is, just as we see people like Donald Trump use language all willy nilly, and the adverse effects the misuse of language can have.

    I really loved this book.

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