A Book Review: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale is the most horrifying non-horror novel I have ever read. This book terrified me, because its dystopian vision feels both familiar and real. It is as if this book is describing a nightmarish future that can be, because it is a future that will repeat the past.  

Margaret Atwood wrote this book in 1984, and it was during the time when the Christian fundamentalists were gaining political influences in the US. Despite its contents and the historical background, this book is not targeting at any specific religious or political group. No, The Handmaid's Tale is a warning, of how easily and quickly, things can go wrong, when a group, a faction, or a person, gains too much power in the absence of accountability. Totalitarianism can go by any slogan; be it the left, the right, Hitler, Stalin etc.. you name it. Indeed, power manipulation, is the major theme in this harrowing novel, and it is even more relevant to our current time.

Synopsis:

The US government dissolved after a nuclear war and environmental destructions. In its place, The Republic of Gilead was born. This new government is founded on ideologies even more extreme than that of puritanism.The fertility rate, meanwhile, has plummeted to an all time low.

The Gilead government introduced new laws in the name of anti-terrorism and re-population. These were laws that redefined the status and the role for men and women, and giving birth to a class of women known as the "handmaids".

Inspired by the story of Rachel and Jacob in Genesis 30:1-3, a handmaid's primary function is to give birth, and her value depends solely on her reproductive power and the viability of her ovary. It was here when our story began, with a young woman known as Offred. She is a handmaid, who lies on her back once a month and hoping the Commander can successfully make her pregnant...

My thoughts on this book:

Dystopian fiction is not my forte. Admittedly, I have not even read iconic works in the genre, such as The Hunger Games, Fahrenheit 451, or Nineteen Eighty Four. So why The Handmaid's Tale? Why did I choose this book to be my first voyage into the world of dystopian fiction? Because everyone in my book club has read this book except me, and I have also read a lot of good reviews for this book, about how, its story is especially relevant to our time.

I borrowed this book from my local library, but I waited 5 months for it. This book was so popular that the moment it was returned, someone else would borrow it. When this book finally became available to me, I could not help but feel the excitement surged through me. Finally, I was going to read The Handmaid's Tale!

Over the next four nights, I read this book from the start to the finish. While I cannot say I "enjoyed" The Handmaid's Tale, but the book is thought provoking. I liked this book, but I could not enjoy it because it was too disturbing and terrifying. This is not a story that was meant to be "enjoyed" as one would enjoy, say, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea or Harry Potter. No, The Handmaid's Tale is the stuff of nightmares, and it is scary because every horror and curel act in this book is grounded in our very own history.

Yes, the terrible stuff in this book did not come from the author's own imaginations, but they were inspired by our history. This is why, a sense of familiarity, like deja vu, will creep up your spine while you read it. I have read some essays arguing if the scenario in The Handmaid's Tale can happen in today's world. I think those arguments are missing the point. Personally, I think the value of this book is not dependant on whether if it can accurately predict our future. No, I think this book is relevant to our time because it is sending us a warning, about power manipulation. It warns us about the danger of zealously subscribing to an ideological camp while abandoning independent thoughts. Indeed, our society has a growing trend, where independent thinking is dying slowly. People are no longer evaluating and judging a proposal based on its own merit. Instead, more and more people are identifying themselves by ideological camps and tribes, where they tick the "doctrinal checkboxes" of the particular tribe/faction they wish to belong to. That, I opine, is severely undercutting and killing the civic democracy. Why? Because once you identified yourself with a tribe and think you are on the "good" side, then even if your tribe is doing something wrong you will not see it. This is how totalitarianism can manifest and grow.

Aside from its major theme about power manipulation, The Handmaid's Tale also explored other themes such as; women's bodies as political instruments, language as a tool of power, and how we become complacent. Each of these themes is fascinating and worthy of exploration. I will leave the would-be readers to explore them. It suffices to say, in the mere space of 300 pages, Margaret Atwood weaved a story that is simple on the surface, but complex and thoughtful underneath. Her prose captured, vividly, the details in every scene, as well as the character's thoughts and emotions. This is a character-driven book, and its characters will leave lasting memories on your mind.

So far, I have praised The Handmaid's Tale, but there is one thing I disliked about this book. When it comes to speculative fictions, I (personally) prefer a novel to have the following structures - An introduction by worldbuilding, followed by the main story, before finally reaching the climax and the conclusion. The Handmaid's Tale, however, doesn't follow this structure. Instead of building the whole world at the beginning, this book was doing worldbuilding throughout the entire story. Even at the end of the story, it was still giving us worldbuilding information. This is not a big issue, but a matter of personal taste, and it did dampen my fondness for this book slightly.

The Handmaid's Tale is a disturbing novel and it is not for the light hearted. Yet, it is an important book. Its themes are especially relevant to our time. It warns us to be forever watchful of power manipulation, especially of those factions and tribes we dearly trust. This is because totalitarianism can go by any name and slogan. My gentle readers, I highly recommend The Handmaid's Tale to you.