Atwood esaay

Controlling women's bodies for the purpose of the population’s need can succeed only by controlling the women themselves, so Gilead's political order requires the subjugation of women. “One of the things that oppressors like to deny, and usually do, to the people that they are oppressing is education” to ensure their hegemony over them (Dodson). In Afghanistan, under the rule of the Taliban, “most armed groups have made pronouncements about appropriate behavior for women, imposing restrictions on their education” (“Afghanistan”). Culturally, it is of religious aspect that women have should always be dominated by a male figure; therefore, repudiating them the right to be literate effectively results in their subordination. “You

The rebellion against illiteracy is an act that Atwood takes as importance and that the freedom of literature will in due course provide freedom for oneself. However, after the harsh oppression of illiteracy, to rebel might require excessive aptitude after having adapted to the suppression. Although Offred opposed the ideologies of the Aunts, when she held a pen in her hand and wrote, she “knew [she] was doing something [she] shouldn’t have been doing…[She] should have felt evil; by Aunt Lydia’s lights, [she] was evil” (157). This is many a government’s view on writers that oppose their system. It occurs frequently around the world that writers are imprisoned for attacking the government’s policies. Amnesty International and P.E.N. Writers in Prison are examples of such organizations that pursuits to free these people because of their firm belief of freedom of speech. Atwood’s involvement with these organizations is due to her conviction that “literature is attached to politics” (Dodson). The redemption of writing to Offred “was like using a language [she’d] once known but had nearly forgotten, a language having to do with customs that had long before passed out of the world” (156). A nostalgic tone presents itself when letters flood back into Offred, as if it were a lost satisfaction returned.

don’t want the people that you’re oppressing to be able to read. It gives them ideas. And similarly with women; they get ideas if they read,” states Atwood in her interview (Dodson). “Ideas” are dangerous because it causes the dominated to rebel. Not just in Afghanistan, but “if you look at world illiteracy rates, by the way, they are way higher amongst women” because historically women have had a lower status in society, whilst men have been favored (Dodson). As a result, women become under-represented and lose many of the natural human rights.

Through writing, one creates a sense of individualism and a form of expression, which can otherwise not be conveyed in another manner. It creates a complex thought leading to self-discovery and questioning of one’s environment. Those that seek change and aspiration emerge in writing, for “people without hope do no

Some topics in this essay:
Tale Commander, Dodson Afghanistan, Handmaid’s Tale, Hope Gilead, Writers Prison, Scrabble Commander, Afghanistan India, Tale Offred’s, Aunt Lydia’s, handmaid’s tale, oppression women, engraved message, “you don’t, opinions view, oppression illiteracy,