purpose of repressing any resistance or rebellion by the people against their new government, law and ideologies.

The use of religion, individual's name, along with the freedom to dress as one wishes, are three basic social practices which help to define

In its developed form the Gileadean hegemony denies the population any knowledge or information, including details of the crimes committed by those executed. This is another practice to ensure that they retain power. The regime demands absolute conformity to the role to which an individual is assigned, and tolerates no deviation from this purpose. Any rebellion or imagined rebellion, even a wrong response to a question, can result in brutal punishment. When all the women in the community are called together for a Salvaging, "it [had] been the custom to precede [it] with a detailed account of the crimes of which the prisoners stand convicted. [but the regime] have decided in the best interests of all to discontinue this practice" (pg. 287), supposedly so as not to "offend [their] ears with any details" (pg. 290). This excuse for the censorship of the information allows the hegemony to select the material which would best serve its agenda to be made public, leaving out anything which may give others an advantage. As the people do not know what those being killed have done, they are forced to draw their own conclusions. In their already paranoid minds, this means that any trivial, slight dissension could possibly result in death. (During the Jim Crow period, the government, Ku Klux Klan and other members of the white society lynched, tortured and blamed Blacks for everything that went wrong in society, without even tiny shreds of evidence or testimonies.) As a result the community is more likely to stay safely well within the boundaries set by the government, not daring to question to challenge their authority in any way, as they believe that any insubordination could get them executed. By using this controlled ignorance to promote terror in the marginalized groups, the regime is shrouding itself in an air of danger and mystery. It is something to be feared and obeyed. This results in the continued power of the government over, and at the expense of, all others.

The employment of the Eyes is the same as the employment of undercover officers in todays society. For example, the way the Gileadean and the American regime uses fear and secrecy to prevent rebellion by the disempowered groups. They are both a secret service who have the power to punish anyone who they believe may have broken the strict social code of Gilead. No one in society knows exactly who they are, and therefore no one can speak of her frustrations with the government to anyone. The listener may be an Eye/undercover officer, or may report the conversation to one. Offred initially refuses to communicate with Nick because "perhaps [his friendliness] was a test, to see what [she] would do. Perhaps he [was] an Eye" (pg. 28). This fear of betrayal prevents individuals in the lower groups in society (racial minorities) from opening up to each other, becoming confident as more and more dissenters joined the rebellion, becoming united against a common enemy in the form of the r!

from the past causes the Handmaids to begin to question the validity of their recollections. They start to wonder if their new life of "freedom from "(pg. 34) isn't superior to

Some topics in this essay:
Women Handmaids, Handmaids Aunts, White American's, Gileadean American, Klux Klan, Gilead God's, War Handmaids, Blacks Natives, , American South, ruling class, gileadean hegemony, ku klux klan, freedom expression opinion, freedom expression, social cultural, ku klux, handmaids aunts, especially handmaids, gileadean society, power women handmaids, freedom pg 34, cultural practices, expression opinion, social cultural practices,