In the novel "The Handmaid's Tale," the Republic of Gilead is a totalitarian society were the women are stripped of their rights and forced to be slaves for the high ranking commanders. This totalitarian government all started after the revolution ended. The women are used for pleasure and to produce children for the commander's. Offred who is the main character is a handmaid to one of the commanders. Offred goes through many hardships in her life at Gilead. Offred has no freedom at all as a handmaid. Offred is forced to give up her child to be sent away to a different family. She witnesses death all the time in Gilead.
Before the revolution in Gilead Offred's life was normal. Offred's used to work at a library were she would turn books into discs. Offred's mother was an extreme feminist and somewhat influenced Offred when she was growing up. When the revolution ended, the president of the US was killed by enemy soldiers and all the people of congress were assassinated. The new totalitarian government was set in place. The reason was for a totalitarian government was that they wanted Gilead to be a utopia. Instead Gilead became a distopia. .
With the new government in place things began to change in Gilead. Women were divided up into different class. Handmaids were women who would be used for pleasure and to give birth to the commander and his wife's child. Christianity was the main religion of Gilead. Showing human sexuality became Illegal. Booze, fashion magazines, cigarettes, pornography and makeup were illegal violence was a very big thing if you became violent you would be killed. Human rights were taken and people were told what to do.
Offred went through many hardships and lost many things in her life. One of Offred's biggest suffers was when she was forced to give up her only child to live with another family. When they took Offred's child, she couldn't do anything about it. Offred was forced to have sex with her commander whenever he wanted.