Republic Of Control

The handmaid's tale is an interesting and intriguing starting in just the first few pages. Immediately you realize that the narrator, who we find out to be Offred, is not living what we perceive as a normal lifestyle. As she begins to explain the world she lives in and how she is under constant watch and control. Offred has been through a lot, she has been separated from her husband and daughter and forced to live a lifestyle that is controlling of her every move and aspect of her life. The women in this future based society in what is a post United States country based in Massachusetts called the Republic of Gilead are under control at all times because they are needed for their ability to bear children. The women that are viable are treated better than women that are barren. We quickly realize the society that Offred lives in is nothing that anyone could ever imagine and nothing like the life she had before. Writing is banned, television is not readily available to all and is mainly religious based. Offred is property to the Commander and used to give him a child. She has no money or property of her own, she has to sneak food in her shoe because she is not allowed to take food from the table that is uneaten. She and the other women which include handmaids and the marthas are controlled always and have learned to accept their situations as how life is for them. Women are important for only a couple reasons in the Republic of Gilead, one being childbearing and the second would be cleaning and cooking. But also used as for sex for men that have been loyal and stayed celibate for a lengthened period of time. This society is focused on control. Even the wife of the commander asserts her dominance and power on Offred immediately upon meeting her in the opening chapter. Control/Power and Sex are two things I see as focal points of this society and how they are used to reinforced each other.