‘Aso ny Mancaner ATwooD id eed Sg Mane 2001) (nea Cal 25 ‘SrtA Tea Cade onder Lie 573 Daye Rk 85840977) ‘Sed Wee ya 99) gig th ea 4 Wr ig 200) {uth op bh 1980) Forte Br (198) inn Pre and Pape ana (1995) Fak Ray he Raring Res alfa Bb and Doi Dorin ‘2000 ‘WRITING with INTENT Essays, Reviews, Personal Prose: 1983-2005 MARGARET ATWOOD (Cansou & Gaur Punts New Yorkoir Pr 385-2005 Gal & Gs Piss Anlopin five Ptating Gop a 25 We 17 Set ith Fler Now Yr NY T0011 ere ©2008 205 by 0, Tad, Lh Fin Cal Gf scan 2005 en lin i rng eof te esi thi book hs been Pll nde ea Me Tein ay neo rs Ma Ns pn soak my Xen om be mpdacdin whoo in at jie cmeon Publis cep y rion wh 7 thew ina newspaper mapmine, oF Seip Simms mean pyle pe paren a alpacas ae na f Compe ax SBN. 0786715955 wage Palen Daas vase 997654324 I be by ar Ti Pat inh Ui Dat i Seo Ama shes Gop We For my fanly2 Writing Utopia id The Handmade get wet The ane cold payon a ree electric ypewritr with a German kent ‘na wallop fin Wat Brin, and pri in smal oe Tasos Altham>—hich, ic war announced to me wih + cla de isthe pr capa murder cpt ofthe United Se. "Goth Is “Maybe! shoulda be ere" "Am dont yall wore.” they spl. "Th ‘nly shoos fy But although see eww places provided shall We *cerainaunorphere hee i moro the sory than tha. snc Heri Tae mas epin othe beni of he ne Pe inthe ance who may nox have se tyr —out in paperbck 04 Ser of py hile for oly $4 95—i sen he fre This cote {Pan no being itis science fon, which, ro my min ‘| ine ence fiona fio in which things happen hat a9 Posie eodsy—that depend, for instance, on advanced space cae ‘ete dicey of pen monster on other plano aa ot Sem ts les andthe projected ends on which my fe . te already in motion, So chink of The Hendimad’ Tale scence fiton but a+ speculative fiction; and, more paula thee segatve form of Utopian fon thar has come to be known as the Dysopia ‘A Uropia is sly thought of 3 fconal perf oir: bu in hx the word docs not mean pect soi” I means “nowhere and was ‘sed satdonclly by Sir Thomas Morea thet of his own siazenth- enury ftom dicoune on goverment. Pethaps he meant oindcate thac although his Uropia made more tatonl sense than the England of his dy it was unlikely co be found anywhere ouside a bok. Both the Uiopia and the Dystopia concer chemseles wit the designing of scictigod sociees forthe Uopias, bad ones forthe Dystopia. There is ome ofthe same pleasure inthis, fr the wre, cha ‘ne wed to gta children when we baie sand ces, o dinosaur anges fiom Plasticine or drew evr wardrobes for pape doll. Ba in 4 Utopia. you get o plan everything—the ces, the gl sem, the ters ee facets ofthe language. The Dystoplan bad design isthe Utopian good design in revere-—tha i we the fades ae supposed wo duce what 2 0d saciey iby sexing in detail, wha ii “The Utopit-Dysopia at afrm tends tobe produced only by cleres, asad om monochci—or, like Pans system, on 2 single idea of the Good—and tae postult alo a singe goal-oriented citing. Cultures ‘nso om polytheism and the ctu of time do sce to produce them. Why bother to ary to improwe soc, or event vinalse it improved, when you know all gong tog aroun gsi ike ores in the wh? And how can you define good” soi as opposed a “bad” ‘one if you se good and bad ar pects of the same thing? Bur Judo ‘Chisianiybeng linear monoteism—one God ad one plotline. from Genesis to Revelation fas genested many Binal Uropias and a god ‘many attempts vo crete the eal hing ght hereon cart, che venture of ‘he Pirin Fathers bing one of therm—"We sal be as cy wpon hill ‘light all natons"—and Marsa being aor. In Maris, histor replaces God a determina, and the clases ccey replaces the New Jerwalem, bt change through time, heading i the dieton of pro ion, ssa porated. Inthe baclground of every modern Ups lack Plats Republic and the Book of Revelation, and modern Dystopistone ot en unnlcnced by aus terry versions of Hell expec thse of Date and Miko which inhi uo ight ack ro the i thcindipenableoucok of Wecer tert ‘SiThoms Mos ogi Ups lng i of descenan may sf shich Trad a Thackd my way through high school erough cole tod ler though rane school This lie inclodes Swi Gali Trl and in he intent century, Wiliam Mortis New fom Nahe in which the ie sce i + kind of aria? colony, HG Wels Tine Machin which the lower clases cul tthe Upp a on in which cme iain and sickness ie ad ‘W.HL Habs Cal ge In ur own ener, he class ae Hak ‘here New Wr allan’ ating Racha nd, of couse. 184 ‘eon ex Ups by women ate ako of noe, cog 3 umcou Thee air isance, Herland by Chase Perkins Gia 49d Women on tbe Ea of Tim by Marge Percy. list i sa he i hing diced at wht se erica ning nha the superio arangeents of Bt ‘Vropians reflect badly on as. Dystopas are often more like dire warings sha ts dk sds cast bythe pen nt the fur The hc wllppen of we don pll pour ks What apes of isin such write? To no one suri, nt once ram ota be much the sre a thou of sity. Thee a ef ‘ows te mec mane of dvhing and cin, prc mi and eee tes erp. athe min podem ae eee it eras poe ses he send SLE awl teen the wes popion cm unig cn inthe form ofan interes in drain and sewers rn isle and a bis: nsaniy dino the censor of en cile iiand iclemems india re ‘Sade pug nd nin 207 ch amination is needed. esa character of Prem atone Some Lept ened and te one Dyin ath oes ate hich contention isnot posi. In Uropia then, wo lwyers ate needed in Dystopia, no lawers ar allows Tn beeen, however, is where most Uap Dystpias aswell x mst man societies fal, and hte the composers ofthese tions have shown remarkable fecundity. Relations berween the sees exhib perhaps the widest ange, Some eps go fos or oFkelthy-minded communal ex ters such as W. H, Huds Costa Ag for an ance rangement in rhc mos izes at sexually neural and oly one pai per large county ‘arson actually bred, which how they eat down onthe bith re Sil othe suchas Mare Percy allow men o participate almost equal in chilcaring by allowing them to breast-fed vi hormone injections, an ‘option that may no rejoice your hears b test has the ie of avy, Then there ae Hunley ua groupsex and bot babi, Skinner bones, and various minor science feons—wrinten by men, I hasten v0 cin which women devour hie mates or parle them aay xa them, la spiders, Sexual relations in exteme Dystopas usualy exhibit some form of avery oa in Orwell, extreme seal epresion The dei then vary but the Uopia-Dystopia aa frm ina way of yng things out on paper fst sce whether we might ike them, should we ever have the chance o pu them inc actual practice. In addition. it alleges to rectamine what we understand by the word umn and owe all what we mend by he word fed For eter the Usps nrthe Dywopia is opereded. Utopia i an eee example of the impulse to ‘onder igs the word sould run rampant. Dysopia isnightmaresiror ing, the desire to gush sent ake nha and natin [Nether ae wha youd aller, bu both arenes othe iain tom i we ean vine dhe good, he ide, if we car formulate what we ‘vam wl get what we do want, in pads Ks sad commentary on out ‘gh we find Dystopia laces toblevein han Uropias Uropias we ‘enonlyimpine; Dystopia wee sendy had, Butshuld we yo ard 0 ‘nfrce Utopia, Dystopia ply follows; Beau ifnough people igre ‘wth ut wel have o eliminate suppres or exe or manipula he and then wee ot 1984, Asa rule, Uopiais only safe when emai ce ‘osname and says nowhere. sa nic place vt, bur do we rely wane ‘oliver? Which may be the ukimate moral of ach ore.AN ty wer bereen, lex you kor hn 1 de equi ig log re onchng my into Te Handmei’ Tela Thee wether foie renin | woul ike to mention. The Sot do dit thelist of th Second Wil War—l rad Wi son Chucls meni hen Iwan high schol, no wo mention 4 iogupy Kon the Doct ona many anrher ome of iy Se ety ew nn a we they ther wa ory bf and tes things wee jit I etapa ed vee books on soln gl the ree and the pte one tha ick our wa alld Darr ‘No by Anbar Kose (Thi wat a ny only rang when 182 igh eh Ia ao reading Jane Auten snd Ely Bron and p= Sead ook fice Doan Bran {would ad arin ‘ndsilvil hel eis licking ad itn in ight maga ad ‘hart am zing ied f toe aries on bllonaire sno Dyin it ine fr ame Kinds of Bon) Tip aa of my ding wa infra! ar by ene ‘oe cunts ptm cerain hing we consider elas 2 et nivel in fre, and by conversions wih any pe seme pacar mesg 4 woman who fad een in the Pech sic he waa min who had cages om oad th see thee fri reading hast do wth he hor of Kenta ram opel oc who ended pin he Usted TEAR et hanna The wdfn O% Mie who wa pee of mine he eed Hard Coe eaten sigchanicd wa ponte rk eae a fren eign i nd nc ol ny os Porpnns tr cca ad wc sido an ude the Aeon, nM ae conury 0 what I had been eaigh et pr se int ome No Ares in ea of Fg a Tey ated he on @ tot parla Ken om anyone ‘ran heh Ange marry henna 9% banishing of socal hei, the hanging of Quakes, and te well town wich ial ey thee ad thigs bow them becuse they wee my anceton-—in way. The HandmaisTis my book bout tmp anced the scond deicion, 0 Mary Webs is indeed 10 tne of ae vy ee ances May wars wellknown wih, oat et the wasted for witchcraft ar hanged. Bu twas before they had invented the drop, which braks your nesk—they me sung he op tnd ther dangle and when they came cater down the ex ening, ‘he wall ale. Unde the lew of double np you count xc 1 pon vice forthe secs 0 he a for anther ore yea fecha if was ong tick ny ack ut by wring this book ber deat eto mene wih a very ough ec ‘attan New England wars ecracy, ot democracy: and he fur soci propose in The Handi Tha he form of seo 10 ‘te pric that no oie very cmp far fm its oe Sekine Rasa wold hie ren ankle witout Cai Rass prea ands forth, Alo the mor porn fms of catnip hee Shvays ben those thar have npoed san inthe mame of ion and toe flsch sth French Revlon and His haeaien ve 1 gous foc and onc ti ies Wha i ned er ely trod yrany ian ungosionae ide or suv Pll dngremen 1 ple digsemene but plea igrement wih ay ey anda goed deal of ploning slxgheoumes canbe bought 10 tear onthe extermination of ferctc, as hisery bas demons thrgh the Crude, the force eonrenions oa the Spanish ng Sto, he burning he ake unde the Enlsh cn Body Mar and ‘on hough the yar wasn thei of history ta the Aeran ‘nwtuonls inthe ihe centr epartedcurc rom ate ita in height fio hac my eden Te HandmaiTle recom bin hem. Al tions begin with the qucion Wharf. The Wha i ain from bok wo bok: What if Joa loves Mary? Wha iohn des ne Mary? What if Mary ge caten bya enormous hak? Wh ihe Mar {an invade Wharf ou find 3 Geasure map, and 0 frd—bur tees always a Wharf Pe chsh noel isthe anew, The wha fo oThe Handi Tale col be formule: Wh if co happen et Whe indo weld be ave nvr bl! ayia bat tbe Rising Icey can oe eras wor they ui aly was xan macho chance. Sot fm. 04 Hom) rr fou rae tak oe the Ui State and ct wa ian gorenmen tet foc povr bing whist How woul yg sbi Wht cons wold favor you and what slogen wold Jo Popo, Bag wold ou hat woud arc che ees 2 Geof he ppv, with which no fran can yin owefyu pop comin, yo lly we many te ‘Aden clin democrats would be xn even byte sigh ill ‘itl concacion acm, Alough many dbus ee commie a fie iin be mame of he ra el emery. hE ‘mally en dnc in seo witha god del of veal embod ae eee this country youd be more likely to try some version af titan Fatherhood if you wanted a takeover. That would definitly be eather in Bar me dctorhips do noc come in in good times. They come nin tds, when people are ready to give up some of thie freedoms © anak contol nd promi therm bet Thebes ht eH nd Maslin poe wee Teheran ashram in propor to woe Siete dts ding Fine Wed We To mae my a SRS Pah proposed someting slice more complex. Bal > ak ins Ye dco a vioking ae of global cont, which wed Pansokingmacn snd fre ore of cep mac etl? aegis tne cape whch hs hal we Age (ya ey re do chemical and edition fa ha TES happening aay) and a higher bid Std mea iesng Th iyo conse an ear eth ona nto and well ow whe Fane Peretti at a and el The ee i ape ts sc which, ke many haan 68 ‘moe thn one woman ot favored mae meio - a Thee are low of precedents for this practice, but my soci, being derived from Puritanism, woul, of coune, seal bibl sanction. Luckily for them, Old Testament patie were notorioudly plygamous: the txt they chose a thei cornrone isthe ory of Rachel and Leah the co vives of Jacob and their baby empesin, When they themselves an out of babies they presed ther handmade ino service and counted the abe 2 thee own, thus providing a biblical jareaton for saogue mothe hood, should anyone need one. Among ths fe people—notrwo—the swe ribs of sal were produce "Wormar plc, ode Republic of Gilead —so named for the mountain whee Jac promised to his fiher-n-lan Laban, cathe would prtet is two daghtrrwomari plc x srely i the home. My problem at 2 writer wa, git that my soci has ued ll women back int hit homes, how dl they go aout i? How do you ge women back ino the home, ow that they ae running around eu che home, having jabs And gency lingig themseves rund Simple You just lose your eyes nd take several gant steps back, into the nocao-very-dsan past—the nineteenth century, be exct—deprve them ofthe ight ro vote, own ropa old jb, and probibie public prosiuion in the Burgin ro Jeep them fom hanging out on tet comers, and pres there they a6 ‘nicki the home To stop them from axing chee gold Amex ads make ick silane scapes, Ihave their eeitfozen overnight afc al it ‘enone is on computers and ea is obslee—which is where were heading how simple to single ou any one group—al thon ve styl ‘hose wih ren hain all women. OF the many cary features of my fare sexi, this one seme 10 have gocen co the most people. That thei loved edly, wel-rained ceoicande could ise up apt hemt Is the suo nighamares. This then, par of the core of what hope you wil thnks eles logic runinglike aspine through Te onda Tile While Twas wring it and for some ime afer, hep scrapbook wih pings fom nowpa- ers refring to allots of material tha ted in with the premises on ‘which che ok was bscd-—everthing fom ats on he high ee of CB Found in polar beast the iological masher assigned co SS oops by His in adcon vo hi gl wives. for proses of chi production,wera wer ‘condians in pisos around the wordt computer technol wndergound pop in the sat of Utah. There ia have i, thing Inthe book wou a precede But hi teri in if wo ot ee snore A noe is aba the ory fan individ, rset inde ‘du never they of gered mas So thera problem ia the wing of The Hands Tae were the ses the problen involve in Paivlwo ‘esteem hwo mak he ary wet ame nine The pil that Up wing 0 frequen sub n ect pl of dingo. The author ges oo etsatc about wage 1990-1999 ‘remo cower bk and the ory pind vo a hal while the bein fh a expo, [waned he ictal ad logical background o mF ‘et min bcgrond did ct wan i unuping the forepound.