ENG4U0

Ms. Garitto
Kevin Nguyen
The Handmaid’s Tale

In the novel "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood, it is evident through the use of the

various elements of cognitive design that women's rights are restricted by political means, and they are

forced to adopt the role of “caretaker” for men. Consequently, the injustices that women endure either

result in permanent psychological damage or creates resistance from women. Tropology is used to show

how oppression and resistance takes place within Gilead.

Within Gilead there is the Wall. The Wall is a symbol of oppression. “It’s the bags over the heads

that are the worst, worse than the faces themselves would be. [. . .] like scarecrows, which in a way it is

what they are, since they are meant to scare.” (Margaret Atwood. 06. 36). The Wall is a symbol of

oppression because it hangs the bodies of people on steel hooks and uses their deaths as an example of

what happens to people that dare to go against the laws of Gilead. Offred states that the men who got

hanged as an example were doctors who practiced abortions and that the faces of the hanged bodies are

covered with a bag to represent a scarecrow so that the people within Gilead are oppressed by the fear of

what would happen to those that disobeyed the law. By making the dead bodies of doctors as an example

of practicing abortions, the government is able to control the people within Gilead psychologically and

physically, so that women who wish to have abortions cannot have one, this gives the women a strong

sense of oppression because their bodies are just tools used for reproduction for Gilead and that their

wishes, rights, and opinons are prohibitated. Resistance is shown through Moira’s attempt to escape

Gilead, which was portrayed through the use of simile. “Moira was like an elevator with open sides. She

made us dizzy. Already we were losing the taste for freedom, already we were finding these walls secure.

In the upper reaches of the atmosphere you'd come apart, you'd vaporize, there would be no pressure

holding you together.” (Atwood. 22. 154). The use of simile was used when Offred compared Moira to an
elevator. Offred states that Moira was like an elevator with open sides because it describes how she is

willing to take a risk for her rights and freedom even if her life is at risk and that she was the epitome of

courage that the other women wanted to become. Also by rebelling against the government the other

women are given the impression that fighting for their rights and freedom is possible and that it can

become a reality and not stay as a dream. In conclusion, in the novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margret

Atwood portrays a dystopia in which a women's rights and freedom are controlled by the government and

that women are forced to take care of men and their needs using multiple elements of cognitive design.

Therefore, the women that are in this dystopia should bring awareness to their situation through suitable

approaches or sorrowfully accept the reality they live in.

Connections - Text to world

❖ The novel connects to the hardships women face everyday and how society views them
❖ The novel’s dystopian world can be compared to the Equal Rights Amendment between the year
1972 and 1982
❖ The novel connects to the oppression women live through for being a women

Question:
❖ Why does the government choose to put a bag over the head instead of showing the faces of the
dead men?
➢ How is this effective for the story?

Citations
- ATWOOD, MARGARET. ​HANDMAIDS TALE​. VINTAGE CLASSICS, 2020.
- “Equal Rights Amendment.” ​Equal Rights Amendment,​ ​https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/​.
- “Problems Women Face in Society.” ​Soldadera Coffee,​
https://soldaderacoffee.com/blogs/soldaderas-blogs/problems-women-face-in-society​.
- Napikoski, Linda, and Jone Johnson Lewis. “How Have Women Fought Against Oppression
Throughout History?” ​ThoughtCo​, ThoughtCo, 12 Dec. 2019,
https://www.thoughtco.com/oppression-womens-history-definition-3528977​.