HANDMAID'S TALE
HANDMAID'S TALE DYSTOPIAN LITERATURE MARGARET ATWOOD FIRST PUBLISHED: 1985 The story is about a woman Offred, who lives in a dystopian age. The population is shrinking due to a toxic environment, and the ability to have viable babies is at a premium. (In today’s real world, studies are now showing a sharp fertility decline in Chinese men.) Under totalitarianism, the ruling class monopolizes valuable things, so the elite of the regime arrange to have fertile females assigned to them as Handmaids. This name Offred is composed of a man’s first name, “Fred,” and a prefix denoting “belonging to”. Within this name is concealed another possibility: “offered,” denoting a religious offering or a victim offered for sacrifice. Offred’s real name is not revealed; probably because she represents the multitude and also, it doesn’t really matter. The Handmaids are forced by the Aunts to join in what is called the “slut-shaming” of one of their members who is being made to recount how s...