The Handmaid's Tale

In The Handmaid's Tale, the readers are taken into the corrupted world that is, ironically, Gilead. The ideals of this society seem so surreal, but at the same time they are tangible and seem like they can so easily become actions of today's world.  Like We, Atwood's tale of Offred shows how conformity and placing all power in the hands of a select few is not always the best route to take. With great power comes great responsibility and if the hearts of those who control all the power within a society are tainted, then the society as a whole will be tainted and become chaos. A quote that I found rather ironic can be found on page nine, "...a parody of something, some fairy-tale figure in a red cloak, descending towards a moment of carelessness that is the same as danger. A Sister, dripped in blood" (Atwood 9).  Offred is comparing her life to that of a fairy-tale, which despite danger and obstacles, have a positive, happy, desirable outcome in the end. The life that she leads, baby or no, will never have a happy ending; it is, instead, a continuing, vicious cycle that brings about pain, misery, oppression, and suffering no matter which path is taken.