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Throughout history many stereotypes have been inflicted on women, preventing them to live in the ways in which they have hoped and desired. There has been many limitations set, placing women in very conventional roles: housewife; mother; secretary, all examples of such restrictions. Margaret Atwood, an extraordinary novelist when speaking out against women? s rights, has done so excellently in her books entitled The Handmaid? s Tale and The Edible Woman. Here it is seen just how arduous it has been for women to live out their own dreams and goals, as society has prevented this.
Atwood examines the many limitations placed on women and the necessity to overcome these restrictions in order that they are able to maintain an individual sense of identity. The Edible Woman introduces the character of Marian Mc Alpin. She is quite an intelligent, educated young woman who suffers the consequences of society? s views on women.
Marian is fortunate enough to have received an university education although her job description does not mirror this. Marian has what would be considered a very good job, however she can never become one of the? men upstairs. ? Becoming a doctor or lawyer, for the average woman is still a rarity by the late nineteen-sixties.
Besides, ? what else do you do with a B. A these days? ? (11) In Marian? s love life there is a man, Peter, whom she plans on marrying. She knows that after their marriage she would have to give up her job and become a happy housewife for her successful husband. Marian does not want this as she believes she is meant for more.
She still, however, continues to find herself in traditional female roles, losing her own sense of who she is. Even as she witnesses what is happening to her, she feels powerless against the influential force society has against her. Being merely a woman in a? man? s world? make it difficult for Marian to speak out against how she truly felt and believed.
For the character of Offred in The Handmaid? s Tale, it is seen in a more exaggerated sense, how one woman can lose her identity to the restrictions placed upon her. Set in a newly formed society, a dictatorship is created to rebuild a world damaged by nuclear waste. Many women have become infertile. Those who may still bear children are sent away for various training on how to become? Handmaids. ?
This is the life that Offred finds herself in. A life where her only value is that of her reproductive system. She has been cut off from the world she once knew. A world where every day activities are now seen as unnecessary frivolities.
How does one cope when all that represents you is taken away? This is how the strength of Offred becomes relevant in the search for self worth in a society that prohibits this on average women such as her. Both Marian and Offred are now faced with the question of what is to be done next. Marian, not being faced with actual laws in which she must adhere to is left with many more options. The difficulty in concluding on a final course of action, however, is extremely evident. As Marian rather quickly loses her ability to eat she recognizes the urgency in taking charge of her life.
For most women this is seen as a challenge many would rather not face. This is exactly the message Atwood wishes to convey: women can in fact take control? they are not weak and inferior beings. How Marian initially handles her situation is how most would? she tries to run away. In doing so, Marian tries to seek fulfillment in other relationships.
She meets a graduate student, Duncan, who she believes is helping in the search for herself. After developing a sexual relationship with Duncan, Marian realizes that he is only contributing to the manipulation she is feeling from everyone around her. He does not help her, but uses her as she has felt used by her fiance. The reality she faces is that in order to fully be her own person she would have to get the strength within herself. By doing what seems simple, Marian realizes she is only making her life more complicated as no one can fully know what she wants except her. After discovering that more then mere avoidance was necessary, Marian takes a radical step to win back her identity.
Her fiance, one of the central causes for her deterioration, holds a future of much success. It would only be natural, if not necessary, to have a wife to share such fortunes with. What Marian finally realizes, however, is that she is not one of Peter? s possessions. She no longer can bear the thought of marrying him for his own convenience. After Peter proposes, Marian immediately falls into his hands as she says, ?
I? d rather have you decide that. I? d rather leave the big decisions up to you. ? (109). Upon realizing this mistake, Marian then recognizes the need to get out of the trap she falls in to. A very courageous move on Marian?
s part is symbolically showing Peter that she can no longer be controlled. She does this by designing a cake in the image of a male? s ideal woman. From luscious lips to curly locks of hair, Marian carefully crafts an image for Peter in which he could do what he pleases with. ? You?
ve been trying to destroy me, haven? t you, ? she said. ? You? ve been trying to assimilate me. But I?
ve made you a substitute, something you? ll like much better. This is what you want all along isn? t it? I? ll get you a fork? (352).
The actions Marian takes to assume her own identity are monumental. Such a step to self-realization is necessary to ensure that Marian? s life will be what she wants it to be. If she were not successful the chances of her life falling into place would have been less probable. Marian would have found herself feeling more physically trapped?
like Offred. Unfortunately it is easy for many, not just women, to find themselves feeling like Marian. If action is not taken accordingly to such a situation one can find themselves more like Offred, where all hope of survival is gone. It is much more difficult for Offred to break free from the bonds that kept her in her Commander? s home. There are physical confinements such as?
the wall, ? reminding her all too well of the life she is restricted to. Her daily walks with a fellow handmaid are limited to carefully planned out conversation. Her relationship with virtually anyone is that of purpose, only to accomplish something. Offred is only living in the literal sense. Yet She still manages to survive this mundane life where who she is doesn?
t matter to anyone. By the perseverance Offred illustrates, Atwood makes her message clearer. All women can survive the adversities they find themselves in if only they put their whole mind to it. By receiving inspiration from a tiny inscription on her closet wall?
Note te bastards carborundum? (don? t let the bastards grind you down), Offred is able to gain strength in her daily ventures. Offred, taking great risks, develops various forbidden relationships with people in the community. She absolutely refuses to let this absurd government bring her down, as she illustrates this by standing by her identity. The most interesting relationship she develops is with her Commander.
He is of an authoritative position in their household, only to make contact with Offred as they try to produce a child. Fortunately he is able to see the frustration in Offred? s eyes as she has nothing. He allows her to play scrabble and look at magazines.
These were great steps towards rebellion, as all forms of literature are forbidden to handmaids. Marian never protests as she desperately needs all that the Commander has to offer. Quite willingly, Offred allows herself to be escorted to an illegal club where she has a taste of her former world. Upon this discovery Offred can not live in this newly created world any longer. After many grow suspicious of her, Offred still refuses to go back to the way she is expected to behave.
As the story concludes, the guards come to take her away. Whether she becomes safe or not, is not as important as the fact that she sacrifices everything to ensure that she has her own dignity. In a society such as this, it would have been very easy to only live as one is told, however it is the inner strength that allows Offred to endure her new lifestyle. Both novels reflect the constant theme of lack of distinct identity. In both cases the characters demonstrate the large quantities of strength necessary to protect their own individuality, which were slowly degenerating at the cause of the communities in which they lived. Atwood has written two eminent novels, representing the inner strength that she believes is in all women.
By recognizing the hardships that daily activities bring, the necessity for all women to be able to stand up for themselves is emphasized. Women cannot give in to the distorted preconceptions that they must be gentle, soft-spoken and submissive. Each individual woman has numerous capabilities all in which surpass the conventional expectations women have been faced with in the past. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. The Edible Woman.
Toronto: McClelland-Bantam, 1969. Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid? s Tale. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1985. 36 e
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Research essay sample on Handmaid Tale Handmaid Marian
