Hypocrisy of Gileadean Regime in Handmaid's Tale
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The Hypocrisy of the Gileadean Regime in The Handmaid’s Tale
Since early civilization, many leaders have attempted to structure society on the basis of religious principles. In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, the regime has introduced religious principles as the foundation for their doctrine, but it lacks spirituality and morality. The fate of the woman and the use of the bible as an instrument for control over society both reveal the hypocrisy of the Gilead regime. The Gilead regime pretends to be based on religious principles, but the evident hypocrisy makes it certain the regime is destined to fail.
The word of the bible is distorted and used as an instrument for control over society. The regime only uses statements that present the godliness of Gilead. They leave out statements that imply negative things, such as a passage in Hosea: “Gilead is a city of wicked men, stained with footprints of blood.” (Hosea 6:8). The regime only delivers messages that imply Gilead is for the greater good. The words of the Beatitudes are also altered: “Blessed are the meek... Blessed are the silent...” (Atwood, 84) , but they leave out the part that says the meek “...shall inherit the earth” (Matthew5:5). In the novel, Offred knew that “Blessed are the silent” was made up, but she had no way to prove it because the bible is locked away and women are not allowed to read. This shows how powerful the bible is. It must be kept locked away because if it gets into the hands of the citizens, they would question the regime and rebel. The Gileadean regime could not gain control over society without using the bible as a weapon.
The role of women, most particularly that of the Handmaids, stresses the hypocrisy of the Gileadean regime. Women are deprived of luxuries, power and the right to read or write. This degradation of women makes it clear that the Gilead regime would have gotten rid of all women if not for breeding purposes. The role of the Handmaid is justified by...
Since early civilization, many leaders have attempted to structure society on the basis of religious principles. In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, the regime has introduced religious principles as the foundation for their doctrine, but it lacks spirituality and morality. The fate of the woman and the use of the bible as an instrument for control over society both reveal the hypocrisy of the Gilead regime. The Gilead regime pretends to be based on religious principles, but the evident hypocrisy makes it certain the regime is destined to fail.
The word of the bible is distorted and used as an instrument for control over society. The regime only uses statements that present the godliness of Gilead. They leave out statements that imply negative things, such as a passage in Hosea: “Gilead is a city of wicked men, stained with footprints of blood.” (Hosea 6:8). The regime only delivers messages that imply Gilead is for the greater good. The words of the Beatitudes are also altered: “Blessed are the meek... Blessed are the silent...” (Atwood, 84) , but they leave out the part that says the meek “...shall inherit the earth” (Matthew5:5). In the novel, Offred knew that “Blessed are the silent” was made up, but she had no way to prove it because the bible is locked away and women are not allowed to read. This shows how powerful the bible is. It must be kept locked away because if it gets into the hands of the citizens, they would question the regime and rebel. The Gileadean regime could not gain control over society without using the bible as a weapon.
The role of women, most particularly that of the Handmaids, stresses the hypocrisy of the Gileadean regime. Women are deprived of luxuries, power and the right to read or write. This degradation of women makes it clear that the Gilead regime would have gotten rid of all women if not for breeding purposes. The role of the Handmaid is justified by...