Ever since the 1800 women have been treated unfairly and unequal then men. Women were just seen as housewives and mothers, the only job they were to have are chores around the house. Men were always seen as the ones in charge and more superior, who provide and look after the women. Over the centuries minor things have changed, women today can have same jobs, and have similar opportunities as men do. Currently in the 20th-century women aren’t completely treated equally to men. Women are still seen weaker than men, and many have experienced sexual harassment and or abuse. In the novel HandMaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood, is about a dystopian society where women don’t have access to receive any knowledge and are ranked either Marthas, handmaids or wifes, men are also ranked either commander, eyes, angels, and guardians, who have more freedom and accesses to anything and control the women. Atwood’s novel points out that their society must have restrictions in order for the society to work and not fall apart like it did before.
To begin, Back then in the 18th-century women were expected to be ‘stay at home moms’ that cleaned the house and did the chores. Not much was expected from them. Women had very restricted rights, they weren’t allowed to work outside or obtain real jobs. In the article, capitalism, patriarchy and job segregation by sex, by Heidi Hartmann, talks about how jobs in the 18 century were constructed in a way to keep women dependent on men. Stating that because of the capitalist society it allows for men to earn more than women, therefore women depend on men:
“ Low wages keep women dependent on men because they encourage women to marry. Married women must perform domestic chores for their husbands. Men benefit, then, from both higher wages and the domestic division of labor. This domestic division of labor, in turn, acts to weaken women’s position in the labor market.’ (Hartmann)
In other words, because women don’t earn as much as men, women are advised to marry, therefore women take on the role of doing domestic work at home. Because of the way the capitalist society is designed, it keeps women inferior to men. This also creates for the men to have more power and in control because they are the ones who have the bigger wage. This also connects back to The Handmaid’s Tale, because in the novel women lost all their rights. Women were banned to read, write, own property. And men are the ones who run the society and control the women.
To continue, in the novel Offred the handmaid’s has many conflicts, her job is to meet with the commander once a month, and produce a baby, but besides that neither of them get actual emotional connection. Handmaid are not supposed to have more contact with the commander, but both are longing for that emotional connection from one another. So the commander begins to develop a relationship with Offred. As they become closer, they go to clubs and he lets her read, give her objects that they are not supposed to have, they do many illegal actions that they are not supposed to do. To add on to her miseries she is also having trouble producing a child, so she creates a relationship with Nick the guardian, in hope to get pregnant. Through all of her troubles and actions she often finds herself remembering the past:
Think about a girl who did not die when she was five; who still does exist, I hope, though not for me. Do I exist for her? Am I a picture somewhere, in the dark at the back of her mind? […] Eight, she must be now. I’ve filled in the time I lost, I know how much there’s been. They were right, it’s easier, to think of her as dead. I don’t have to hope then, or make a wasted effort. (Handmaid’s Tale)
This signifies that Offred is still hopeful for the future, and in remembering the past she escapes her reality numbing the unfortunate reality she’s living in. By remembering her daughter she hopes that shes still alive and remembers her. Offred horribly realizes that if her daughter is alive then she would be living in the society of Gilead belonging to someone else, and she would be brainwashed to forget about her past and Offred her birth mother. This connects to the article The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas by LeGuin, it’s about a dystopian society that is always happy and there is never any guilt. The city of Omelas’ happiness is based off of the misery of a child who lives at the bottom of the city in cage in a dark room:
“ They all know that it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this child’s abominable misery.”( LeGuin)
In other words, the people of Omelas oversee the fact that a child is being held hostage and put in pain in order for there city to thrive, this just comes to show that people won’t do anything to try to save the child also because they benefit from it. This related back to The Handmaid’s Tale, because the handmaid’s are the ones who are being damaged they are the ones who have to keep the society populated and if they can’t reproduce then they are worthless and are forced to work in the colonies. Showing that society acts as if everything is normal just so that the peace won’t be interrupted.
In addition, the Republic of Gilead is separated into groups by gender. Women in the novel are separated into other groups, Martha’s are maids and housekeepers, who cook and clean for the wealthy. Handmaids are women that are meant to produce more children with their assigned commanders. They are forced to produce, because the population of Gilead was decreasing and the society they used to live in collapsed. Wifes, are chosen if they are pure and moral, they are assigned to high ranking men and are only permitted to garden, knit, or gossip with other wives. Men, on the other hand, are ranked above the women and control the Republic of Gilead. Men are also separated into groups. Commander the are given handmaids and wives and a Martha. Eyes are undercover police that work for the government, Angels are the soldiers that fight in wars and are permitted to be married, and Guardians are messengers to the commanders that do minor task to keep things in order. The way the society of Gilead is structured allows for the society to run smoothly and keep the society populated. This relates to the novel called The Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. The novel is about a dystopian society that also separates their society by gender and social class. If it weren’t for the way of structure the people would have clash and would have been unhappy,there society is governed by alphas, who their society would have collapsed resulting in a chaotic outcome:
“Alpha children wear grey They work much harder than we do, because they’re so frightfully clever. I’m really awfully glad I’m a Beta, because I don’t work so hard. And then we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas. Gammas are stupid. They all wear green, and Delta children wear khaki. Oh no, I don’t want to play with Delta children. And Epsilons are still worse.” (Brave New World)
This quote is demonstrating that although the groups aren’t interacting with each other they still envy each other, Because of the division the people get along because and if they were to interact with each other then the groups would envy each other even more resulting in a chaotic downfall that would ruin the structure of the society.
Overall, the society of Omelas, Handmaid’s Tale, Brave New World and today’s society all benefit from the less fortunate, which allows for the society to function and create peace. Omelas benefit from the child misery and the people overlook that issue. The Handmaid’s Tale treats women as objects that are only good for reproducing. Brave New World is separated into group that take soma so that everything stays peaceful. All these society functions the way they do so they can maintain order and not collapse.
Works Cited
- Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. New York: Anchor Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 1998. Print.
- Hartmann, Heidi. “Capitalism, Patriarchy, and Job Segregation by Sex.” Signs, vol. 1, no. 3, 1976, pp. 137–169. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3173001.
- Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World.
- Le Guin, Ursula.the Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
