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None Provided24

None Provided24 1. The Bible as Political/Philosophical Statement The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood The dystopia depicted in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a patriarchal society that prides itself in the protection of women. The marked hierarchy of power and status revealed here cannot be denied and the society’s attitude towards women is as anti-feminist as many could ever imagine. The society in which those without power are not only weak but ignorant is reminiscent of the early Middle Ages when only the highly educated and powerful were able to read, and even fewer were able to read the Bible. The society described by Offred has almost a puritanical flavour to it. The Gileadean religious attitude is one based on only a few exclusionary Biblical ideas. Gilead is a perfect example of the danger of using the Bible too literally. Although Biblical references, themes, laws and images are found consistently in Gileadean society; the selective nature of the passages used by the Commanders for enforcing laws and ideas ensure that they will not be contradicted, but supported by the Bible. This phenomenon can be seen in the use of the creation story (Genesis 1-2); the story of Jacob’s wives Rachel and Leah (Genesis 30:1-8), and the ideas of salvation as seen by the Gileadean society. The story of creation found in the first two chapters of Genesis is alluded to and explicitly used in The Handmaid’s Tale. The story is recounted rarely by those who are not in a power position and always to reinforce the ideas and laws set out by the Gileadean society. The Commander of the house where Offred is stationed reads to the household periodically, with little variation and always with the same purpose. Offred says, “It’s the usual story, the usual stories. God to Adam, God to Noah. Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” The passages are drilled in to everyone’s mind. There is to be no question as to whether or not women and men are meant to reproduce. From the stories read, this would appear to be the only message of the Bible. All the passages selected by the Commanders support reproduction, as do rituals and customs in Gilead. The creation story of Genesis is also used to support gender divisions in The Handmaid’s Tale. Select passages from the Bible are used to enforce the idea of the Gileadean fathers that women should be subservient. The idea is one that controls much of society, although women are well protected, but mostly for their reproductive value. The first sight of this that Offred has occurs before coup that establishes power as it is in Gilead. When her job and money are taken from her and her bank account handed over to Luke she says, “We are not each other’s anymore. Instead I am his.” This practice is very much a reminder of the consequences of the fall. “Unto the woman he said… and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (Genesis 3:16) This division of genders is also seen during the mass marriage ceremony conducted by Commanders. The Bible is used selectively, to the point where it is exclusionary. The Commander conducting the service says, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection… But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve.” The service seems only to take into account one telling of the creation story. The first version of the creation story in Genesis 1 states that man made male and female together. It isn’t until the second version of the story that man is created before woman. The commander is able to do this, and all other acts based on the Bible because the general public is forbidden to read, and has no way of challenging the claims. The creation story is also used to support the suffering of women on the occasion of births. The Bible is quoted during Janine’s labour as justification for withholding painkillers. “No anesthetics, even. Aunt Elizabeth said it was better for the baby, but also: I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.” Aunt Elizabeth is of course referring to the same verse where woman is condemned to serving her husband. The passages taken from the creation story in this society work only to benefit those in power. They are used to reinforce laws about female reproduction and the hierarchy of power found in Gilead. Only select verses are used in order to prevent contradiction, as seen in the marriage service where only one version of the creation story is recounted. As the society is religious, and heresy is not tolerated, one cannot challenge the Commanders on their interpretations of the Bible, as they have become in a way, the Bible. Another theme from the Bible that is central in The Handmaid’s Tale is that of the handmaid being used for reproduction. The justification for this is found in two main instances in the Bible. The first is the story of Abram and Sarai, who use Sarai’s handmaid, Hagar to conceive a child for the couple. (Genesis 16) The second instance, used more prolifically in The Handmaid’s Tale is that of Rachel and Leah, Jacob’s wives who use their respective handmaids for baring children and are then rewarded with their own children. (Genesis 30:1-22) These stories are also used to demonstrate to the Gileadean society that it is only women who can be deemed sterile (a word actually forbidden in Gilead ) and that it is not the men who are responsible when conception does not occur. The ceremony that occurs monthly to coincide with Offred’s ovulation involving the Commander, his wife and Offred is the realization of the story of Rachel and Leah and of Sarai, fornication occurs with both the wife and Offred present as to justify the child as the Commander’s wife’s child. As Offred nears the end of her position as handmaid at her third station (the last of her chances, as only three are granted) and has not yet conceived, the household gets more and more anxious. “ ‘Maybe he can’t,’ she says. I don’t know who she means. Does she mean the Commander, or God? If it’s God, she should say won’t. Either way it’s heresy. It’s only women who can’t, who remain stubbornly closed, damaged, defective.” This exchange between Offred and the Commander’s wife, Serena Joy is strictly forbidden, and could cause many problems if overheard. Serena, too is worried that Offred will not produce a child for them as Offred is the last handmaid that will be afforded to them. The story of Rachel and Leah is the basis of this exchange and is considered to not only be a law of the Gileadean society, but one of the Bibles. Handmaids were used after the population of the Gilead area steadily dropped following some sort of chemical disaster. The birth rate suffered as many men and women were left sterile from exposure. The use of artificial insemination and fertility clinics was outlawed after the implementation of the Gileadean society. They were considered to be irreligious, but the use of surrogate mothers, found in the Bible was allowed and endorsed. The story of Rachel and Leah is used a number of times throughout the novel, and the school where future handmaids are educated is call the Rachel and Leah Re-education Centre. Handmaid’s are endorsed, supported and needed by this society in order to maintain it. The story of Rachel and Leah, and the law found in the first verses of Genesis 30, are used, as the basis for the justification for the use of handmaid’s to reproduce. The fact that Rachel and Leah were able to conceive themselves after they used their handmaids is even further justification for the use of handmaids, and the idea that it is the women who are unable to reproduce, not the men. The Bible is used here once again to further the benefit of those in power. The Bible defines women in this society, and their expectations are placed on them by what pieces of the Bible are provided to them. A misquote used by the society as a slogan states, “From each according to her ability; to each according to his needs.” The slogan sums up the main attitude of the society on the differences between men and women, and is regarded as Biblical and accredited to Paul, even though it isn’t even an accurate quote. It is in this way that the Bible is manipulated in order to suit the needs of those running the society. Gileadean society uses the concept of salvation in a different manner than found in the Bible, yet still considers it to be a religious concept. Salvation is referred to a number of times, for women at least, as pregnancy. To conceive a child is to be saved, although there isn’t any explicit reference to the Bible during talk of salvation it is clear that it is still a religious notion. When faced with the opportunity to become pregnant by her doctor instead of the Commander, Offred declines as it is risky, but she does realize that pregnancy is her only way to save herself. To conceive would be “A way out, a salvation.” In the wedding service, a quite religious ceremony filled with Biblical quotes and references the Commander says, “Not withstanding she shall be saved by childbearing.” Offred reflects on the time before, and wonders what they supposed would have saved them before, if they were all wrong to believe that belief itself would save them. Women who are pregnant are saved in a number of ways. They are exempted from duties otherwise expected from them and they are validated as women and no longer run the risk of being classified as “unwomen” to be sent to the “colonies” to do dangerous clean up work. The idea of salvation by pregnancy would be heretical in any other society, but in this one it is the only way for a women to save her if she isn’t born into high enough status. For a woman such as Offred it really is salvation, she can talk all she wants, and agree with everything said to her, but until she produces for Gilead she won’t really be believed as a supporter. The idea of pregnancy as salvation for women mainly stems from Rachel’s cry, “Give me children or else I die.” (Genesis 30:1) In Gilead, this holds more truth than it did when it was said by Rachel. The Bible is taken so literally in this dystopian society that a woman who can’t produce probably will die – as a result of banishment to the colonies or in her attempts to become pregnant. The symbolic interpretation of the Bible is lost by this society and they can find only literal meaning in the Bible, which leads to sometimes misconstrued ideas and systems. In a novel so full with Biblical references and themes that the name of the area it is set in is Biblical, it is impossible to discuss every Biblical element within its pages. The shopping for daily bread and other food takes place at stores with names like “Loaves and Fishes” and “Lilies”, and “Milk and Honey,” seven of the sections of the book are named “Night,” and the fundamental base of the society’s system is based on a few select Biblical passages. The use of the Bible in this dystopian novel is frequent and always in the background, weaved in among the other themes and ideas. The literal interpretation of the Bible by the Gileadean Fathers proves itself to be dangerous when viewed with the eyes of our current society. The lack of symbolic analysis of the Bible leaves little room in which Gileadeans can safely move. To prevent its people from challenging the interpretations made by the Gileadean Fathers they forbid all reading, and in fact one of the men suspected to be the Commander in Offred’s household in the Historical Notes is credited with having said, “Our big mistake was teaching them to read. We won’t do that again.” The use of the Bible in this novel is to establish laws within its society; this is not so different from many accepted societies of today, except in that there is no freedom of interpretation, and that the religious laws of some, must apply to all in Gilead. Atwood, Margaret, The Handmaid’s Tale Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1985 The Holy Bible: King James Version, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1962 Wilson, Sharon R., Thomas B. Friedman, and Shannon Hengen, ed. Approaches to Teaching Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Other Works, New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1996 Bibliography:

Word Count: 2159