Gilead's Dehumanization Part II

In the previous post entitled Gilead's Dehumanization of Women, I talked about how the totalitarian society of Gilead dehumanized women, especially the Handmaid's as a babymaker. But now that I think more about Gilead and its strict laws, I've come to realize that women weren't the only antagonists in this dehumanization, but men were also affected.

Adding on to my previous argument that women were only important because they were the babymakers, Gilead dehumanized them to the extent that women began to consider themselves as 'containers, it's only the insides of our bodies that are important' (107). It's really horrifying to see these women transform and slowly deteriorate as 'two-legged wombs, that's all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices' (146).

I thought it was even more terrifying when the Commander invited Offred to his office for a game of Scrabble but he himself didn't really understand as to why he invited her. When she see's him she says that 'his motives and desires weren't obvious even to him. They had not  yet reached the level of words' (163), suggesting that because men became the sex-machines in Gilead, he didn't know how to act normally anymore. It seemed like all he knew how to do was have sex with the Handmaid's because Gilead dehumanized him to fulfill that specific duty. I think it's evident that dehumanization not only affected women, but also the men as well.

Gilead's Dehumanization of Women

In history, women in the United States have constantly fought to achieve freedom, equality, and independence and have been successful in many ways. But what if that was all taken away within a year, a month, or even a day? Would they slowly deteriorate back to their old inferior lifestyle? Well, that is what the women in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale experience in the totalitarian society of Gilead. Women, especially the Handmaids, are dehumanized to an extent that they are no longer individuals in society, but more an important 'national treasure' (75).

    ‘I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation,

     or an implement for the accomplishment of my will. I could use it to run, push buttons,

     of one sort or another, make things happen. There were limits but my body was 

    nevertheless lithe, single, solid, one with me’ (83).

     ‘Now the flesh arranges itself differently. I’m a cloud, congealed around a central 

      object, the shape of a pear, which is hear more real than I am and glows red within its 

      translucent wrapping’ (84).

In these two passages, it is evident that the roles of women have drastically changed in Gilead. They are basically thought as baby makers and if they fail (to have a miscarriage) to fulfill their duty, they are 'shipped off to the Colonies, with the Unwomen' (71). So if they fail their one task, they're no longer considered women? This makes me so angry because miscarriages are something uncontrollable and something that can happen to anyone and if that happens in Gilead, women are basically viewed as useless non-human beings. The Gilead government is to blame for the decrease in children because they are the ones shipping away women who are still capable of bearing a child.

This passage, ‘He rests a moment, withdraws, recedes, rezippers. He nods, then turns and leaves the room, closing the door with exaggerated care behind him, as if both of us are his ailing mother’ (106) was interesting because once the Commanders are done having sex with the Handmaids they just simply walk out of the room, as if nothing ever happened. I mean I understand that their job is to bear a child for their Commander but for him to just simply do what he came to do and walk out of the room as if nothing ever happened...? Well I thought that was quite interesting. I think this also relates to the passage, ‘I cannot avoid seeing, now, the small tattoo on my ankle. Four digits and an eye, a passport in reverse. It's supposed to guarantee that I will never be able to fade, finally, into another landscape. I am too important, too scarce, for that. I am a national treasure’ (75) because again, it manifests the idea of women as central objects.

I also think that the environment of Gilead itself already makes women feel as if they aren't human beings because the narrator implies that, ‘There's nobody here I can love, all the people I could love are dead or elsewhere. Who knows where they are or what their names are no?’ (113). This makes it seem like women are so detached to their old world that eventually they alienate themselves. Gilead has changed these women so much that they can't even love anything in their lives because society has taken everything they cared about away from them.

Being A Perfect Wife Just Isn't Enough

Judy Syfer's Why I Want a Wife article depicts a perfect wife who sacrifices everything to fulfill their duty as a wife. 'As I thought about him while I was ironing one evening, it suddenly occurred to me that I too, would like to have a wife. Why do I want a wife?' Everyone wants a wife because they do everything in a marriage- from being a mother and taking care of the children and running around doing errand for the household, to staying up all night, waiting for their husbands to come home from work. To be completely honest, why wouldn't anyone not want a wife??

'I want a wife who is a good nurturing attendant to my children, who arranged for their schooling, makes sure that they have an adequate social life with their peers, takes them to the park, the zoo, etc. I want a wife who takes care of the children when they are sick, a wife who arranges to be around when the children need special care, because, of course, I cannot miss classes at school'. It might have sounded selfish when the author said 'because I cannot miss classes' but that is the excuse that most men tend to use. For example, Bob was asked a few weeks in advance by his wife to look after the kids because she was attending her high school reunion. But the night before her reunion, Bob tells his wife that their is an important meeting at work that he cannot miss so therefore, his wife couldn't go to the reunion she was waiting for for months. She could have stood up for herself and convinced Bob to let her go to the reunion, but then what would happen to the kids? She can't just call in a babysitter last minute and ask them to look after the kids. If she did go to the reunion and abandoned her kids at home, what kind of a mother would she be?! Let's get real here, either way, the wife always has to support both her husband and her children, while they constantly make sacrifice after sacrifice. They don't really have a choice, but to prioritize the husband and the kids before they do for themselves. 

'If, by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have, I want the liberty to replace my present wife with another one. Naturally, I will expect a fresh, new life; my wife will take the children and be solely responsible for them so that I am left free'. So even after everything that us women do for men in a marriage, it's never good enough! No matter how much women have to sacrifice, the men are never going to appreciate it, or even realize what we give up for them. Women have to continue to live their old lifestyle, while the men get to simply create a new life with someone else. Isn't it just sad to think that we weren't good enough for those men? What kind of expectations do they expect from us? This article manifests the sad reality that since women already do most of the caring of the kids and the house, it shouldn't be much of a problem if their husbands left them. Who do they think they are? Treating women like they can be recycled or something. Personally, if it weren't for women, men would be nothing. Yes, they do bring in income for the family, but that wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the support and the cooperation of their loving wife. So my question is, what do women need to do in order to satisfy the men's everyday needs?