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Neologism in The Handmaid's Tale
Objectification of women is emphasized in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. The use of neologism contributes to the embodiment of women’s position in a patriarchal society. As one of the handmaids in Gilead, Offred was deemed as a reproduction machine; however, Commander’s treatment led to the constant questioning of her identity, so she winds up being an unreliable narrator. In the community of Gilead, there existed a bipolar mindset which further solidified men’s power. Either/or theory was applied in society, meaning there were only two extremes and no choice in between. Women in Gilead were categorized into wives, econwives, handmaids, Marthas, Aunts, Jezebels… They were classified by their roles. The separations of women based on their roles in society intensified the objectification of females. “Unwomen” was the word created by Atwood, representing those who were considered not valuable in Gilead; they either lost the function to reproduce or were feminists. The prefix “un-” demonstrates those “unwomen” were alienated and there was a strong emotional disgust and removal. At the same time, females’ identities and self-perceptions were prevented and blurred. When Offred reflected on herself, she perceived herself as “I thought I was sounding like that, the voice of a monotone, voice of a doll.” When individuality was constrained, the color of women’s clothes began to dominate, and so “[e]verything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood, which defines us.” Different from what the color red originally meant, this color represents offspring and children. It is sarcastic that handmaids were supposed to live as nuns but what they really did was reproduce. Atwood gave “birthday” a brand new definition as the day when a handmaid delivered a child. People used to think of a birthday as a day when the mother brought the child into the world, glorifying the greatness of mothers. On contrary, birthdays in Gilead emphasized the newborn, ignoring the power of handmaids as if they were the property of their commanders. Influenced by society, Offred lost her self-identity, hoping to have a child as “something she's won, a tribute.” Offred was someone who remained self-conscious, and completely complied with Gilead’s bipolarity. She was pathetic since she got the chance to rebel but she feared to do so; ultimately, she was unable to hold her identity, paralyzed by society.
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