Hello Readers,
I’ve tried to do a spoiler free review but there may be some spoilers
that have snuck through but there are definitely spoilers in the bottom part of
the post comparing the tv series to the book.
This
review is a back date of The Handmaids Tale as I read the book last year after
watching the tv show (I know it’s the wrong way around). In the world of this
book The United States of America’s political and social structure has
crumbled, the president was murdered and an all-powerful, Christian
fundamentalist army has imposed a terrifying new order on its citizens and the Republic
of Gilead was formed and the country’s borders have been shut ever since.
The
story is not only a terrifying vision of male-controlled oppression, but it is
also a story of rebellion and the reliance of the human spirit. The women of this books
worlds are the main target of the regime’s brutality. Their rights and personal
freedoms have been abolished and they are no longer allowed to work, to own
assets or to be in relationships not sanctioned by the state.
To add insult to injury woman are
now categorised according to marital status and reproductive ability. The categorises
are Wives, married to Commanders, the founders and shapers of the new regime;
Econowives, the spouses of lower ranking men; Marthas, too old to have children
and now domestic slaves; Aunts, the regime’s propagandists and enforcers; or
Handmaids, the fertile and are forced to bear children for officials.
The book tells the story of Offred (“Of-Fred”), she is a Handmaid, the
property of the Commander who she is given too. Offred is careful not to give
much away and we know very little else about her. Offred is on her second
placement as a Handmaid, she knows that if this assignment fails she has one
more go before she is declared invalid and shipped off to the Colonies to clean
up toxic waste along with the other women that Gilead considers useless or
dangerous.
Offred’s
days are spent running errands in stripped back to the basic shops where the
goods are labelled with pictures (because women should not read), or sitting
quietly in a bedroom with shatterproof windows.
On “ceremony” nights, she mechanically
copulates with the Commander while lying in the lap of his infertile wife,
Serena Joy. The ritual, is borrowed from the biblical story that emphasises that Offred is nothing more than a womb.
As
the novel concludes, with Offred being taken away by the secret police, the
Eyes of God, known informally as "the Eyes". Before she is put in the
large black van Offred is unsure if leaving will result in her escape or her
capture. She enters the van with her future uncertain and That’s it.
The TV series
STOP!!
Now if you don’t wish to
have any spoilers
The plot of the story has been slightly adjusted and padded out a little, but i think they have captured the essence of the book in its brutal reality. Certainly worth a watch and season two has started airing in America (I'll have to wait a little longer) and is a perfect excuse to binge watch season one.
The show has updated itself to reflect the current
times. One of the main big
changes is that Offred reveals her name to be June and is no longer shown
as being a passive bystander. When the government starts to take away the rights of women June and her friends take to the streets to participate in women’s marches.
Offred’s backstory is also more extensive than it
is in the book. There are flashback scenes that give the audience insight into
how Gilead came to be: The slut-shaming of June and Moira on their run hints at
the growth of sexism across the country and has no in-book equivalent.
They also change round a crucial scene in more
horrific manner in my opinion in the book June’s baby is briefly abducted in a
grocery store at 11 months old. While in the tv series A woman steals June’s
baby not long after she been born from the maternity ward demonstrates the real
consequences of the current fertility crisis.
I’ll add this bit here under the spoiler warning. I found the ending stupidly annoying it doesn’t provide a definitive answer about its Offred’s fate (I like endings what can I say). Which set my mind racing like was is she okay or is this it for her. So, I am actually really excited to see season two to see where Offred’s story will go.
L x
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