FREE ESSAY ON MARGARET ATWOOD

MARGARET ATWOOD

Fight for the Female
Margaret Atwood, a contemporary Canadian author, has been classified as one of this
century's' most feminist, and near dystopian novelists. Her works illustrate how feminism
has caused the downfall of contemporary society. Margaret Atwood, a prominent feminist
author of the twentieth century, is driven by her sense of social reform and her
realistic view of a disturbed society to produce works such as The Handmaids Tale. 
Atwood was born on November 18, 1943 in Ottawa, Ontario. In her earlier years as a child,
she lived in the Canadian wilderness where her father was an entomologist. He studied and
observed insects. Atwood is the second of three children of Margaret Dorothy Kilam and
Dr. Carl Edmund Atwood (Brimrose 3). Her parents were both strong and independent minded
parents who wanted their children to be the same (3). The Atwoods were a mile, by water,
to the nearest village. There was no radio, television, movie theater, or children, other
than her brother who was two years older. She attributes her outsiders' eye to this
unconventional childhood (Bedell 2). When Atwood finally go to venture into the city, all
social groups seemed to her equally bizarre, all artefacts and habits peculiar and
strange ( 2).
A childhood divided between summers in the woodlands of Quebec, and winters in many
different Canadian cities, is what Atwood credits her lust for reading, thus a love for
writing, to (Brimrose 2). She used reading as a means of entertainment. Atwood centered
her reading on Grimms Fairy Tales and George Orwells Animal Farm, both of which created a
dark prototype of victim and victimizer (Rice 37). In speech in 1995, Atwood said that
her literary career began at age sixteen when she crossed the schoolyard on her way home.
I was scuttling along in my usual furtive way; suspecting no ill, when a large thumb
descended from the sky and pressed down on the top of my head. A poem formed (Casciato
2). 
At the age of six, Atwood was writing poems, mortality plays, comic books, and an
unfinished novel about an ant (Rice 3). Ten years later Atwood decided her goal in life
is to write. She wanted to live a double life; to go places I haven't been; to examine
people in ways, and at depths, that are otherwise impossible; to be surprised...to give
back something of what [I have] received (3). Since the majority of her childhood was
spent in the Canadian wilderness, finding her way through anything, canoeing, and
hunting, Atwood developed a great deal of self-confidence (Brimrose 3) This self regard
is recognized profoundly in her writing. 
By the time Atwood left high school she had decided she wanted to write. Her high school
yearbook quote had stated that her goal was to write the great Canadian novel (Bedell 3).
Soon after she graduated from high school, in 1961, Atwood published her first book of
poetry entitled Double Persephone (Brimrose 3). Publishing was a goal for Atwood that she
had now successfully achieved. Atwood figures writing poetry and hopefully publishing a
few books would be sufficient for her. Her education was more important to herself as
well as her parents. Atwood moved on to attend the University of Toronto, Victoria
College majoring in English. Around this time, according to her English friend Xandra
Bingley, she spent a summer vactiondelivering census forms in a run down,
poverty-stricken area of Quebec, and decided that though she wanted to be a writer, she
definitely didn't want to be poor (Bedell 3). 
After graduation from Victoria College, the young poet was at the beginning of her
literary career. She was now publishing in Canadian literary magazines including the
critically acclaimed Mcleans magazine (Hubbard 3). Various poems and short stories game
her some recognition, but Atwood decided it wasn't enough. She wanted to yet further her
education and discover if writing was really the right career path she was destined for.
Even though she loved writing, the influence of her parents, as well as her experiences
in Quebec, had put a damper on her dreams. Atwoods parents were wary about her desire to
write because they didn't want her to starve to death (Rice 3). Her parents were set on
the idea that she should be a biologist because not only was it in the family but a
female writer had always been looked down upon. Again, Atwood wanted to acquire personal
success but didn't want to be poor. 
When Atwood began her formative years at Radcliffe, the all women university at Harvard,
she realized she didn't care about starving, she only wanted to write (Rice 3). Not only
was Atwood sure about her career she also discovered what she wanted to write about,
feminism. The intensely chauvinistic atmosphere mortified her: among other things female
student were not allowed to access the universitys modern poetry collection in the Lamont
Library (Brimrose 2). Atwood lived her childhood in fairness and equality. She was raised
to be independent. The environment in which she grew up was not one of unfairness and
inequality. In the Atwood household Mrs. Atwood ruled the roost (Brimrose 4). So coming
to the United States, and witnessing the unfair treatment of women was an enormous
culture shock for her. 
When Atwood first decided she wanted to become a writer she was convinced she was beating
a dead horse. Atwood states that: 
It was because of all those biographies of women writers. There was always something
drastically wrong with them. Emily Dickinson lived in a cupboard, Charlotte Bronte died
in childbirth. They were weird like Christina Rosetti, or they drank or committed suicide
like Sylvia Plath. Writing seemed a kind of call to doom. I though I would probably get
TB and live in a garret and have a terrible life (Hubbard 2).
The discriminatory acts towards females, at Radcliffe, were beginning to take a toll on
Atwood. She began to think that she, being a female, would never make it as a writer.
Females in the United States had few rights to anything and Atwood witnessed first hand
how society was starting to fall. It wasn't until Atwood met Jay MacPherson when her
future began to look brighter. Meeting at a literary study at Radcliffe, he helped her
develop literary philosophies and feminism (Mary Ellen Snodgrass 238). Atwood was now
ready to protest her view on the discriminatory rules that faced women. Ironically Atwood
shows this through her writing. 
Margaret Atwoods misogynist nightmare, published in Canada in 1885 and filmed by Cinecom
in 1990, is a bold chilling dystopia that speculate on where and how contemporary society
is likely to derail and destroy itself (Mary Ellen Snodgrass 245). Margaret Atwoods The
Handmaids Tale is a science fiction novel based around two aspects of society, which
Atwood feels, have caused the downfall of society. One aspect, which is what the majority
of her works are based around, feminism. The other aspect is religion. Atwood seems to
create a way of tying the two together to produce a potential near future. 
The novel The Handmaids Tale targets women and how the future seems to be centralized
around the use and abuse of them. This right-winged society is taking place in a
futuristic world. Pollution, nuclear waste/war, and venereal disease have destroyed a
civilization once known as the city of Boston, Massachusetts (Atwood 20). Now men have
taken over all parts of society; religion, the economy, and most importantly, the control
of women. Gilead, the new society, has taken reproduction out of the females' control. A
handmaid is a fertile female who works for a man, usually of rank, for breeding purposes
only. There are very few productive women left in the city. 
The main character in the book is Offred. She is a Handmaid to the Commander. Ironically,
the Commanders name is Fred. There is no irony! Offreds' name literally mean Of-Fred. One
never learns her real name because women are give new names to correspond with their
owners. The women of Gilead are given arbitrary classifications: Wives, Widows, Daughters
housemaids, amazons (Marthas), workers (Econowives), indoctrinators (Aunts), Unwomen, and
Breeders (Handmaids). Aunts and breeders play the most important role in the novel. Aunts
are the older women who train Handmaids for their duties. No women in the religious
society may own money, or read. All the rights women worked so had to obtain, lost them
to the very people who wrote them. Every female is given a specific duty and is
brainwashed to obey. The men in this tale observe the violation of women as being the way
it should be. In the novel the Commander says,
We've given them more than we've taken away. Think of all the trouble they had before.
Don't you remember...Think of human misery...This way they've protected; they can fulfill
their biological destinies in peace. With full support and encouragement (Atwood 51). 
Not only did men abuse the bodies of women; they desecrated religion as well. 
It is evident in the story that the leaders of Gilead (men) are motivated by the hunger
of power rather than religious beliefs (Magill 2748). Throughout the text there is much
reference to the Bible. These references do not have to do with the Christian faith but
point out designated duties for women. Men/Leaders use the Bible as a tool for enforcing
discriminatory laws (Witcombe 3). Women aren't permitted to read the Bible but men are.
Religion is spreading the word not using the word against those who have faith. The
leaders of Gilead use religion as reasoning for this surreal demeanor. Atwood shows how
religion could promote sexism. 
For Margaret Atwood life is a quest, and her writing--particularly her poetry is the
charting of that journey. Atwoods' journey is seldom geographical...Atwood does not dwell
on location, physical presence, details of her place. Her search is instead a piercing
interior exploration, driving through any personal self-consciousness into regions marked
by primitive responses, both violent and beautiful. Atwood is interested in the human
condition which exists independent of sex; and she plays a variety of games in order to
explore that condition fully (Discovering Authors).
Margaret Atwoods' feministic views on a society being slain apart, is a direct reflection
on her contemporary novel, The Handmaids Tale. She has embodied her competent philosophy
that women are utilized for immoral purposes, and respect for them has been lost in the
duel for domination. Atwood uses a near-dystopian novel to help society realize the
importance of being generation next. She is trying and make a difference before the
collapse of society. One may wonder if this is a practical view of the future or just a
psychological realism. One's future is what one may make of it.
Bibliography
Handmaids Tale-Margaret Atwood
Internet