Out of all three of the novels we have read so far, I like The Handmaid’s Tale the best. Starship Troopers annoyed me because there were far too many soapbox moments for Heinlein and Neuromancer was difficult for me to follow because of the massive overload of descriptions of new technologies. The Handmaid’s Tale is elegant. There is a certain grace to the writing and I feel that the story flows very well as a result of it. The most noteworthy aspect of the novel, at least for me, was how effective of a cautionary tale against blind trust and inaction it was.

Atwood was able to make The Handmaid’s Tale a cautionary tale that was very effective in instilling a sense of fear and caution in the reader. The world that the story took place in was extremely intriguing to me because of its similarities to our world, which is one of the main reasons why this novel is so chilling. It seems that Atwood intentionally left out elaborate descriptions of future technology to make the story be as realistic and familiar as possible. On my copy of The Handmaid’s Tale, there is an excerpt of a review on the back cover from the Houston Chronicle that states “Atwood takes many trends which exist today and stretches them to their logical and chilling conclusions…”, which I agree with. By making the events of the story seem like plausible continuations of today’s trends, Atwood is able to infuse almost a sense of urgency in her story, a very real feeling of alarm. The descriptions of the downfall of the old society are extremely disturbing because they seem believable. At one point in the story, Offred was reminiscing about the very beginning of the new society. After the president was assassinated, the new order “…suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn’t even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn’t even an enemy you could put your finger on” (174). Offred remembered that “[t]hings continued in that state of suspended animation for weeks, although some things did happen. Newspapers were censored and some were closed down, for security reasons, they said. The roadblocks began to appear, and Identipasses. Everyone approved of that, since it was obvious you couldn’t be too careful. They said that new elections would be held, but that it would take some time to prepare for them. The thing to do, they said, was to continue on as usual” (174). The most disturbing part of the revolution was how gradual it was. The new order preyed on the public’s fear, slowly gaining their trust, until finally they had complete control. Another notable incident in the novel was the arrival of Japanese tourists who were free from the constraints of Gilead. For me, that was especially disturbing because it established a contrast that revealed the existence of more “civilized” societies out in the world. This made the oppression of Gilead seem even tragic, since there was salvation elsewhere in the world but it was completely out of reach for the women of Gilead. Additionally, this incident also added to the plausibility of The Handmaid’s Tale because it brought to mind the Middle East, in which there is a real-life situation in which women are subject to extreme oppression. It highlighted the fact that scenarios like Gilead already exist in the world, making the novel even more chilling. One last aspect of the novel that really affected me was the overall tone of the writing - it is very melancholic and numbing and was critical in making The Handmaid‘s Tale poignant. I could not think of any one passage that epitomizes this tone, as it is necessary to really read the entire novel to truly get a feel for what it is like. Offred is a convincingly tortured and numb soul and her narrative on her life projects the feeling of a person who is almost completely worn down by life and struggling to keep on pushing herself through the day. All of these aspects of The Handmaid’s Tale make it a very powerful story.