While reading The Handmaid’s Tale I noticed that there were many instances in which the mentality of the mob took control over that of the individual. This served as another way for the Handmaids to lose some of the individuality to the theocracy of the Republic of Gilead. What struck me most, however, was that there are also references to the mob mentality in the context of the actions of Offred’s mother in the time before the republic. That the mob mentality is seen in both eras was quite an interesting similarity.

There are numerous ways in which this mob mentality is represented in The Republic of Gilead. The Prayvaganzas and Particicution are two of the most obvious ways this mob mentality is represented. Offred herself even admits says that “despite myself I feel my hands clench,” and she knows she wants “to tear, gouge, rend” at the man (279). She understands, on the one hand, that she is being drawn into all of this, but falls for it anyway. I suppose that is all part of the mob mentality. Another instance where I thought the effects of a mob mentality were particularly evident was the Janine/Ofwarren’s birthing. The other Handmaids “lean forward, tensed, the muscles in (their) backs and bellies hurt from the strain” (125). They are actually experiencing, to an extent, the birth for themselves, losing themselves completely in the process. A mob or herd mentality is certainly one way for people to lose individualism, as they just become part of the crowd and follow the crowd’s actions despite what they may or may not believe themselves. Through use of activities that encourage this mob mentality it seems like the theocracy of Gilead is doing a rather good job of stripping the Handmaids of some of their individualism.

However, there are also mentions of the mob mentality as it existed in “the time before.” The most notable of these is when Offred recalls the political activism of her mother in feminist activities of the late 1970s. The first instance is when she recalls the book burning that took place at the park where she though her mother was taking her to feed the ducks. There were men and women around the bonfire, “some of them were chanting… Their faces were happy, ecstatic almost” (38). She evokes an image that seems reminiscent of book burnings from Fascist regimes. The second time she mentions it is in a flashback to a Domestic Science class. Her mother is in the video they watch and eventually just “is part of the crowd…, (she) can’t see her anymore” (120). Here there is a definite sense of a loss of identity and individualism.

It is interesting to me that Atwood would include this in both the before time and the time of the Republic of Gilead. The mob mentality seems to survive, although what it becomes in the theocracy is the opposite of what it stood for in the democracy from before. The rallies and large social gatherings are no longer for women to come together in support of new freedoms, but to come together in very traditional settings. In either case, there is a loss of self to the crowd in general.

I don’t actually know anything about feminism or its history. I would like to find a way to connect this with a possible critique of the feminism of the late 1970s and early 1980s. That Atwood used a book burning I thought was very interesting, because those have such strong connections with oppressive regimes. I suppose this is another point I’m interested in discussing, but don’t know enough about to actually discuss.