Why would one read a truly dystopian novel? I have read several books by Margaret Atwood and have enjoyed the work of a skilled writer but I have avoided reading The Handmaids Tale for many years, having seen several articles about the content as well as trailers of the television series. (It was published in the 1980s and has, amazingly, never been out of print.)
Recently though I have watched two interviews with Margaret Atwood and I decided that I should get a grip and read the book. It is a quicker read than I had anticipated and somehow even more deceptively grim than I had imagined.
In one interview the novelist comments that many people have asked her how she came up with so many awful things for people to do to each other, usually women. She retorts that she didn’t have to make up anything, everything had happened somewhere in the world in the past or the present, she only had to listen to the BBC news.
The story is set in New England in the near future and is focussed on a Christian fundamentalist theocratic regime. It is interesting how cults and sects will use and abuse the term ‘Christian’. You only have to think about the recent death cult in Kenya to realise what goes on with appellations. When I think about the story, the two words that come to mind are ‘control’ and ‘misogyny.’ Yes it is implausible but then again there is also too much in it that resonates, particularly with the state of America today. Bearing in mind that Margaret Atwood wrote this book nearly 40 years ago it is remarkably prescient. The girls in this story have had all control over their minds and their bodies removed. Think about the very recent change to the law over abortion in many American states.
Whilst being interviewed, the author commented that she thought the recent misogynistic decisions that had been taken stemmed from the presidency of Ronald Reagan. It was at that time that a sizeable part of the American population thought it was acceptable to create political strategy and laws for the many, based on personal religious belief.
It is not hard to see where ideas come from for a story of this ilk. Consider Afghanistan, the status of women in the Middle East, ‘honour’ killings in India, #MeToo and many more examples, particularly in the U.S and particularly today.
The only flickers of light in reading this book were from several occasions when the author wrote with a strong poetic richness, reminding me that she is of course a poet as well as an acclaimed novelist.
To say that this doesn’t make for easy, comfortable reading is an understatement, partially because there is so much truth lurking under the surface and between the lines. I can admire the extremely skilled writing but I won’t be reading the sequel…or watching the TV series.