Control and Power
Gilead was a society formed and based off of coping with the crisis in which birth rates were rapidly decreasing. Successful reproduction was becoming sparse and future generations were in jeopardy. In order to adapt to such conditions the military took control of the governing and overtook the control of womens bodies to control and ensure the goal of proper, and effective reproduction. In gilead, the men have all the power and control. The government has created Gilead as a monotheism, based off of Catholic religion. Women were striped of their rights, jobs, and were given a set of guidelines and rules in which they must follow and live by day to day. The society is now controlled by religious beliefs as the context of the bible is taken literally, it is misinterpreted and misused in order to justify the new living conditions. For example, God said each child should have two eyes two ears one nose two arms two legs, but he did not say kill those in which do not. Which is what Gilead is doing, those who are not perfect in genetics, are shredder babies which is using the bible as a weapon. The control of Gilead is expressed in everyday interactions and routines. The way the women have no say or choice in their apparel, it is one colour in order to be able to depict those of each caste out right away, as it indicates their role in society. Another form of control is that there is only one accepted religious belief. If you believe or practice any other religion you are put to death.The whole town is restricted without choice to be faithful to this religion and have passages, scriptures, and prayers rehearsed to any of the citizens any day any time by the scrolls. The government are the deciders, what they say goes. The military decided this path for Gilead, as every law that now exists was put in place by officials. Although they put the law in place, they are often part of the people who are accused of disobeying the laws. Each day the context and communication is made by individuals, with the society being a monotheism, Gilead forms a vocabulary criteria that warps reality so the new society can flourish. Women are recognized in ranks such as wives, marthas, aunts, widows, un women, and handmaids. The handmaids are striped of their identity along with their original name and take on the name of their commander such as ‘ Offred’ or ‘Ofglen’. Different races are defined by biblical terms that make them easily distinguished and recognized in society, which the references are demeaning to feel power over the inferior. The society is run by belief and order, there are even specific greeting that are permitted for when Offered would meet with another handmaid Ofglen such as ‘blessed be the fruit’ or which i receive with joy’. Interactions with the opposite gender are arranged, and love is dismissed. Each marriage is arranged and chosen based on which rank you were born into, and which class. In theory, Gilead was related to Iran because theyre both totalitarian societies. In my opinion, for this tragedy to happen for such drastic measure to be put in place is upsetting. But there were definitely lines crossed and better ways to handle it. There should've been less control and more convincing. The government should have sent out a alert to the citizens and informed them of the issue and asked all able females to reproduce whether you had a husband or not. Families should not have been broken apart, and people shouldn’t have been killed in the name of god for ridiculous accusations,
Symbolism
Each caste in the system of women have their own colour, the handmaids red apparel symbolizes good luck and fertility, which is in high demand. Red is also a marker of sexual sin, as they are technically committing a crime when they sleep with their commanders because they are married. Therefore leading to a sinful individual of Gilead. Each member of society fits in with a rank or caste level, and each has their own colour