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The backlash!
Dystopias are a kind of thought experiment which isolates certain social
trends and exaggerates them to make clear their most negative qualities.
They are rarely intended as realistic predictions of a probable future, and it
is pointless to criticize them on the grounds of implausibility. Atwood here
examines some of the traditional attitudes that are embedded in the thinking
of the religious right and which she finds particularly threatening.
The Heroine:
She is guilty of moral cowardiceAtwood believes that often victimization is a
matter of choice. The narrators physical safety is so important to her that she
sacrifices her moral integrity.
She attempts a withdrawal from circumstances for which she does not accept
responsibility.
Her voice is a voice crying in the desertthe
reader feels her isolation. For the most part,
she learns that she must make decisions from
moment to moment on her own.
She has many similarities in situation and character
to Hamlet:
a)
b)