Commanders talk strategy of how to up the rates, Guards keep everyone in their place or rank , Marthas' look after the home and food keeping Handmaid's health in check , Handmaid's provide the children through their ceremonious monthly raping and colony workers deal with the rotting, degrading sections of Gilead that are supposedly causing the infertility epidemic.
One of the key rules in Gilead seems to be that both pleasure and education are sins. Sex without the purpose of reproducing is a sin, reading a book is a sin, being an ex-university professor is a sin. And as Gilead is a violent dictatorship, most of these sins are punishable by death.
The only members of society that seem to have a death penalty-loophole are handmaids, as they are far too valuable to the future of Gilead. Instead of being sentenced to death, handmaids have punishments like total isolation, fingers being cut off, genital mutilation, the loss of an eye, arms being burned on a gas stove top and other bizarre, traumatising ordeals. Though Gilead seems to be geographically confined to North America, the 'Sons of Jacob' seem to be pitching their way of life to other countries struggling with infertility.
In the first season, the handmaids attend a 'party' where the 'Sons of Jacob' present their regime to foreigners—showing off their handmaids but excluding those with physical imperfections and the children they have produced. Throughout season one, when we were given some context to both Commander Waterford and Serena Joy, we learned that Commander Waterfred holds quite a pivotal role in the 'Sons of Jacob' community.
He was actually one of the conspirators of the terrorist attacks, and Serena was in full support of his involvement. She was a cultural activist—in favour of the Gilead regime—and actually penned three books on the movement titled, A Woman's Place , Fertility as a national resource and Reproduction as a moral imperative. Despite Serena's support of the movement, and her holding an esteemed position in the literature surrounding the regime, when the 'Sons of Jacob' finally took control of the United States, Serena was completely shut out.
The new government didn't want females involved in their plans, using the excuse that the new society wouldn't let women 'forget their real purpose' again. Though it's difficult to feel sympathy towards Serena Joy as she is so awful to Offred , there is a sentiment of 'sorry' when you see her excluded from the world she helped create, and the books she's written burned.
In the novel, it's mentioned that the colonies are a place where the world is really dying. Men are also the only ones eligible to hold political office police national.
Women are regarded as second-class citizens as they must submit to the authority of men "Next male of kin" [3]. Most female classes are forbidden to read or write [4]. The only women who are still allowed to read and write are the Aunts [5] , Although Aunts are allowed to be literate, they are still inferior in rank to the Wives , who are considered the paramount rank a woman can hold in Gilead.
Some civil rights however are confirmed or assumed to be suspended for good, e. The Eyes serve as Gilead's political police force and sends spies to detect and punish infringements and political opponents [7]. Citizenship doesn't truly exist for econopeople. Women have no rights, economen have no rights and must work or be hanged with no exceptions.
Only Commanders are granted full rights as long as they don't violate laws of the Divine Republic. Passports are only granted to Commanders. Wives of Commanders are granted passports only while traveling for business or pleasure with their husbands but the husband is responsible for handling showing passports to foreign officials. It isn't known if Commanders take personal vacations abroad.
It is known that commanders traveling for business on behalf of Gilead are usually exempt from showing a passport but are issued with an official invitation letter that must be presented when stopped by those in authority to prevent being held as an illegal. The military of force Gilead consist of men who were previous members of the USA military.
Military conscription is used to fill required troop strengths. Gilead also has an air force, a small navy, and a Coast Guard that patrols the shores of Gilead. Gilead military vehicles are the humvee and helicopters that were built in Texas before it became the Republic of Texas.
Gilead doesn't practice general equality before the law ; while members of different classes can be sentenced variably for identical "crimes" see Ofglen's case , the individual legal position within one social class appears uniform.
In that spirit, the Gileadean class system has "replaced" the suspended U. As stated by June in Baggage , this social 'class' or group contains all former U. The legal Gileadean gender discrimination as seen e. Furthermore, the flashback scenes in Late suggest male Econopeople can keep some of their pre-Gileadean liberties, like holding down a remunerated job or owning property; unlike for females, there is no evidence in the show for the existence of male slave labor.
Since young females in Gilead are expected to marry when reaching menarche [8] , the social class of "Econowives" as mentioned in the novel can be seen as a synonym to female econopeople as portrayed in the show; as to males, it is unknown if there is only one overall class of "Economen" or a more detailed distinction. Since single men of "low status" are "issued" women by chance [9] , this may suggest some legal distinction between married and unmarried male Econopeople.
Legal gender discrimination implies different rights to levels of education for boys and girls in Gilead. In particular, girls aren't taught to read or write and they leave school when reaching menarche and marrying [10]. Women are believed to be the "lesser" sex, who should be subject to men. Women's main purpose in this society is bearing and raising children, which is given particular emphasis due to the possible rampant infertility present in North America at the time.
Women are not allowed to participate in the government, be educated, hold property or have a career [3]. By law, only women can be considered infertile, not men, thus placing the blame for the fertility crisis solely on women. Because of these beliefs, men cannot "factually" be infertile, even if this is the case; to suggest otherwise is heresy [citation needed].
It is most likely that the leaders of Gilead are an extremist Christian cult. They believe that their out-of-context and strict interpretation of the Bible is the absolute truth and that in order for people to achieve salvation and live a pure, godly life, they must follow these.
To do otherwise is seen as living in sin, and the guilty must either repent, or be put to death to prevent them from spreading their evil influence to others. Women are not allowed to participate in the government, be educated, hold property or have a career. Because of these beliefs, men cannot "factually" be infertile, even if this is the case; to suggest otherwise is heresy. Modesty and purity in all areas of life are greatly emphasized, particularly for women, who are believed to be more prone to weakness of character and sin.
Abortion and contraception are considered some of the greatest sins. Doctors who performed abortions before Gilead's establishment are executed.
Fraternization between men and women of different classes is viewed as "fornication" and is punishable by death for all involved. Sex outside of marriage, dependent on the offender's marital status, is a crime.
If the offender is married and having sex with someone not their spouse, it is adultery. If the offender is unmarried and having sex, it is fornication. Both are subject to severe punishments, including the possibility of death.
Homosexuality, referred to as "Gender Treachery," is considered a sin and a crime punishable by death. Gilead's leaders are largely just using women and minority groups as scapegoats because they can be easily discriminated against. They are also engaged in mass deportation of Jews from America to Israel [12] , cramming them into cargo ships — though in practice, many transport ships simply cut corners by dumping their holds once they reach the open sea, leaving them to drown by the hundreds [13].
In the novel, Gilead also discriminates against African-Americans, whom they refer to in their religious rhetoric as the "Children of Ham ". In the Series, all infertile Jewish women are sent to the colonies while all Jewish men were executed and put on The Wall , and Jewish children were converted and presumably ended up with 'fit' parents [citation needed].
In the series, African-Americans are fully incorporated into Gilead society, with most black men serving as Guardians and black women as Handmaids, although some have also been seen as Econopeople. The decision to downplay the "Children of Ham" designation was that it was not overly emphasized in the book, and have it reflect that in the real world many black churches have been supportive of the Christian evangelical movement.
Whilst some of Gilead's leaders and founders are implied to truly believe in the regime, it is hinted that many of them are hypocrites who use Gilead as a means to gain power for themselves. They do not care for its values and ideals at all, and regularly flout its rules whilst punishing others who do so such as by visiting Jezebel's for sex with the forced prostitutes there-usually a capital crime. See also: Commander Lawrence's Bookshelf for further details.
Moreover, some try to replicate real world events and portray on our screen true metaphors of reality. But the latter can also be done unconsciously. Nonetheless, I do not believe that these similarities were made consciously.
Indeed, Margaret Atwood explained in an interview that she was inspired by real-life events of baby stealing such as the ones in Argentina, the ones made by Hitler but also the ones on indigenous children in Australia, Canada and in the United States.
Notwithstanding, as her dystopia is not something unrealisable, several comparisons can be made such as the one with the Islamist Caliphate. She is now prisoner of an authoritarian state that will transform her as a sexual slave. Indeed, she is taken to be a second-class citizen, a handmaid, with the purpose of bearing children for childless government officials of Gilead. Thus, this television show has some interesting parallels in leadership and the treatment of humans which I will further elaborate upon.
The Caliphate on the other hand, is the political-religious state comprising the Muslim community and the lands and peoples under its dominion in the centuries following the death CE of the Prophet Muhammad, that has been ill-revised by terrorist organisations such as ISIS, in order to proclaim their state. So here, in both cases being an official of the state is being someone linked to their religion. Secondly, the place of women in both territories is similar. Furthermore, there is an idealization of gender roles where the roles of being a wife and a mother are emphasized.
Contrary to the Islamic Caliphate, Gilead skip the recruitment phase as they kidnap all the handmaids. Women in both religious systems share the belief that they have the sacred duty to procreate [1] , to give life to a new society where abortion is prohibited.
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