A Society of Oppression in A Handmaid's TaleAs the saying goes, "history repeats itself." If one of Margaret Atwood's goals was to prove this particular point, she certainly succeeded with her novel A Handmaid's Tale. In his note to the reader, he writes: "The thing to remember is that there is nothing new about the society depicted in The Handmaiden's Tale, except the time and place. All the things I wrote about... have been done before, more than once..." (316). Atwood seems to choose only the most ominous, frightening, and heinous events in history to parallel his book, particularly the enslavement of African Americans in the United States. It traces the development of this institution, but from the perspective of a different group of oppressed people: women. Like the institution of slavery, women in Gilead were enslaved through biblical justifications. According to the Commanders, God wanted supreme power to be in the hands of man, not only because man was created first, but also because it was the temptation of woman that drove them both from the Garden of Eden. Women, therefore, must be controlled by men. Traders and slave owners also justified the enslavement of Africans, arguing that slave labor existed widely in the Bible (the Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians, for example), and therefore God did not condemn such an institution. Once a master acquires slaves, or a Handmaid, he must govern them effectively to ensure they meet his needs. For this reason, the term “human” must be taken into account (because this might evoke some sort of pity or compassion) and replaced with the term “it” – detonating property. This is clearly demonstrated when Offred reflects on... middle of paper... atop the Underground Railroad... Canada's position would be to do what it always does: try to remain neutral without antagonizing the southern superpower ", (320). After reading The Handmaid's Tale, one might conclude that Margaret Atwood is not simply telling her readers the story, but rather warning them about our future. We might, for example, see modern-day oppression in homosexuals various religious groups condemn them to Hell, have their rights taken away (the right to marry, for example)… the list goes on As Atwood says of The Handmaid’s Tale, “The novel exists for social examination. .." (316). One can only hope that our history of social oppression will cease to repeat itself if only we can learn from the past. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1986.