Probably the Scariest Book I’ve Ever Read
The Handmaid’s Tale
By Margaret Atwood
Even after reading multiple Stephen King books, I still consider this novel the most scary. King’s stuff is terrifying, but always has an element of fantasy. Atwood’s book is just too real.
As a college student, when I read this book for the first time, I understood the story on a surface-level. The concept of a theocratic government justifying systematic subjection and rape of women was scary.
But now, reading this book ten years later, I can appreciate the horror a little more. Not only am I a little more cognizant of political activities, but I also have a kid. I didn’t understand the true terror of this novel until I had a kid of my own. Sorry to sound like one of those sanctimommies.
The US is now the Republic of Gilead, a post-war society based on a distorted view of biblical history. Women are divided into categories, such as “Wives” (women of men of status), “Marthas” (women who perform service duties such as cooking and cleaning), and “Handmaids” (women who belong to the Wives and Husbands for the purpose of procreation).
This world has seen a stark decrease in fertility because of pollution drug-resistant STDs. The handmaids have been deemed fertile and are thus assigned to high-ranking men who routinely subject them to this bizarre ritual in the hopes of getting them pregnant.
The handmaid’s names are based on the man’s. For instance, our protagonist is Offred - literally “Of Fred.”
Not only is her bodily autonomy taken away, but her very identity is as well.
Offred’s story bounces from her present day to the time before this system was put in place. She had a husband (presumably dead now) and a daughter, from whom she was separated.
Absolutely terrifying to imagine, to be frank.
I wish I could say I loved this book. It just scares me too much. That said, do please read it.
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
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Congratulations to the Hulu show for winning, by all accounts, well-deserved Emmys (eight of them)! Maybe eventually I will watch... Gotta brace myself first.
