Strong Verbs Are Just Better

I'm interested by your reaction to the Handmaid's Tale -- it's a favourite book of mine, actually. I understand your point about the reality of religious oppression, and its lack of value, therefore as a dystopic image for you. For me, first of all, as set against Canadian society (both of the 1970's and of today) the picture of a monolithic controlling religion-based state IS frightening, and fairly remote from any possibilities I see in the society around me; not because religious bigotry and the social oppression it can produce are absent from Canada, but because it is such a pluralistic society, and the separation of church and state has been quite strong, and is growing. That said, I never actually thought of the book as being specifically anti-religion, or even of a criticism of religious oppression as being its point. To me, the religious stuff was simply a tool for Atwood to get her society into a situation in which the extremes of female and male power and gender roles could be explored; and I feel that her interest lay not in exposing the dangers of religious fundamentalism, but in examining the utter fragility of political and social independence; the importance of physicality and procreative roles, in spite of our attempts to intellectualise gender; the dynamics of power and betrayal and accomodation; etc. I, too, think that Serena Joy's story is tragic, and I think it's meant to be; I think part of the characterisation of Offred is that she is unable, for most of the book, to spare any energy or thought for anyone else's tragedies, and that her lack of sympathy for Serena, for instance, is not meant to be shared by the reader.

Anyway, I'm not trying to convert you to loving the book or anything, I was just intrigued by your reaction... sorry for the long comment!

Aven