The Handmaid's Tale: Margaret Atwood

Title: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Publisher: Random House

Media Format: Book
Genre: Speculative Fiction, Banned Book, Dystopian
Selection Source: ALA 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books: 1990-1999
Reading Audience: High School +
Reading Recommendation: 3 ***
Curriculum Connections: Social Sciences

Summary
The Handmaid's Tale was the 37th most challenged book of the 90s. Mostly it was challenged for being required/suggested reading in high school classrooms Common allegations against it are that it contains multiple sexual situations that are described in some detail. Various references to suicide being a legitimate alternative to life, and that it is a thinly veiled attack on the Christian Faith.

It's setting is America in the not too distant future. America is a country on lock down, and women have become second class citizens. For some unexplained reason, less children are being born, and some that are being born are deformed or stillborn. The upper class in this society have a harem of concubines that undergo physical evaluations to determine when they are most fertile, so they can lay with the man of the house in a bizarre ceremony that includes the husband, the wife, and the concubine. Women are no longer allowed to read, and are forced to dress in form concealing habits, complete with horse-like blinders to keep their eyes from wandering. This is a story about one woman who has the fading memory of her family life before, and is quickly understanding that there is more than meets the eye to her current oppressive society.

Evaluation
This 320 page book could be read in conjunction with any class that deals with women's studies, or utopian/dystopian societies. There are a lot of mature themes, and has been challenged as a result of that. Although I never condone censorship, I would only recommend this book for mature readers. This is a good story with some beautiful prose, but it didn't speak to me in the way Orwell's dystopian classics did. I think if I lived in Saudi Arabia it would probably have a bigger impact on me, but I tend to disagree with the author's major point that Christianity taken to extremes would lead to this society. Don't get me wrong, there is a Christian Dystopia novel that could be written to scare me, but it's not this one. Although, female readers are oftentimes more touched by the story.