I don’t think that something like the Republic of Gilead could ever exist in this world because people would never accept to be subdued like that.
In the Republic, people there are not living their lives at all, they’re being told what to do all day long, non-stop.
They can’t read, they can’t write, they’re not even allowed to love a man… All this is crazy and it could never happen because I think that most of the people would kill themselves before ending up like that. I mean, I would kill myself.
Women are used for reproduction: they’re not human beings anymore; they don’t have feelings anymore or better, they do have feelings but it doesn’t matter.
Some people gave up and accepted to live like that; others like the main character try to find a way out, a way to get back to the life they used to have.
I didn't know what to think when I was reading about the Commander and his office full of books, magazines, with pens and paper to write... and I felt sorry for Offren reading the description of her feelings as she was holding a pen to write down that famous latin sentence. I mean, I can write every single day, whenever I want and I think I could never live without it...
In the Republic of Gilead what we have in our everyday life is no longer existing. There's no individual freedom, no more rights... there's no life anymore.
Mavy,
ReplyDeleteYou capture the bleakness that is the Republic of Gilead well, but I wonder if you're right to so quickly dismiss the possibility of this sort of society every existing. It may already exist today. Think of Saudi Arabia, or of those parts of Afghanistan ruled by the Taliban (or Iran immediately after the 'revolution'). I think what is most chilling about this novel is not just that it could happen, but that it may already have.