Rebellion in The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood Essay -- Rebel The

Rebellion in The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood 'Rebel' is a term, which is highly weighed down with emotion. In society today we perceive a rebel to be a figure opposing a much stronger majority. We distinguish the rebel to be a character who fights for his/her own ideals. We see a person that will do anything almost being ruthless to destroy the boundaries set up against him/her by the stronger mass. We witness the rebel as an individual who deliberately defines a battlefield and two fighting fronts. The rebel is constantly is resisting. The only way he/she can defend his morals and values are to strike the greater that condemns his/her values and morals. Unfortunately today there are many misconceptions and preconceptions relating to the essence of a true rebel. Society tends to comprehend the rebel to be figure fighting on the front lines, spilling blood for his cause. Especially the media has delivered this image of a rebel. We must acknowledge the fact there are other forms of rebels and rebellions. It is not fair to say that the form of rebel that is described above is not valid, but still we must make a suitable distinction. We must not always consider the rebel to be an individual like 'William Wallace' who fought for his country's independence by using violence as his primary weapon. In the course of history we have witnessed another category of rebels. Characters such as Mahatma Ghandi, Dr. Martin Luther King and Emmeline Pankhurst all gave birth to another form of rebel, the rebel that fought for his values passively. They did not confront the enemy with the sword but with words. The novel 'The Handmaids Tale' by Margaret Atwood tells the story of a near future oppressive society govern... ...poke out against them in the loudest voice possible. Offred's cassettes did more than just speak her voice. I feel that the true reason why Offred did not assign her name is because she wanted to speak universally. Offred wanted to speak in the name of all handmaids. In studying Offred's rebellion we can see that she suffered an internal conflict. Offred's plight is always human as well as ideological. She wanted to rebel but at the same time she was scared of loosing herself in the process. Offred had to win the conflict within her before she could start the external battle. Offred won this conflict and decided that her humanity was the risk for a great cause, love. 'As long as women consent to be unjustly governed, they will be; but directly women say: "We withhold our consent," we will not be governed any longer as long as government is unjust.'