Voices of Protest - F Band Class

gILEAD fOR tHE wEAK

It so sad to think that the creation of Gilead was based on the tribulations of men. When the Commander says, "The problem wasn't women… it was with the men, there was nothing for them anymore." In the Commander's eyes were run down soldiers who needed a boost in their egos in order to be superior to women again. I feel one of the reason Gilead was started was because men like the Commander were so insecure that they couldn't truly be men unless they had forceful power over the other sex. Gilead is a place where women are nothing; they are just there to please the other sex. The men of Gilead couldn't live in a society where women might have more intelligence or money or respect then most men because this would put their "manhood" in jeopardy. Gilead for the Commander was a place where men could redeem themselves, gain their self-wroth back. Men were now and forever would be the superior sex. Men would be smarter, granted they denied women any right to read, they would have more money because women given jobs without pay and men would be praised by other men never allowing women to have a scene of pride. Gilead was the land for the timid man.

Women in Gilead were given nothing because men wanted them to be nothing. Their soul purpose in Gilead was to have a baby, be a wife or be a maid. A lot of the women in Gilead just went along with what the men chose to do with them. But there were a handful of women who chose to be who they were not who they were told to be. Moira is an obvious candidate for an independent woman in Gilead. She was a rebel to the Gilead society. Offred on the other hand was a rebel but kept it confidential. She educated herself, and shared sexually feelings for the men she loved. She wasn't afraid to disagree with the Commander, even thou she would speak out against him. Atwood wanted to explore the weakness of men and the strengthens of women. Anyone can be powerful if they don't have to answer to authority, but it takes the strength of a woman independent under a sexes society.