Handmaid's Tale Chapters 1-7: a Radical Religion in the Form of Dystopian Literature With a Dash of Feminism

     From the outset the Handmaid's Tale has an interesting premise. It centers around a female protagonist with a unique dystopian background that has strong religious overtones. In addition, there are elements of feminism permeating from different sections. In fact, the very title is a testament to the novel's inherent feminism as a handmaid is, definition courtesy of dictionary.com, a subservient object or person. Such a role articulates well with Feminist Theory, which is undeniably at least partially focused around power, and more specifically control. Since the title has an occupation or rank instead of a name, the nature of the book is implied to be more of a focus on a general concept rather than an individual component. The lack of a name being accorded to the protagonist and narrator in the first set of seven (albeit short) chapters is further indication of this focus on a particular aspect of society rather than a necessarily character. Also, since the protagonist is not named in either the title or the first set, a sense of powerlessness is enhanced, along with the nature of the story being more representational than exceptional. Of course, a counter-point that may be argued is that the use of first-person narration serves to personalize the storytelling. Although this is true to some extent, it does far more to reinforce the feministic tendencies of the novel as an individualistic story communicates a loss of power better than one with multiple impersonal perspectives. Thus, rather paradoxically, feelings of impersonality and uniqueness clash as the two genres of literature, dystopian and feministic, meld together to try and express the points of both in a distinct, albeit idiosyncratic, way. 

      The first seven sets of chapters themselves mainly serve to establish the setting of the dystopian novel: some sort of an "American Dream" ideal suburb community, with Protestant religious zealotry (no offense to any religious denomination intended) determinant in clothing style from white wings covering female faces to red dresses representing mistresses, and a police state mentality encompassing everything, from the grunt-like Guardians to the patriarchal Commanders. In fact, the designation of supreme authority to an older man who commands all others and has several wives is a huge and prominent derivation of the views of contemporary Feminism, which often holds likewise older men to be manipulative and authoritative, especially in regards to females. Refocusing on setting, the community is likely located somewhere in the South as there was a mention to Baptists being killed somewhere near to them. Chronologically speaking, the timeline probably takes place during the late twentieth century or later due to the author publishing the book in 1985 and the reference to fairly modern schools with basketball hoops and gymnasiums. 

     In terms of characters, the protagonist seems to be more of an outlet to express feminist thoughts and fantasies, and therefore that of her whole group. It is her whole group as they are being herded as a collective and the narrator always tries to relate to them by putting herself in their shoes. There is not a lot of wholly unique personification occurring, although the narrator does try especially hard to be obedient and respectful to society to the point that it is inadvisable. The other girls, mainly Rita and Cora, are mentioned sparsely throughout. Rita seems to be a more rebellious and spirited girl, while Cora is characterized to be more level-headed, understanding the alternatives to a situation better than the more idealistic Rita. Aunt Lydia seems to be almost solely a medium of communication that transmits the traditional beliefs of the society, being a mentor figure to the protagonist. Serena Joy, or the Commander's wife, is someone who appears to have lost her flair and seems to be completely devoted to her husband, putting her full faith in the stereotypical doctrine of being a submissive wife. She smokes cigarettes, which are technically illegal but can apparently be bartered quite easily on black markets, but not with money as it has disappeared.  Cigarettes themselves can be viewed as a symbol of rebellion, something that would resonate especially well with feminism in the context of a dystopian society or indeed any human being in general. Nick seems like a person who sympathizes with and understands the protagonist, but is likewise afraid of getting caught. Ofglen is another Handmaid like the protagonist and appears to be similarly faithful to the beliefs of her society, though it is unclear whether she really believes it or is doing it mainly to not be singled out. Overall, the characters that have been elaborated on do not appear to be overwhelmingly individualistic and seem to serve as explanation of what to expect in the dystopian society. Perhaps future chapters will develop the personality of the aforementioned characters now that the background has been solidly set.