HMT Essay

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Clifford 1
Clifford

Mr. Sparks
ENG4U
Nov, 12th/2014 Controls of Sexuality in Gilead The Republic of Gilead is a dystopian society that takes place in a future where everything is controlled by an elite group. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, individuals of the dystopian society have most of their autonomy taken away. Through the force of coercion, characters find themselves longing for sexuality which has been taken away from them. Within the repression of love and sex, characters will risk their lives in order to act on their impulses. Controls on sexuality in Gilead force citizens to put themselves in dangerous situations to realize their desires.
The first indication of characters putting themselves in harmful situations is when certain characters show deviant behavior. Any deviance from the expected norm is punishable by brutal penalties. For instance, homosexuality is forbidden in the Gileadean society: “The two others have purple placards hung around their necks: Gender Treachery. Their bodies still wear the
Guardian uniforms. Caught together” (Atwood 43). Offred and Ofglen are walking by the wall and see two Guardians hanged for committing homosexual acts. The two Guardians who

Clifford 2 committed gender treachery are well aware of the dangers of having sexual relations with one another, but they do it anyway. Ultimately, this shows that they had to disobey the government in order for them to meet their sexual impulses, leading to their death. Additionally, deviance is also seen in the elite men of Gilead by them establishing ‘The Club’. Offred says, “‘It’s a club?’”
I say. “‘Well, that’s what we call it, among ourselves. The club.’” “‘I thought this sort of thing was strictly forbidden,’” I say. “‘Well, officially,’” he says” (237). The Commander takes Offred to the club, and she questions him on how many of these things are strictly forbidden. He simply says that they do it anyways. One of the main purposes of the club is Jezebels, which many of the elite men come in contact with. However, prostitutes are strictly forbidden in Gilead. The elite men of Gilead are putting themselves in danger by creating and attending the club.
Consequently, members of Gileadean society disobey the many sexual rules through deviancy, ultimately putting themselves in harmful situations.
In a similar manner, important professionals of the Gileadean society disobey the rules of the dystopian society in order for them to satisfy their desires. Initially, this is seen when Offred goes to her monthly check up with the doctor: “He’s offering himself to me, his services, at some risk to himself” (61). Offred has yet to become pregnant, so the doctor suggest that he can offer his services. By implying this to Offred, the doctor puts himself at serious risk, whether that be
Offred reporting him, or if they were to be caught. The doctor is not just offering to help Offred, he also wants certain desires out of it. However, due to the doctor’s professional position, it allows him to get away with his sexual acts. Although, if he were caught breaking the rules and regulations, he would suffer severe consequences. Whether that be losing his job, hanged, or

Clifford 3 being sent to the colonies. In contrast, due to the Commander’s high status, it allows him to get away with having things that are forbidden in Gilead in order to please his impulses. Offred says:
“I felt the Commander watching as I turned the pages. I knew I was doing something I shouldn’t have been doing, and that he found pleasure in seeing me do it” (157). The Commander gives
Offred a magazine to read one night, which is strictly prohibited in Gilead. The Commander not only has the forbidden magazine for his own satisfaction, but he gets pleasure from watching
Offred read it. However, the Commander is taking a very serious risk in keeping forbidden magazines. This puts himself highly at risk just to gain these
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