The sequel to “The Handmaid’s Tale” explores the workings of repression

Canada News News

The sequel to “The Handmaid’s Tale” explores the workings of repression
Canada Latest News,Canada Headlines
  • 📰 TheEconomist
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 69 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 31%
  • Publisher: 92%

If “The Handmaid’s Tale” was a warning, “The Testaments” has a more positive message

in a line outside the Capitol while senators considered a health-care bill that would restrict family-planning services. They reappeared in Washington to watch over the confirmation hearings of Brett Kavanaugh, a controversial Supreme Court justice. In Ohio’s statehouse they sat, heads bowed, as lawmakers discussed banning a common abortion procedure. Each time the protest was silent. Their long crimson gowns and winged white headdresses made the point.

The contemporary influence of “The Handmaid’s Tale” is approaching that of George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. Over 8m copies have been sold in English. In 2017 it was the most-read novel in America, according to Amazon. Ms Atwood quips that she “may be the only person on the planet who is such a beneficiary” of America’s rancour. More than three decades after the original, a sequel to the book, “The Testaments”, was published this week.

When Ms Atwood was writing that book in 1984, she wanted to imbue it with an uncanny realism, and sought biblical or historical precedents for every detail and policy in Gilead, amassing a box of newspaper clippings. The past is “filled with echoes”, she wrote in “The Handmaid’s Tale”. She had a point. The religious conservatism that was then sweeping America harked back to the country’s Puritan history. Communist regimes relied on primitive propaganda.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” described the new regime’s brutality from Offred’s perspective only, showing how a politician’s promise of a better future “never means better for everyone…it always means worse, for some”. The scope of “The Testaments” is wider. It uncovers Gilead’s inner workings: the ideological hypocrisies, the fragile alliances, the institutional rot. It highlights, through Aunt Lydia, the coercive tactics employed by repressive states.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

TheEconomist /  🏆 6. in US

Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

https://www.instyle.comhttps://www.instyle.comInStyle is the leading site for celebrity style. See expert fashion advice, star hairstyles, beauty tips, how-to videos and real-time red carpet coverage.
Read more »

Alessandro Nivola, Gemma Arterton Head Killer Cast For BBC One/FX 3-Part Adaptation Of Rumer Godden Steamy Lit Classic ‘Black Narcissus’Alessandro Nivola, Gemma Arterton Head Killer Cast For BBC One/FX 3-Part Adaptation Of Rumer Godden Steamy Lit Classic ‘Black Narcissus’EXCLUSIVE: Alessandro Nivola and Gemma Arterton head a killer cast for a three-part adaptation of the 1939 classic Rumer Godden literary novel Black Narcissus, a tale of sexual repression and forbi…
Read more »

'Ghostbuster' sequel to focus on a family of original film'Ghostbuster' sequel to focus on a family of original filmThe upcoming 'Ghostbuster' sequel will focus on the descendants of the original ghost-catchers who rushed around New York City in proton packs and jumpsuits.
Read more »

The True Story of 'Hustlers': Real Life vs. The MovieThe True Story of 'Hustlers': Real Life vs. The MovieHere's what's fact and what's fiction in the tale of strippers scamming Wall Street. HustlersMovie
Read more »

https://ew.comhttps://ew.comEntertainment Weekly has all the latest news about TV shows, movies, and music, as well as exclusive behind the scenes content from the entertainment industry.
Read more »

The 'Hustlers' music: How Janet Jackson, Lorde and that perfect club cameo came to beThe 'Hustlers' music: How Janet Jackson, Lorde and that perfect club cameo came to be.jenyamato looks at how the music of 'Hustlers' helped bring its stripper antiheroine tale to life:
Read more »



Render Time: 2025-03-18 00:25:46