Power Mechanism and Resistance in The Handmaid’s Tale

阎星均

摘 要：本篇文章尝试运用福柯的权力理论对《使女的故事》中基列国的权力机制以及基列国的女性如何在如此严苛的极权统治下的顽强抵抗。

关键词：《使女的故事》 权力机制 抵抗策略

As one of the most famous contemporary Canadian novelists， poets and literary critics Margaret Atwood is being known as “the Queen of Canadian Literature” ，who is among the most-honored authors of fiction in literature world.

Gilead in the novel is a totalitarian country. Gilead has established a series of punishment systems that give unrelenting control， destruction and killing to anyone who dares to break the law. Punishment of all kinds： secret arrests， secret executions， and suspense to show the public that they forced the women not only to witness the killing of their own kind， but also to personally participate in the massacre in order to completely destroy their will to resist.

The Resistance Strategies of Women

In Gilead， although people were under the control of totalitarian rule， they did not give up resistance. Some of them are also openly rebelling against the government.The most representative of those individuals is Moira.She tried to escape twice. Moira is like a banner， reminding everyone that there is another option.

Ofglen， also one of the warriors of public resistance， bravely participated in the resistance of Mayday and fought against the authority of Gilead. Finally， when her identity was exposed， she also liked a fighter who would rather commit suicide than wait for the black truck to take her away.

Offred is not an anti-institutional hero in this society. She will not clearly compete with any rules， and she never try to escape but she knew how to use her beauty and simplicity in front of men to exchange for a chance to take a breather in the gap between the systems. She represents the vast majority of ordinary women. They practice a more detailed and more effective form of resistance.

Conclusion

Atwood created a typical totalitarian state in The Handmaids Tale， as well as the suffering of the lower classes， especially women. We can give more understanding of how the power disciplines people into the docile individuals in the totalitarian states. Many of the novels are derived from real life， and if we continue to ignore these realities， what will our society become？ This should cause deep thought and vigilance in the whole society.

Bibliography

[1] Atwood， Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale [M]. New York： Anchor Books， 1998.

[2] Foucault， Michel. Discipline and Punish： The Birth of the Prison [M]. New York： Vintage Books， 1995.

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[4] 玛格丽特·阿特伍德.使女的故事[M].陈小慰译.南京：译林出版社， 2008.

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