The rise and fall of Gilead: an analysis through the character of Aunt Lydia in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments

Abstract

There are many crucial and large-scale problems in the world and the society we live in today. This thesis analyses two novels, The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood, who has tackled some of these problems in a frighteningly accurate way. Both of these novels should be read with attention and a purpose of heeding to the warnings theypresent us with. History has given us wars, hunger and so many other devastating events, but humans rarely stop to think about where the future might lead, if they do not learn from their mistakes. This is exactly why Atwood’s novels should be handled as warning stories and something to think about – all that has happened in the past might very well happen again.The following thesis that is based on their analysis emphasises the necessity of contemplating these problems.