Margaret Atwood, in her novel The Handmaid’s Tale, talks about a distinct society in the state of Gilead. There are several themes that she brings up in the different chapters of the book, but the basic ideas remain the same. She is trying to show us where the world is going wrong, she has made her writing effective by the use of different tools of language at different instances. Atwood has quoted, (and mis-quoted), the bible, she has used puns at several places, and has not only mused language but also created neologisms. The already realistic events of this story have been made to look more authentic by the use of made up latin words, and references to the bible.

The themes include male-domination, suppression of women, discipline, inequality in society and other prevailing problems.

“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum”, which is made to sound like latin means; ‘don’t let the bastards get you down’. There are several other instances where Atwood has created words to give them more weight and make them not only believable, but worship-able by the helpless people of Gilead. This is just emphasizing on the fact that there is suppression and proving that the people are not allowed to learn or increase their knowledge.

Atwood has carefully used these tools to underline her main themes in a subtle manner. When we are reminded ‘Its the usual story, the usual stories, God to Adam; God to Noah: “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28), this being a biblical reference is ironic because the practices of the government or the people of Gilead are not religious.

The significance of quotes like these is to show us that the government uses biblical references to their advantage, leaving the people helpless and speechless since they can not argue against something that is so holy. However the fact remains, that there may be other parts of the bible that contradict many famous quotes, which have been intentionally picked out of context to the benefit of several powerful groups or individuals.

Another instance where Atwood repeated that is the quote “Blessed be the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the meek, blessed are the silent”, and the response to that “They made it up“, here we see that the characters do not understand the real meaning which gives rebirth to the idea that women are oppressed and not allowed to read.

The idea behind Atwood adopting this is to make it believable, to prove that every instance is factual and has happened or is happening somewhere sometime.

Atwood has used her skills with language to her full advantage in this novel, enriching the themes and making it an interesting piece of writing!