The Church Against My Mother

The core structure of Gilead’s corruption comes from the government’s absurd obsession with religion, and even though I haven’t dealt with the same severity, this is something I can relate to. In Gilead, everything the citizens live by is following the bible, even though the majority of people aren’t even allowed to read it. From the constant prayers they have to do, to the gender roles being mostly divided to give a male preference. When I was younger, my household was mostly religious so it’s easier to find connections between my life, Gilead, and Gilead’s connection to the bible. Even though it was implied from the beginning, the part that jumped out at me the most was when Offred sees 2 guardians hung on the wall, “The two others have purple placards hung around their necks: Gender Treachery. Their bodies still wear the Guardian uniforms. Caught together, they must have been, but where? A barracks, a shower? It’s hard to say.” (Page 43) Firstly because up to this point we’ve seen a lot of power from the Guardians, this was before we ever met the Commander so other than a few other roles that we were less certain of at the time, the Guardians seemed more safe than the others. And the other reason is they died because they were caught in love, which aligns with traditional religious values that a man can only love a woman but it also resonates with me in particular because my mother is with another woman.

Around 2018, my mother and father divorced and then not long after a year later, my mom went into another relationship with my step-mom. The problem with that is we went to a Christian church at the time and no matter how much my mothers wanted to get married there, they were forbidden from doing so. This is definitely a lot less extreme than being hung and strung up over a wall but it was still a stupid religious belief that hindered my mothers freedom and happiness. After a while we decided we were going to leave the church, even though it is where my brother, sister and I got baptized, to move to a more accepting church that would also wed them. This was a church that we’ve been going to before I was even born so this was a life changing decision to make, but in the end we decided to prioritize our love over a traditional belief. The new church which was accepting of all people, no matter their religion, gender, race or sexuality and sort of is the real life parallel of the world outside of Gilead in the book.

Another part of the book that relates to the story between my mothers and religion is when we first find out about Moiras’ escape. Although this is also a more loose connection, when I was reading it it also made me think of my family and where we would be if we were in the world of Gilead. Moira was oppressed by the Gilead government as she is lesbian, and her solution was to escape from the red center and arrive somewhere where she is more free. Even though she was less successful than we were, the ideas were similar and overlapped in several ways. Although it wasn’t a direct connection to my family, her escape I think does its job in showing the reader that there still is hope if the characters are careful enough. It made me think of me or one of my mothers in her position and how we would try to escape. Moiras’ character as a whole reminds me of my stepmother with her attitude being more carefree and almost feeling younger at times. So not knowing whether she was able to escape or was caught at the end of her story almost made me sick to my stomach.

This is what makes The Handmaid’s Tale so impactful to the reader, it’s easy to put yourself into the characters shoes. Especially Offred with the entire book just being her thought process instead of her story, it makes you feel like you are there with her. But when I read The Handmaid’s Tale, I see my stepmother in Moira and my mother in Offred. Since they were friends back in the before times it is also easier to relate them, but their attitudes also align. I previously discussed Moira’s connection to my stepmother but Offred and my mom are very alike as they’re both calm and metaphorically powerful, Even if it is out of my control, doing this makes me root for the characters and feel their emotions more than characters not as well made as Atwoods.