The Testaments (The Handmaid’s Tale, #2)

The most polarizing book of 2019

„The Testament“ is a modern sequel to „The Handmaid‘s Tale“ from 1985, and tells about the downfall of the fictive state Gilead, fifteen years after its events. It‘s told by three women who experienced it from different perspectives and backgrounds.

Gilead – Quick Throwback

Gilead – a new totalitarian Christian government

To have read the „The Handmaid‘s Tale“ is a requirement to understand the novel, which is why I want to give a quick reminder of the plot: The fictive state Gilead was created when the worldwide fertility rate had collapsed, due to environmental pollution and sexual transmitted diseases, which caused a civil war in the US. In the aftermath a new totalitarian Christian government was instated in which the society was ruled by divine law and women were brutally subjugated. Women that were still fertile were used as natal slaves, named „Handmaids“ and assigned to homes of the ruling elite, where they suffered ritualized rape („The ceremony“) by their male masters (“Commanders”) in the presence of their unvertile wives, in order to bear children for them. They were forced to wear a specific dress code, including long red dresses and white coifs (“wings”) concealing them from public view and restricting their vision. Another class of women were „Aunts“, who train, oversee, torture and discipline the Handmaids as well as organize public executions. The law was enforced by the „Eyes“ who were a secret police and watched the public for signs of rebellion to punish and execute those who didn‘t obey.

Offred – we don‘t know if she was walking into her freedom or if it was a trap

June Osborne, renamed Offred, was the protagonist of “The Handmaid‘s Tale” who was captured and forced to become a Handmaid, when she tried to flee the state with her husband and her daughter. Her daughter was given to an upper-class family to raise, while her husband managed to escape to Canada. In Gilead she is assigned to the home of a commander to bear a child for them and suffers the states doctrine under Aunt Lydia. But she learns about a resistance group called „Mayday“ – an underground network working to overthrow Gilead. Just when she believes to be pregnant, men working as “the Eyes”, take her away to a waiting van and it is unclear whether the men are actually Eyes or members of the Mayday resistance. The story ends when she enters the van with her future uncertain – we don‘t know if leaving will result in her escape or her capture. .

Aunt Lydia

Aunt Lydia is power seeking and enjoys torture – but now we learn that she is actually one of the good guys

As one of three narrators of “The Testament”, Aunt Lydia records the story of her rise to power in a manuscript known as “The Ardua Hall Holograph.” We know Aunt Lydia from „The Handmaid‘s Tale“ as evil observer of the Handmaids, fully aligned with Gilead’s oppressive policies against women. After the the US government was overthrown, she became one of four elite women charged with founding the Aunts. But now we learn that she was a successful judge before Gilead was build, still administered justice in whatever ways she could and was tortured into joining the regime in the first place. She used her power to gather evidence against Gilead’s authorities and to plot the regime’s downfall from within. But despite claiming that she joined Gilead mainly in order to survive and subvert the regime, she doesn’t present herself as a saint either. She knows that her working methods were morally suspect to say the least and contributed to major suffering and death. She sacrificed individuals in service to her larger goals, and even found personal pleasure in manipulating others and turning them against each other. At one point, she almost looses her commitment to her cause and almost gives in to the allure of even greater power. In the end, the reader must judge whether Aunt Lydia’s contributions to the greater good outweigh the harm she has caused. The transformation she undergoes in comparison to „The Handmaids Tale“ has less to do with a change in her character, than with a change in the reader’s perception of her.

Daisy/Witness testimony 369B

Daisy is the second narrator, chronicled as „Transcript of Witness Testimony 369B“. She grew up thinking that she was an ordinary Canadian girl, but when she disregarded her parents wishes and attended a demonstration that critiziced Gilead’s human rights violations, her world fell apart and caused a series of rapid transformations. Suddenly her parents were murdered on behalf of Gilead and a group of „Mayday“ operatives, working to take Gilead down, informed her that her parents were in fact her foster parents and that she was the child that had attained legendary status after getting smuggled out of Gilead to Canada by a Handmaid – called „Baby Nicole“. Gilead still requested the extradition of her, which put her in great danger, as she served as a symbol of rebellion against Gilead. Mayday took Daisy into their care convinced her to participate in a plan to infiltrate Gilead and gather top-secret documents from an anonymous, high-ranking source. Daisy made it into Gilead, and operated under the name Jade, to pretend that she wanted to convert to Gilead’s state religion. The high ranking source she contacted turned out to be Aunt Lydia who brought her together with Agnes, whom she learns is her half-sister, and enabled them to flee Gilead together. The stolen documents were supposed to be published in Canada to destabilize and destroy the state of Gilead, which apparently was successful.

Agnes Jemima/Witness testimony 369A

The third protagonist, Agnes Jemima, is chronicled as „Transcript of Witness Testimony 369A“. She was adopted by a Gileadean family, to be raised and become the wife of a commander. From a young age she benefited from the love and care of her adoptive mother, Tabitha, but grew increasingly unhappy with Gilead’s treatment of women after she survived a traumatic sexual assault and witnessed the death of her family’s Handmaid, Ofkyle, during childbirth. Depressed, Agnes disregarded her engagement to a high-ranking commander and joined the order of the Aunts to become Aunt Victoria. The time at Ardua Hall transformed her and she learns that the Aunts derived their power by collecting other people’s secrets, feeling intrigued by this promise of power and security. But her life changed again when Daisy arrived at the order, who Aunt Lydia informed her, was her half-her sisters and in fact „Baby Nicole“. Aunt Lydia asked Agnes to take part in a plot to reform Gilead’s corrupt core, which caused Agnes to give up the power the status as Aunt had promised her and instead derived power from her new relationship to her sister and her commitment to a just cause.

Baby Nicole

Might “Baby Nicole”actually be who we know as Daisy?

The story of Baby Nicole caused a scandal about fifteen years prior to the events that lead to Gilead’s collapse. Back then, Gilead had a problem with women trying to escape to Canada. The most scandalous case involved a Handmaid who successfully crossed the border with a baby that was conceived by a prominent Commander. This baby was called „Baby Nicole“ and could very likely be Offred‘s child, suggesting her escape. Many outside of Gilead celebrated the successful escape and saw Baby Nicole as a symbol of rebellion and triumph over oppression. In Gilead, however, Aunt Lydia and the Commanders used Baby Nicole as a propaganda tool to spark nationalism. The competing symbolic meanings culminate when Daisy learns about her real identity. As a young person with an interest in social justice, she ultimately chooses to leverage her legendary status against the very regime that created it. Since Offred gave birth to at least one more child after the events of the (first) novel, she is speculated to be identical to the unnamed mother of Agnes and Daisy.

Power

To execute power in Gilead as a woman, one has to join the regime

The three narrators struggle with the attraction of power in a society that otherwise disempowers women. Prior to the founding of Gilead, Aunt Lydia worked as a judge, which brought her power and prestige. Though she immediately lost this power upon her arrest, Aunt Lydia quickly rose in Gilead’s ranks and become the most powerful of the four founding Aunts. She wanted to use her power to destabilize Gilead but also enjoyed the privileges it brought her. She even worried that her vulnerability to the allure of power would tempt her to abandon her plan of bringing down the regime. Agnes felt tantalized by the power exercised by the Aunts, particularly because she grew up watching the consequences of being a powerless women in Gilead, exemplified at their families Handmaid. Because Aunts got their power from collecting other people’s secrets, she envisioned that she could take revenge on those who had wronged her. In comparison Daisy proves to be more reluctant to embrace the power she possesses as Baby Nicole, but she ultimately uses that power to help take Gilead down.

Collective Guilt

Mass executions on a daily basis – but guilt is not a matter of individual actions but of societal complacency,

In “The Testaments” guilt is not a matter of individual actions but of societal complacency, particularly in terms of gender. Men control Gilead, but the regime used selected women to participate in the patriarchy to let them execute female discrimination and therefore lend it a form of legitimacy. The four founding Aunts collaborated with the Commanders to establish laws that restricted women’s freedoms and govern every aspect of their life. Some upper-class women adapted to their new lifes by innovating fresh ways to assert their dominance. A horrifying example of this presents itself when Aunt Lydia‘s loyalty is tested by coercing her to participate in an execution of other women. After the event she learns that the rifle had a blank in it rather than a bullet, to relieve her sense of guilt for killing another woman and thereby inspire loyalty in her but mostly to make her understand, that her intention to kill already condemned her even if her action caused no direct harm. Thus, any individual who either directly or indirectly contributed to Gilead’s survival shares in the society’s collective guilt.

“You don’t believe the sky is falling until a chunk of it falls on you.”

The beauty of “The Handmaid‘s Tale” lay in the many unanswered questions, such as the uncertain future of Offred, which now is resolved. Additionaly I‘m disappointed with the story of Aunt Lydia, who we knew as evil and violent woman, enjoying the suppression of other women and functioning as their guard. This is a structure we can observe in many totalitarian systems, which is why it was also kind of analytical, while balancing the theme of feminism, which is so prominent in Atwood‘s work‘s. But because Aunt Lydia is turned into a part of the rebellion all women in Gilead are victimized and it‘s excluded that women joined the system out of conviction. In my opinion “The Handmaid‘s Tale” had the perfect ending and created a feeling of anxiety, curiosity and uncertainty, that now is perished.

“The Testament” is not a bad book, in the way that it would be badly written, but it is a sequel to a book that should have been left alone. „The Testament “ is a modern sequel to „The Handmaid ‘ s Tale “ from 1985, and tells about the fall of the assumed state of matter Gilead, fifteen years after its events. It ‘ second told by three women who experienced it from different perspectives and backgrounds.To have read the „The Handmaid ‘ s Tale “ is a requirement to understand the novel, which is why I want to give a immediate admonisher of the plot : The assumed submit Gilead was created when the worldwide richness pace had collapsed, due to environmental pollution and sexual convey diseases, which caused a civil war in the US. In the consequence a fresh totalitarian christian government was instated in which the society was ruled by divine law and women were viciously subjugated. Women that were still fecund were used as natal slaves, named „Handmaids “ and assigned to homes of the rule elect, where they suffered ritualized rape ( „The ceremony “ ) by their male masters ( “ Commanders ” ) in the presence of their unvertile wives, in ordering to bear children for them. They were forced to wear a specific dress code, including farseeing red dresses and white dress ( “ wings ” ) concealing them from public view and restricting their vision. Another course of women were „Aunts “, who train, oversee, anguish and discipline the Handmaids arsenic well as unionize public executions. The law was enforced by the „Eyes “ who were a secret police and watched the public for signs of rebellion to punish and execute those who didn ‘ triiodothyronine obey.June Osborne, renamed Offred, was the supporter of “ The Handmaid ‘ s Tale ” who was captured and forced to become a Handmaid, when she tried to flee the state of matter with her conserve and her daughter. Her daughter was given to an upper-class family to raise, while her conserve managed to escape to Canada. In Gilead she is assigned to the home of a commander to bear a child for them and suffers the states doctrine under Aunt Lydia. But she learns about a resistance group called „Mayday “ – an metro net working to overthrow Gilead. good when she believes to be fraught, men working as “ the Eyes ”, take her away to a waiting van and it is indecipherable whether the men are actually Eyes or members of the Mayday resistor. The history ends when she enters the vanguard with her future unsealed – we don ‘ thyroxine know if leaving will result in her scat or her capture. .As one of three narrators of “ The will ”, Aunt Lydia records the narrative of her rise to power in a manuscript known as “ The Ardua Hall Holograph. ” We know Aunt Lydia from „The Handmaid ‘ s Tale “ as malefic perceiver of the Handmaids, in full aligned with Gilead ’ s oppressive policies against women. After the the uracil government was overthrown, she became one of four elect women charged with founding the Aunts. But now we learn that she was a successful judge before Gilead was build, silent administered justice in whatever ways she could and was tortured into joining the government in the first place. She used her baron to gather tell against Gilead ’ mho authorities and to plot the government ’ s fall from within. But despite claiming that she joined Gilead chiefly in order to survive and subvert the government, she doesn ’ thymine present herself as a enshrine either. She knows that her working methods were morally defendant to say the least and contributed to major suffer and death. She sacrificed individuals in service to her larger goals, and even found personal pleasure in manipulating others and turning them against each other. At one point, she about looses her committedness to her campaign and about gives in to the allure of even greater ability. In the conclusion, the lector must judge whether Aunt Lydia ’ s contributions to the greater thoroughly outweigh the injury she has caused. The transformation she undergoes in comparison to „The Handmaids Tale “ has less to do with a switch in her fictional character, than with a change in the proofreader ’ s perception of her.Daisy is the second narrator, chronicled as „Transcript of Witness Testimony 369B “. She grew up think that she was an ordinary canadian girlfriend, but when she disregarded her parents wishes and attended a presentation that critiziced Gilead ’ s homo rights violations, her world fell apart and caused a series of rapid transformations. abruptly her parents were murdered on behalf of Gilead and a group of „Mayday “ operatives, working to take Gilead down, informed her that her parents were in fact her foster parents and that she was the child that had attained legendary status after getting smuggled out of Gilead to Canada by a Handmaid – called „Baby Nicole “. Gilead inactive requested the extradition of her, which put her in great danger, as she served as a symbol of rebellion against Gilead. Mayday took Daisy into their manage convinced her to participate in a plan to infiltrate Gilead and gather top-secret documents from an anonymous, high-level beginning. Daisy made it into Gilead, and operated under the name Jade, to pretend that she wanted to convert to Gilead ’ sulfur country religion. The high rank source she contacted turned out to be Aunt Lydia who brought her together with Agnes, whom she learns is her half sister, and enabled them to flee Gilead together. The steal documents were supposed to be published in Canada to destabilize and destroy the state of Gilead, which obviously was successful.The third supporter, Agnes Jemima, is chronicled as „Transcript of Witness Testimony 369A “. She was adopted by a Gileadean family, to be raised and become the wife of a air force officer. From a youthful historic period she benefited from the love and caution of her adopted mother, Tabitha, but grew increasingly unhappy with Gilead ’ s treatment of women after she survived a traumatic sexual rape and witnessed the death of her class ’ s Handmaid, Ofkyle, during childbirth. Depressed, Agnes disregarded her battle to a high-level commander and joined the order of the Aunts to become Aunt Victoria. The time at Ardua Hall transformed her and she learns that the Aunts derived their office by collecting other people ’ sulfur secrets, feeling intrigued by this promise of exponent and security. But her life changed again when Daisy arrived at the order, who Aunt Lydia informed her, was her half-her sisters and in fact „Baby Nicole “. Aunt Lydia asked Agnes to take separate in a plot to reform Gilead ’ s corrupt core, which caused Agnes to give up the office the condition as Aunt had promised her and rather derived power from her modern relationship to her sister and her commitment to a merely cause.The floor of Baby Nicole caused a scandal about fifteen years anterior to the events that lead to Gilead ’ sulfur crack up. Back then, Gilead had a problem with women trying to escape to Canada. The most disgraceful case involved a Handmaid who successfully crossed the bound with a pamper that was conceived by a outstanding commanding officer. This baby was called „Baby Nicole “ and could very probably be Offred ‘ south child, suggesting her escape. many outside of Gilead celebrated the successful elude and saw Baby Nicole as a symbol of rebellion and victory over oppression. In Gilead, however, Aunt Lydia and the Commanders used Baby Nicole as a propaganda joyride to spark nationalism. The competing symbolic meanings culminate when Daisy learns about her real identity. As a young person with an sake in social justice, she ultimately chooses to leverage her fabled status against the identical government that created it. Since Offred gave birth to at least one more child after the events of the ( first gear ) novel, she is speculated to be identical to the nameless mother of Agnes and Daisy.The three narrators struggle with the attraction of power in a society that otherwise disempowers women. Prior to the initiation of Gilead, Aunt Lydia worked as a evaluator, which brought her exponent and prestige. Though she immediately lost this power upon her catch, Aunt Lydia cursorily rose in Gilead ’ s ranks and become the most brawny of the four establish Aunts. She wanted to use her power to destabilize Gilead but besides enjoyed the privileges it brought her. She even worried that her vulnerability to the tempt of power would tempt her to abandon her plan of bringing down the government. Agnes felt tantalized by the might exercised by the Aunts, peculiarly because she grew up watching the consequences of being a powerless women in Gilead, exemplified at their families Handmaid. Because Aunts got their power from collecting other people ’ randomness secrets, she envisioned that she could take retaliation on those who had wronged her. In comparison Daisy proves to be more reluctant to embrace the office she possesses as Baby Nicole, but she ultimately uses that power to help take Gilead down.In “ The Testaments ” guilt is not a count of individual actions but of social complacency, particularly in terms of gender. Men control Gilead, but the government used selected women to participate in the patriarchy to let them execute female discrimination and therefore lend it a kind of authenticity. The four establish Aunts collaborated with the Commanders to establish laws that restricted women ’ second freedoms and govern every aspect of their animation. Some upper-class women adapted to their new lifes by innovating newly ways to assert their authority. A dismay exemplar of this presents itself when Aunt Lydia ‘ sulfur loyalty is tested by coercing her to participate in an execution of other women. After the event she learns that the plunder had a blank in it preferably than a bullet train, to relieve her sense of guilt for killing another woman and thereby inspire commitment in her but largely to make her sympathize, that her purpose to kill already condemned her even if her action caused no direct damage. frankincense, any individual who either directly or indirectly contributed to Gilead ’ s survival shares in the company ’ s corporate guilt.The beauty of “ The Handmaid ‘ s Tale ” lay in the many unanswered questions, such as the uncertain future of Offred, which now is resolved. Additionaly I ‘ thousand disappointed with the fib of Aunt Lydia, who we knew as evil and crimson charwoman, enjoying the inhibition of early women and functioning as their guard. This is a structure we can observe in many totalitarian systems, which is why it was besides kind of analytic, while balancing the root of feminism, which is so outstanding in Atwood ‘ second ferment ‘ sulfur. But because Aunt Lydia is turned into a contribution of the rebellion all women in Gilead are victimized and it ‘ s excluded that women joined the system out of conviction. In my opinion “ The Handmaid ‘ s Tale ” had the perfect ending and created a feeling of anxiety, curio and doubt, that now is perished. “ The testament ” is not a bad reserve, in the way that it would be badly written, but it is a sequel to a book that should have been left alone.