Freedom: Absolute vs. Restricted

The amazingly different world that is depicted in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale shows a society that is much more limiting than the one we live in now. The narrator explains a shift in freedom in society, from their old world, to their new: "There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it" (34). In their old society, their freedom was something that they could take and apply it to something else. It came from themselves, and they spread it. But "freedom from" is their new society, where they gain freedom from authority and are directed how to apply it. But can this so called "freedom", actually be called freedom? The point of freedom is the ability to make choices and decisions, on your own. But this "freedom from" does not present anything close to that for the women in this novel.

The stringent rules that outline their daily lives and restrict their freedom pushes women to want to break the rules in any little way possible, emphasis on the little. "It's an event, a small defiance of rule, so small as to be undetectable, but such moments are the rewards I hold out for myself, like the candy I hoarded, as a child, at the back of a drawer. Such moments are possibilities, tiny peepholes" (31). The narrator has only just allowed the guard to look into her eyes, and she has thought about touching his face. But this small moment in time has created excitement, fear, and hope in her life. With such restrictions, these emotions can be hard to come by.

Not only is freedom an apparent theme in The Handmaid's Tale, but freedom is also relevant to society today. Women today have much more freedom than they did a hundred years ago. This ability to choose comes across strongly in marriage. There are no arranged marriages, and it is now a relationship built on compromise between man and woman. In addition, when the Nineteenth Amendment was passed in 1920, women gained the right to vote. This large step gave women a political voice, something they had been looking for for generations.

Freedom in our lives can be seen as a choice and a voice, but sometimes there can also be a hidden restriction behind it. In the novel, the narrator explains her freedom at night: "The night is mine, my own time, to do with as I will, as long as I am quiet. As long as I don't move. As long as I lie still" (47). Here she has freedom during the night, but it is restricted. She cannot move, or talk, yet she feels free. Just the slightest bit of feeling free, makes it seem like she has complete freedom, but she doesn't. Before the Nineteenth Amendment, the little steps, such as the work by the labor unions and temperance societies,  that women took towards political freedom made it seem as if they were free. But they were still restricted and discriminated against, and had no vote.

I believe that there is a fine line between absolute freedom and restricted freedom. The Handmaid's Tale depicts restricted freedom at the highest level. You can often be tricked into believing you have achieved absolute freedom, but it is still restricted. I do believe, though, that women have achieved absolute freedom in certain areas in society, and they will continue to in the future.