#5- Handmaid's Tale

"This is the heart of Gilead, where the war cannot intrude except on television. Where the edges are we aren't sure, they vary, according to the attacks and counterattacks; but this is the center, where nothing moves. The Republic of Gilead, said Aunt Lydia, knows no bounds. Gilead is within you" (23).

Gilead is a place from the Bible. In this novel, the United States has now been renamed "the Republic of Gilead." Atwood uses this name to make the restrictive society seem, to the citizens, like a better place than it actually is. Having this title for the land keeps the citizens happy and less likely to break out of the set system. By reading this passage, the reader gets the sense that everything revolves around the "heart of Gilead" since it is described as being a place "where nothing moves" just as the center of a circle does not move, even when it spins. This passage hints that the citizens of Gilead are being lied to since "the edges...vary according to the attacks and counterattacks." The United States has been transformed into a haven but it shields the citizens from truth and reality since communication is only on a virtual level. This would make it a possibility that the war is not even happening - it could merely be an invention to keep people in line.

Work Cited:
"Gilead." Wikipedia. 7 Aug. 2010. 28 Aug. 2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilead>.