Religion and Theocracy in Handmaids tail

Religion and Theocracy

Gilead is a theocracy, a government where church and state are combined. You can see many connections back to the  Old Testament through the chapters when they mention phrases such as blessed day”, “blessed be the fruit. The fact that gilead is so connect to the old testament, shows how people in the community look up to old testament almost as much as if they are laws.

For example in a certain section in the Old Testament, there comes the justification for many of Gilead’s most savage characteristics; the role of the Handmaids. That states where fertile servants can carry on adulterous relationships to allow infertile women, this overall shows how such crazy rules, are justified and even supported by the community as it is stated in the Old Testament indicating influences the people’s views on different thinks, making it seem normal. Overall this potrays how The Handmaid’s Tale is not a criticism of the Bible in itself but of how different people use the Bible for their own oppressive purposes, and in this case to controll other people.

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