The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a dystopian story about a world where Christian Fundamentalists have taken over the government of the United States and suspended the Constitution. Women have NO rights. Minorities are expelled – Jews are specifically discussed, but there is no mention of any other ethnicity other than white. There are also fertility problems that are, naturally, blamed on women – not men. The women who are deemed to be fertile are declared to be Handmaids.

Handmaids are forced to join an organization that brainwashes them into subservience and obedience. Once they are officially inducted they are identified by the red dresses and white wimple. The Handmaids are sent to “postings” where they are expected to become pregnant by the male head of the household (Commander or member of the government) during a ceremony where the Wife is present. Each Handmaid lives with this “family” for two years during this effort to conceive. If no child is born, she is moved to another posting. If she fails to conceive after three different postings, she is sent to “the colonies” to clean up toxic waste and die.

There are three other classifications for women in the world of The Handmaid’s Tale. They are Wives (who wear blue dresses and are married to the Commanders), Marthas (who are domestic servants and wear green uniform dresses) and Econowives (who wear stripped dresses and are married to lesser men in the government). There are no old women in this society. When women of little status become too old to work, they are also shipped off to “The Colonies.” Women (of all status levels) are also not allowed to read or write as the current government sees teaching women to read and write is one of the mistakes that society made in the past.

Now I know that the story I’ve described so far does not sound like a fun and cheery read. It’s not and it doesn’t get any better – though it is a well-written story. However, I do feel that it is important to read stories like this from time-to-time because we can see some of the elements of this cautionary tale in US society today. The Tea Party, the rise of mega-churches and fundamentalist Christianity, the vitriol against immigrants, gays, and other religious philosophies like Judaism, Islam, Atheism, and other belief systems that do not conform to the majority’s belief systems.

I would recommend this book to all women, teenage girls and men who love strong women. The world portrayed in The Handmaid’s Tale could come to pass if it is allowed to through in-action and apathy. As with all prejudices and systems of hate, people of good and moral character have to speak up and say “Stop” in order to prevent the folly such systems would bring. Parables like The Handmaid’s Tale warn us of what could happen in order to make us aware and enable us to avoid going down that undesirable path.

If you like to read…

• Pure History: you will like the way this work of fiction weaves real historical fact into the story.
• Vampire Lore: you will like this book because vampires permeate this story. You  may need to suspend a bit of belief because some of the good guys are vampires. A vampire purist may not like this yarn because after the first century, vampires can walk in the sun.
• Well written and imaginative fiction of any kind: then you will like this book because it’s a wonderful yarn and will make you say (with a wink and a nod) “Ah, that explains it!”

Have you read this book? If yes, what did you think? If you like history (any kind or era), vampire lore, or alternate history, what books would you recommend? Please feel free to share here. I’d love to hear YOUR recommendations!

I tend to be a person who embraces change and rolls with the punches that change throws my way. I don’t say this to brag, but to advise. Change is going to happen. As leaders, we need to work hard to prepare our followers for the coming changes. If we know there is a reorganization coming, then as leaders we need to help our workers shine so they find a place in the new organizational structure. If we know there are layoffs coming, we need to prepare our followers for that inevitability so they can land on their feet and keep going. I would also hope that leaders in this program will also stress the need for followers to educate themselves. Not everyone is cut out to pursue a graduate degree, but a culture that values education is one that can innovate its way out of tough situations. That’s my two cents…

Jay Leno, The NBC Fail Whale, & Conan O'Brien

Conan O’Brien’s Mistakes

When Conan O’Brien negotiated his contract in 2004 he got greedy and insisted that he deserved the Tonight Show. Jay Leno had been the host of the Tonight Show for 17 years. Before that, Johnny Carson held the reigns for 30 years. Jay Leno was not ready to retire and Conan felt he was justified in forcing Jay out. He got greedy rather than waiting his turn when Jay retired.

NBC’s Mistakes

NBC is guilty of having screwed up priorities. Jay Leno had been #1 in his time-slot on the Tonight Show since he took over from Johnny Carson. Conan O’Brien may have done well in his time-slot, but he didn’t have the audience that Jay Leno had simply because not as many people stay up that late. Also, Conan’s humor appealed to a younger audience than had been watching the Tonight show for nearly 40 years.

NBC had the choice of letting O’Brien go or screwing with Leno. They ended up doing both because now O’Brien is leaving and Leno was forced to give up the Tonight Show before he was ready. They also decided to dump their dramas for a cheaper-to-produce stand-up show rather than paying for dramas that their audiences had enjoyed and talked about for decades.

Jay Leno’s Mistakes

Jay Leno had kept the Tonight Show #1 in its time-slot for 17 years. Yet when NBC came to him and said they wanted him to give up the Tonight Show there was no apparent fight. He stepped aside graciously and even acceded to NBC’s lame attempt to keep him from going to another network by hosting the Jay Leno show in the 10:00 p.m. time-slot. He just let the network push him around. Now he’ll be handed back his show, but he will have lost part of his audience because of the clash between himself and O’Brien. He’s become damaged goods.

Conclusion

Leno, O’Brien, and NBC have screwed up a fantastic franchise and tarnished it for the foreseeable future. The sad part was that if any of them had avoided their individual mistakes, this whole conflict would not have happened – or if it had, it would not have been as dramatic or damaging. Anyway, that’s my opinion… What’s yours?

Image Credits:

• NBC Fail Whale Logo Image was retrieved on January 26, 2010 from TwitPic (posted by @studionashvegas).

• Jay Leno image was retrieved on January 26, 2010 from Jay Leno Fun Fan Blog Fotos using Google Images.

• Conan O’Brien image was retrieved on January 26, 2010 from Bill Brioux’s TV Feeds My Family using Google Images.