The environment in which a story is set, that is, the time, place and the social structure that existed in that context, is instrumental in conveying the author's comments on the society portrayed and the parallels it may have with the modern-day world. The function of the physical, social and moral environments in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is to convey the themes cast in a dystopian view of the future where a rigid, patriarchal and theocratic society has been established. All three of these environments are interdependent and serve to illuminate the present flaws in society by representing gross exaggerations of them in a bleak and bizarre reality, in which a revolution of extremist values have become manifest.
The Handmaid's Tale is set in the near future as the twentieth century draws to a close, in Massachusetts, the United States of America. From several references in the novel, it is established that due to environmental destruction by the emission of nuclear and other toxic wastes, fertility has plummeted whilst infant mortality and mutations have risen. In response to a rapidly changing world, faced with the prospect of the disintegration of civilization, religious fundamentalists have used military force to turn society back to ultra-conservative values. They have introduced new social practices and moral codes justified by a literal reading from the Bible. There also seems to be constant war between the Republic of Gilead and the other states. This is the context in which the central character, Offred, is placed. Her experiences and perceptions as a disempowered woman within this environment have the function of positioning the reader to view most elements of this society to be extremely negative.
As seen through Offred's eyes, the "heart of Gilead" is described as a place where the "war cannot intrude… where nothing moves." Society is at a standstill, in a frozen state - signifying the overwhelming level of oppression exerted by the theocratic power. Every mind has been conditioned not to think of advancement or progress, as any change would threaten the control of the regime. The facts that Gilead's centre is in the Harvard University, one of the most esteemed educational institutions today and that it is now closed, present a great irony. The university is a symbol of knowledge, hence power, choice and freedom. Now, it is the heart of a totalitarian regime that exudes conformity, ignorance and imprisonment. All laws, including those that gave the rights of free expression and association, have been erased - "There are no lawyers anymore…" Such a physical environment poses a warning as to the extremist tendencies in some religious groups today and the possible trends in society which could install them to power.
Many elements in the physical environment are symbolic of the oppressive nature of Gilead. The "searchlight moonlight," "Guardians of the Faith" with their machine guns and the red armbands worn by the Angels are all symbolic of suppression and total control. The first suggests a night curfew, where everyone except the Commanders are kept in their houses. The omnipresent Guardians create an atmosphere of fear and impending death. Red represents the fascist nature of the regime. The Wall is the most important symbol is this category is it is a historical allusion to the Berlin Wall, something that had existed in the reader's world and hence, could be identified with. Totalitarianism to this extreme has been brought closer to the realms of possibility with this symbol. Bodies are hung on the Wall, as a lesson to the others - "We're supposed to look: this is what they are there for, hanging on the Wall." The slightest dissent will be ruthlessly crushed. Total uniformity is stressed. Such mind-control and physical suppression have existed in fascist, communist and Islamic fundamentalist governments during this century.
The difference with the totalitarian Republic of Gilead is that the Christian religion has been used as the basis of the theocracy, where all women are made subordinate to men. From this has the Handmaid system been devised in which fertile women are classified as "national resources" and valued only as "two-legged wombs." Offred is a Handmaid and the description of her immediate physical environment, her room, shows how strictly regulated her role in society is. "A chair, a table, a lamp" is a blank, unembellished description of the furniture in her room, indicating its utilitarian and plain features, just as a Handmaid is only a utility. "They've removed anything you could tie a rope to" demonstrates society's indictment of the Handmaids - they have been so disconnected from all human regard that some had chosen to take their own lives rather than live out such an emotionally barren existence. Conversely, she comes to see the room as a mental solace, her own psychological space where no one can ever intrude. It is in here that she allows her mind to roam free in her memories, a technique to maintain her sanity. Her territorial sense of possessiveness is thus aroused when she sees the Commander in it - "A flash of bared teeth, what in hell does he think he is doing?… I called it mine."
