Religious Law and the Handmaid's Tale The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is set in the near future in the Republic of Gilead, formerly the United States. A right-wing extremist religious movement assassinated the president and congress and took complete control of the government. The Constitution was suspended and freedoms revoked. Women found themselves completely subordinated in the new regime, generally placed in the legal care of a male "guardian". Offred, the main character of the story, was lucky in many ways. Because she was still fertile, she was not labeled "Unwoman" and sent to the "Colonies", where thousands of individuals deemed undesirable by the government were sent to work in toxic plants and agricultural fields. Instead, her destiny was to become a "handmaid". In the republic, birth rates were declining, so a fertile female became a valuable commodity. Because Offred was divorced before the revolution, the religious leaders who controlled the government saw fit to remove her from her second husband and son and assign her to a "guardian", a high-ranking male. Her only goal in life with the brace was to get pregnant. Once a month an insemination ceremony took place, during which the guardian attempted to impregnate Offred while his wife read passages from the Bible to them. All three remained clothed and there was no passion involved. Throughout her life as a handmaid, Offred discovers more about Gilead. Her secondary job (after getting pregnant) was to go to town every day and buy food. Gradually she comes into contact with another handmaid, Ofglen, who introduces her to the underground movement against the republic. She eventually becomes involved in a series of illegal activities and is eventually forced to try to escape. The Handmaid's Tale is really about the role of women in society. If it were possible to eliminate women from Gilead, it appears the republic would have done so. Instead, they are forced to do the one thing for which Gilead can find no substitute: produce children. They are so diminished that they can't even feel passion or enjoy sex. Infertile women fare even worse; they are not considered women at all and are deported or killed. The message is that women are necessary to continue humanity, but that they must have no other role in the society they allow to exist.