The Freedom to Choose (3)

Have you ever thought about a life without freedom? I am sure we all have once or twice, but we never imagine it happening to us. We are often told not to take things for granted, but have you ever really thought deeply about it? In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood the women have lost every ounce of their freedom. All they are aloud to do on their own without supervision is breath. They have become “two-legged wombs, that’s all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices”, says the narrator on page 146.

The only word that comes to my mind currently is, “shocking”. I am shocked that these women are turned into breeders and sexual intercourse has turned into something that is only seen for its main purpose. That they are no longer given the freedom to chose what they would like to wear on any given day or where they would like to walk or sit. They can’t even take a bath when they want to.

This is when I actually began to realize how important it was not to take things for granted. In the areas where we live we are given the freedom to do almost anything. I can come home any day and sit down to watch my favorite show, or read my favorite book without being punished. These women live in fear or doing something wrong and becoming an “unwomen”. This is a rather short entry but this has been on my mind since I read the first few chapters. This book and many other’s, like Fahrenheit 451 teach you to treasure the simplest things like reading and writing.