The Religious Foundation of Gilead
Picture a world where Christian fundamentalists have completely taken over the government - that's Gilead in a nutshell. This totalitarian patriarchal theocracy claims to promote Christian values like charity and forgiveness, but actually uses these beliefs to justify the brutal oppression of women.
Atwood wasn't writing in a vacuum when she published this in 1985. During Ronald Reagan's presidency, the Christian right was gaining serious political power and pushing hard for "traditional family values" - basically the heterosexual nuclear family as the only acceptable lifestyle. Anyone who didn't fit this mould, like the lesbian character Moira, became an outsider in society.
The society of Gilead represents religious fundamentalism taken to its extreme. It's built on the idea that traditional views of family and society are not just better, but the only way things should be - including stripping away women's reproductive rights.
Key Point: Atwood uses religion as the perfect tool to show how extremist groups can manipulate beliefs to justify oppression and control.
