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Articles

Volume 14, Number 2 (1989)

Sufi Mysticism in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale

  • Nancy V. Workman
Submitted
May 22, 2008
Published
1989-06-06

Abstract

Workman focuses on the relevance of the third epigram of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, which is a Sufi proverb. The character Offred is linked to Sufi mysticism, which by its nature is subversive to mainstream religious authority and hierarchy. The character's recognition of an inner spirituality is a subversion of the repressive and prescriptive fundamentalist society into which she has been assimilated. Moira, Offred's rebellious and life-affirming lesbian friend and alter-ego, is compared favourably to the mystic "saints" of Sufism, many of whom are women. Offred reveals the complex relationships that exist between language and power and how entire value systems can result from playing with these features.