The Handmaid's TaleThe novel The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood focuses on the choices made by the society of Gilead in which the preservation and safety of humanity are more valued than freedom. or happiness. This society has undergone many physical changes that have led to extreme psychological consequences. I think Ms. Atwood believes that the possibility of our society becoming that of Gilead is very evident in the choices we make today and in what has happened in the past. Our actions will inevitably catch up with us when we are most vulnerable. bellies with legs, that's all: sacred vessels, ambulatory chalices (p. 176). “In Gilead society, the most valued aspect of life is giving birth to a healthy child without deformities. Gilead is the result of a global nuclear war (or some type of chemical accident involving most of the world). As a result, some women and men remain infertile and unable to increase the greatly reduced population. Women who are fertile are placed in institutions where they are trained in the process of pregnancy and childbearing, those who are not are left to die in areas with high concentrations of radiation. This society has undergone such an extraordinary change that it has moved us from one extreme to the other, leaving many people wondering what happened to make it this way. Things that were most honored and respected are now treated with disdain. Not all of these changes were detrimental, but most of them we could have done without. Ms. Atwood asserts that humanity has a nature to develop, and it is unclear whether this development is aimed at empowerment or destruction of our society until the consequences occur. "I used to think of my body as an instrument of pleasure or a means of transportation, or an instrument for the fulfillment of my will... There were limits, but my body was nevertheless flexible, unique, solid, one with me... Now the flesh is arranged differently, I am a cloud, frozen around a central object, the shape of a pear, hard and more real than me and which glows red in its. translucent packaging (p..