Tag Archives: Margaret Atwood

Handmaid’s Emmy, A Sign of Its Urgency

By Robin Bates | Published: September 19, 2017

The Emmys signaled that “Handmaid’s Tale” is as relevant as ever as America’s misogyny deepens. So is Euripides’s “The Bacchae.”

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Handmaid’s Tale, More Relevant Than Ever

By Robin Bates | Published: April 26, 2017

With Hulu set to release “Handmaid’s Tale” tomorrow, I gather together all my past posts on Atwood’s dystopian classic. The novel isn’t only important for liberals but has lessons for rightwing women as well.

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Rakunks & Wolvogs & Pigoons, Oh My!

By Robin Bates | Published: April 13, 2017

As gene splicing becomes more common, we need novels like Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and Crake” to point out the dangers. By making connections, good dystopian fiction serves to wakes us up.

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Atwood Predicts the Fire Next Time

By Robin Bates | Published: March 1, 2017

Atwood’s disturbing dystopian short story “Torch the Dusties” points to the uneven way that our society is apportioning its resources, along with the resulting anger.

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Schlafly, Model for Atwood’s Serena Joy

By Robin Bates | Published: September 6, 2016

Recently deceased Phyllis Schlafly served as the model for Serena Joy in Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel “Handmaid’s Tale.” Because Serena Joy gets the society she says she wants, however, her life turns bitter. Schlafly was lucky to live in a society that allowed women to have their own careers.

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Atwood’s Dystopias & the Gun Business

By Robin Bates | Published: December 6, 2015

Margaret Atwood’s recent dystopian fictions capture how capitalism preys upon sex and fear. We don’t have to travel into the future as the gun industry is taking full advantage of our fears in the present.

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Misusing Metaphor in the Abortion Debates

By Robin Bates | Published: October 6, 2015

Both sides are misusing metaphor in the abortion debates. If we want a deeper vision of reality, we must turn to literature.

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Atwood and a Woman on Death Row

By Robin Bates | Published: March 5, 2015

Kelly Gissender, the Georgia woman scheduled to be executed, brings to mind Margaret Atwood’s meditations in “Alias Grace” on what goes on in a woman’s mind.

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Teaching Gender Sensitivity at West Point

By Robin Bates | Published: February 18, 2015

Margaret Atwood’s “Handmaid’s Tale” is required reading for entering West Point cadets. Good things could happen.

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