Theme Of Marginalization In The Handmaid's Tale

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The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally are two classic novels that explore themes of discrimination and oppression. These texts portray the struggles of marginalized groups in society, giving them a voice and shaping the reader’s understanding of how groups in their own society could be disadvantaged. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are harmfully marginalized by their government and Thomas Keneally’s novel explores the struggles of an Aboriginal man, who represents all Aboriginals, as he attempts to break through oppressive racial discrimination.

The Handmaid’s Tale is an exploration of how women in a dystopian society are marginalized by their government. Through political suppression, The
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Jimmie Blacksmith, representing Aboriginals, forces his voice onto society through his violent actions which, while having tragic effects on the lives involved, reflects the vicious damage of marginalization on the Aboriginal’s lifestyle. The Europeans had taken over native people’s land, destroying their culture and tearing their families and communities apart which, ultimately resulted in the “death” of the traditional Aboriginal civilization. Therefore, the voice of Indigenous people was recognized by society because Jimmie’s murders inflicted his people’s pain on the Europeans, forcing them to feel what he was, and recognize that the treatment of Aboriginals was being considered unacceptable. The plot of this novel highlights Jimmies murders as main events and consequently causes this novel to fulfill its intended the purpose, which was to show the reader the horrific results of marginalizing of a group in the hope that Aboriginals and white people may eventually be considered