📚 Banned Book Spotlight: The Handmaid’s Tale

About the Author

Margaret Atwood, born in 1939 in Canada, is a powerful literary voice whose stories often explore power, oppression, and what it means to resist. Over her long career, she has written poetry, fiction, and essays. Some of her most acclaimed works include The Handmaid’s Tale, The Blind Assassin, and The Circle Game.

Story in Brief

The Handmaid’s Tale is set in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime where women are stripped of their freedoms, given no names, and forced into rigid roles. The protagonist, Offred, becomes a Handmaid—valued only for her fertility. She moves through a world in which women are prohibited from reading, speaking freely, or owning property. As she navigates this oppressive system, she forms connections, dreams of escape, and quietly resists.

Why It’s Banned

Across U.S. states like Florida, Texas, and Oregon, The Handmaid’s Tale has been pulled from school libraries and curricula. Critics point to its mature themes—sexuality, profanity, feminism, and religious ideas—as reasons to censor it.

But bans are not just a historical or U.S.-only issue. In 2025, Alberta (Canada) authorities included The Handmaid’s Tale among over 200 books removed from public school libraries under a directive to eliminate materials with “explicit sexual content.” In reaction, Atwood herself warned of “public book burnings,” posting a satirical short story that mocked such censorship efforts.

Why It Still Matters

Even in 2025, the fact that The Handmaid’s Tale is being removed from shelves reminds us: books carry ideas that scare people—ideas about rights, gender, power, and freedom. When we ban books, we silence those conversations.