With a large part of the world under quarantine, many people are staying at home to practice social distancing and this has stopped people from doing day-to-day normal activities. In a lot of ways, our lives have somewhat began to parallel The Handmaid’s Tale, a story about people who used to live normal lives but due to a sudden inability to breed children, have been heavily restricted of their freedom by the government to do activities based on their roles in society. Given, we are not living in as hostile conditions (at least for now), there are many similarities between the way people live their lives in a pandemic and in the world of The Handmaid’s Tale.
Life becomes mundane. Everyday feels the same. The Handmaids would go to the grocery store in the morning, sit around, and perform the ceremony night. The Marthas would prepare food as well as clean. The Wives would garden and occasionally socialize with other wives. While the Commanders have the most freedom by taking part in decision making. Life in quarantine much feels like the same when you are stuck at home and for a lot of people – no work to be done.
The highlight of your day is grocery shopping. Like the handmaids, one of the only times they go outside is to get groceries for the Marthas. Now that a lot of the stores and restaurants are closed, shopping for vegetables and meat is surprisingly more exciting than it used to be.
You are wearing the same clothes everyday. Usually we dress for the many different occasions that happen throughout the week. For instance, a suit for work and on weekends, a fancier outfit for gatherings. In the Handmaid’s Tale, your role deciphers what your dress code is and much like cartoon characters, they wear the same outfits everyday. When you are living in the comfort of your home, most people just wear their pyjamas. After all, who else are you going to see?
The government’s decisions heavily affect their lives. In Gilead, the Commanders make up the government and they choose (to their own advantage) how to deal with law enforcement, international relationships, and these decisions heavily controls a person’s activities and limit their boundaries. Although the government naturally has a lot of power, in most countries, most people are allowed to still travel as much or as little as they please. However, with quarantine rules in place, some places like in Italy are only confined to their living spaces and can only go out for no other reasons than for groceries or emergencies. They can even be imprisoned for up to 2 years if they disobey.
Although we are facing a difficult time, it is also important to remember our lives and freedom have not been limited to the horrendous scale the people in Gilead face and work towards social-distancing to stop the virus from further spreading.
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