How do people stay true to themselves in times of crisis? Where does anyone find the strength to stand up in the face of oppression? When will the worst side of human nature wither before the best?
Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale has captivated readers for four decades and continues to stir popular conversation and controversy through the hit Hulu television series. The story has grown into a cautionary tale evoking fear and concern, and yet it also inspires many. The Handmaid's Tale Psychology: Seeing Off Red delves into the psychology of the characters and events depicted in each version of Atwood's epic, both in print and on screen. Through 18 chapters, psychologists and therapists look deeply into the fiction, analyzing it both personally and professionally to unearth its message about real human truths. Topics include oppression, resistance, power, identity, violence, posttraumatic stress versus posttraumatic growth, good versus evil, morality versus mortality, spirituality versus religion, helplessness versus hopefulness, and more.
Table of Contents: About the Editors
Acknowledgments
Introductions: To the Center and Back Again
Why Gilead is Personal by Wind Goodfriend
Seeing Off Red by Travis Langley
I. On the Road to Gilead
1. A Cacophony of Silence: Network Effects and Freedom of Speech by Andrea Frantz & Wind Goodfriend
Freed by Froot Loops: From Silencing One Voice to Amplifying Many by Travis Langley
2. Could It Happen Here? Delusions, Overvalued Beliefs, and Legitimate Fears by Colt Blunt
3. Structures of Sexism Within the Republic by Amber Garcia
4. Authoritarian Personality and the Origins of Fascism by Martin Lloyd
Serena Joy vs. Serene Joy: Interview with Actor Yvonne Strahovski by Jenna Busch
II. At Face Value
5. Blessed Are the Meek: Internalized Oppression in Gilead by Erin Currie
6. Your Dystopian Cosplay Is Our Reality: A Critical Race Theory Analysis by Apryl Alexander
The Conversion Tale: Unveiling Gilead’s Twisted Transformations by Adam Baldowski
7. Handmaids So White: An Exploration of Diversity and Feminism by Brittani Oliver
8. Under His Eye: Concealing and Revealing Identities by Dawn Weatherford & William Blake Erickson
Daisy’s Hair: Trichotillomania in The Testaments? by Travis Langley
III. Under a Cloud
9. Power and Control: Psychological Abuse Dynamics in a Dystopian World by Wind Goodfriend
10. Rape and Sexual Violence by Shelley Clevenger
11. Blues Dressed in Red: Postpartum Disorders among the Handmaids by Brittney Brownfield & Hannah Espinoza
12. Waste Not, Want Not: Social Status, Power, and Reproductive Scarcity by Marie-Joëlle Estrada
IV. Above and Below
13. Devils by Degrees, Angels at Angles: Who Dwells in Strata of Evil and Good? by Travis Langley
14. The Players of Morality: Gilead, God’s Word, and Humanity by Sanjana M. Kulkarni & Eric D. Wesselmann
15. Hallowed Be Thy Name: Exploring the Religious Mindset by Daniel Hand
16. Heroes and Villains: Psychopaths, Sociopaths, or Survivors? by Asher Johnson
V. The Way Forward
17. The Survivor’s Tale: From Helplessness to Hopefulness, Even in Gilead by Travis Langley
18. The Daughters’ Tale: The Life Cycle, Continuing by Travis Langley
Final Word
June: The Personal is Political
Wind Goodfriend
Notes
References
Index
