Appocalypse NOW

In 1990 while enlisted in the U.S. Navy, I served onboard a ship headed on a WESTPAC. There was very little to do onboard during the free hours, and any sort of diversion was heartily welcomed. On a table in our berthing comparment a book lay idle for over a week, which meant that it was up for grabs. Having nothing better to do, I grabbed it and greedily devoured it twice in a row. I never put the book back but kept it in my overstuffed locker, eventually taking it home with me.

A lot of people who call themselves Christians hate this book because they say it is an indictment against Christians. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is very pro-Christian. It is more of a criticisim of psuedo-Christians who want to enslave women so they can take their power. It is also an indictment against feminists who lost site of that for which they were originally fighting. It is, finally, a well-written dystopian tale. Atwood can write.

I started reading the book again recently and was shocked. Even though it was published in 1986, it speaks very clearly of recent events:

I guess that’s how they were able to do it, in the way they did, all at once, without anyone knowing beforehand . . .

It was after the catastrophe . . . They blamed it on the Islamic fanatics, at the time.

Keep calm, they said on television. Everything is under control.



I was stunned. Everyone was, I know that. It was hard to believe . . . How did they get in, how did it happen?

That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn’t even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn’t even an enemy you cold put your fingers on.

Things continued in that state of suspended animation for weeks, although some things did happen. Newspapers were censored . . . for security reasons they said. The roadblocks began to appear, and the Identipasses. Everyone approved of that, since it was obvious you couldn’t be too careful . . . The thing to do, they said, was to continue on as usual.


They don’t want us [women] going anywhere, you can bet on that.

Then I thought, Already you’re starting to get paranoid.

I am so grateful that we all woke up and took away some of the power we had handed this administration. Let’s hope we get back what we gave away so willingly and not backtrack. Let’s pray it doesn’t turn into Atwood’s nightmare.


PS The book is called The Handmaid's Tale. Read it, if you aren't afraid to think.