Dehumanization through Mirroring Animal Gaze in Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments

Abstract

This article tends to capture the dehumanization of handmaids in The Testaments. Women are objectified through the mirroring animal gaze, they are dehumanized, and led to believe that they are less human as compared to men. Handmaids start believing themselves as animals because they are looked at as animals in the eyes of commanders, and their identity is negated in comparison to commanders. This analysis of gaze has shown that eyes enjoy unique importance in Atwood’s fiction. The patriarchal gaze depends upon the eyes to mortify the subjectivity of women. Therefore, Eyes like Big Brother facilitate Gilead in crushing the resistance of Mayday. Moreover, it is supported by the work of Jacques Lacan who helps to understand the victimization of women through the gaze. The mirroring animal gaze shapes the identity of Daisy and Agnes; they perceive themselves as an animal due to the voyeuristic gaze of the commander. The patriarchal gaze is the first weapon against women in Gilead to develop feelings of dismemberment and alienation. This article also explores the patriarchal gaze that lures the desire of its victims. The feminist resistance is based on a lack that is imitating a patriarchal narrative.