The Handmaid's Tale is little more than a propaganda piece written by a Canadian (because what Canadian doesn't like constantly bragging about their twisted image of moral superiority?) playing on stereotypes of American Christians as corrupt, authoritarian bigots who want to oppress women. Even the central premise—a fertility crisis—is blamed on pollution.
Atwood is the reason why I never could take many novelists seriously when reading their works. Many have a gross distortion of reality due to their lib/leftist point of view.
Margaret Atwood lives in a country, Canada, that has been deluged with information/stories about America. Yet, with the U.S. being one of the most liberal/beneficial countries for women in the world, she chooses to believe half the population of the country would like to institute some sort of religious dictatorship ala Islamic countries.
Yes, I know she's a leftist wacko, but there doesn't seem to be much disagreement with the general thrust of the THT among the leftist intelligentsia. You'd think quite a few non-conservatives would assert that she's full of fecal matter, but so far I haven't heard anything from the usual sources.
So I have to believe many American libs believe the same garbage...conservative, white males are just itching to create Gilead if given the chance. No wonder this country is headed towards a split.