Upper Middlebrow

Upper Middlebrow


Episode 58: “The Deus is in the Details,” or Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Part II

July 22, 2024

The lads marvel at Margaret Atwood’s delicate prose and “lighter than air” narrative, in which sparse poetic writing conveys an alternative future vividly. But is the ending a bit of a deus ex machina, and if so, is that a problem? Or does that serve to reinforce the ideas at the heart of the book? Dukes and Bagg have a spirited but generally glowing read of Atwood’s 1985 masterwork.