The Handmaid’s Tale has been banned in various places in the USA
The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian novel penned by best-selling author and Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood, was first published in 1985. It painted a grim picture of a future where the USA had transformed into the authoritarian Republic of Gilead, governed by an extremist religious regime.
In this new nation, fertile women were forced to bear children through state-sanctioned rape, a horrifying consequence of environmental disasters and nuclear wars that had resulted in a fertility crisis.
Amidst the turmoil, the radical political group, the Sons of Jacob, seized power. They used biblical texts as the basis for their social hierarchy within their newly formed dictatorship, with the suppression of women’s rights at the heart of their agenda.
Upon its release, the novel sparked controversy but eventually became a classic, making its way onto school reading lists worldwide, reports the Mirror US.
Fast forward to 2017, Hulu’s adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, starring Elisabeth Moss, reignited interest in Atwood’s eerily prophetic allegory.
The Handmaid’s Tale achieved global success, its themes resonating even more profoundly today than when the novel was first published.
Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale has led to renewed interest in the book (Image: HULU)
However, this renewed attention has also led to fresh criticism of the source material, resulting in the book being banned in various libraries across the USA. But what is the rationale behind this?
Let’s delve into why the book has been banned and where.
Why was The Handmaid’s Tale banned?
Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale has been removed from school libraries across several US states, including Missouri, Oregon, Florida, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, amid claims of sexual explicitness.
In Madison County, Virginia, the book faced a ban in school libraries after parents condemned its sexual content as too explicit.
Atwood expressed her bewilderment at the bans in a 2023 article for The Atlantic, noting that The Handmaid’s Tale is “much less explicit than the Bible”.
The Handmaid’s Tale novel has been banned in several states across the USA (Image: HULU)
The esteemed author also pondered whether the novel’s ban was due to perceptions of it being anti-Christian, given its portrayal of a radical regime rooted in biblical principles.
As more laws are enacted across the US, the number of challenges to book bans has surged dramatically.
A 2019 graphic novel edition of The Handmaid’s Tale was withdrawn by librarians in Clayton, Missouri, in 2024 due to an illustration of a sexually explicit scene, which contravened state legislation against such material in libraries.
Tom Bober, Clayton district’s library coordinator and president of the Missouri Association of School Librarians, commented via The Independent about the removal: “There’s a depiction of a rape scene, a handmaid being forced into a sexual act.”
He further explained, “It’s literally one panel of the graphic novel, but we felt it was in violation of the law in Missouri.”
Librarians risked fines and potential jail time for stocking books with such content under the stringent Missouri law.
The Handmaid’s Tale book continues to be banned (Image: HULU)
In a controversial move, the Goddard school district in Wichita, Kansas, pulled 29 books from its shelves in 2021, including the provocative The Handmaid’s Tale.
At that juncture, it was articulated that the books were not outright banned but under review due to potential content deemed “unsuitable for children”.
The American Library Association’s website lists The Handmaid’s Tale as one of the most frequently challenged books, with numerous attempts to have it banned for a variety of reasons.
Past efforts to ban The Handmaid’s Tale have cited accusations of the novel being anti-Christian and anti-Islamic due to veiled women, as well as being sexually explicit and graphically violent, among other criticisms.
Amidst ongoing controversy, author Margaret Atwood and her publisher Penguin Random House created and auctioned an “unburnable” edition of The Handmaid’s Tale, fetching approximately £96,000 ($130,000) at a Sotheby’s auction in New York.
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Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale has led to renewed interest in the book 
Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale has led to renewed interest in the book 
The Handmaid’s Tale novel has been banned in several states across the USA 
The Handmaid’s Tale novel has been banned in several states across the USA 
The Handmaid’s Tale book continues to be banned 
The Handmaid’s Tale book continues to be banned 
