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The Underground Femaleroad

English Lit: Edexcel A Level The Handmaid's Tale, topic 4.5.1

The Underground Female Road

The Underground Femaleroad references the Underground Railroad in America.

Real-world relevance

Real-world relevance

  • Atwood wrote in the New York Times in 2018: "One of my rules was that I would not put any events into the book that had not already happened… nor any technology not already available. No imaginary gizmos, no imaginary laws, no imaginary atrocities. God is in the details, they say. So is the Devil".
  • This means that every atrocity that is in the novel has actually happened in the real world, which makes the novel even more terrifying.
The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad

  • The Underground Railroad refers to the secret smuggling slaves into safe houses and secret routes in the United States in the early to mid-1800s to try to get them safely across the border into Canada or to free states in the US.
  • It has nothing to do with trains. It refers to the network of people who worked under threat of imprisonment or death to help those who were enslaved.
End of the American Civil War

End of the American Civil War

  • In 1865, the end of the American Civil War brought about the end to slavery.
  • It is estimated that about 100,000 slaves were saved by being smuggled through the Underground Railroad.
Pieixoto: "Frailroad"

Pieixoto: "Frailroad"

  • In the Historical Notes, Professor Pieixoto uses paronomasia (a play on words) to belittle the Underground Femaleroad.
  • He states that some academics have dubbed it the "Frailroad".
  • This suggests that he doesn't empathise with the suffering of those involved.

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