BYMOLLYYOUNGThereweresomethemedtequilas.People
oftendothisina verywell-meaningway;
they’renottryingtobeunpleasant.Ithas
beentheoccasionwhenI’vebeenspeaking
somewhereandI willbegreeted with
Handmaid’s Talecupcakes.WillI turn
upmy noseat suchcupcakes?No,I will
not.I willnotdothat.
Willyoueatthecupcake?
Thatdepends onmy relationshipto
sugaratthemoment.I havea collectionof
artifactslike that: I haveLegohandmaids
andcommanders.I’vegotsomeknitted
chickensfroma pro-choiceoutfit inTexas.
One’s calledtheHenmaid’sTale.I havea
pieceof embroidery done before the
embroidererhadreadTheTestaments.^2 It
saysf*ckauntlydia.^3 AsfarasI’mcon-
cerned,that’s peopleplayinginthesand-
box. I’mhappytohavepeopleplayinginthe
sandbox,althoughsometimesthey getit a
littleoff, butthat is tobeexpected.There
arepeoplerightnowwritingmilitaryhisto-
riesof Gilead,andI lookforwardtoreading
thembecauseI’mnotgoingtodothat.
Theeventofthisdecadethatstrikesme
asmostGileadeanistheJeffreyEpstein^4
case.Apowerfulmanwithgovernment
connectionsinveiglingwomenintoa ring
ofsexualslavery. I canpicture Commander
EpsteininthepagesofHandmaid.
Epsteinis moreofa ’90sstory.ColdWarendsin’89,andthenwe’retold, “End of
history,andtheworldis goingto go shop-
pingbecauseglobalcapitalism has tri-
umphed.”I thinkEpsteinis more of a Play-
boytypeofstory.WhereasGilead is much
morevirtuous,puritanicalleaders. They
knowwhat’s goodforyou,butyou also have
thisotherthinggoingon,which generally
is thecasewiththosekindsofsetups.
I havetoimaginethatthere were at
leastoneortwocommanderswho didn’t
subscribetotheloftyideals.
No,that’swhy they haveJezebels. But it’s
behind-the-scenes.Youquitefrequently
have,intotalitarianism,situations like that.
Theserulesareforeverybodyelse, but we
canhaveourdacha,ourimported French
wine,ourorgies,whateverwewant. It’s just
thatotherpeoplecan’t;they have to live
virtuouslyandobey ourcommand.
Following9/11,TheHandmaid’s Tale
begantobemoregenerallyaccepted as
auguralandyouasclairvoyant. Is that a
rewardingkindofrecognition?
Notparticularly.9/11,butalso the 2008
financialmeltdown.Whenpeople are
scaredandtheythinkthingsare falling
apart,they getmoreconservative, and
they’rewillingtotradecivilliberties for
somebodytakingcontrol.That’susually
howthesepeoplege t in.What isn’t reward-
ingis tohavebeen“right” aboutthat. If
I couldtradehavingbeenright,I would.
Sortofan“Itoldyouso” with a tear run-
ningdownyourface.
I don’t evengo “I toldyouso,” because it’s
notprophecy. It’s a what-ifstory.That’s what
allthosekindsofbooksare:Here’s a blue-LadyOracleis boththetitleofa Margaret
Atwoodnovel(1976,veryfunny)andthe
author’sunofficialepithet.Crackopena
newssourcetodayandyou’llfindsomething
thatAtwoodspeculatedabouta decadeor
threeagoinoneofhernovels:lab-grown
meat,environmentalcatastrophe,statesur-
veillance,thediminishmentof reproductive
autonomy,antimicrobialclothes.Atwood
isn’tthrilledaboutherreputationasa cheer-
fuleschatologistandhaspointedoutthatit
restsona misunderstandingofdystopian
fiction,which,sheargues,isn’ta prediction
ofthefuture(dummies),it’saninterpreta-
tionofthepresent.Inotherwords:If you’re
notseeingwhatI’mseeing,you’renotpaying
attention.Justasshesquirmsawayfromthe
mantleofprophesy,Atwoodrejectsideo-
logicallabels,mostinstitutionalaffiliations,
andtheideathata writeris necessarilya
moralagent.Somelabelsthatdosafelyap-
plytoherincludepoet,woodswoman(she
grew upinruralnorthernQuebec),trouble-
maker,palmreader,studentofhistory,in-
ventor(lookupLongPen),and—ona frigid
Mondaymorningata NewYorkhotelwith
“weird1970sdécor,”inherwords—wearer
ofearringsintheshapeofmini-ducks.
Earlierthisyear,KylieJennerthrewa birth-
daypartywithaHandmaid’sTale^1 theme.
Oh,KylieJenner.I hadtolookupwho
KylieJennerwas,I’msoold.
Whatdidyoumakeofthat?
MyreadersnoticethosethingsbeforeI
do.I expectthatKylieJennerheardfrom
someofthemalongthelinesof“Weappre-
ciatethethought,butyoukindofmissedit.”
MargaretPHOTOGRAPH BY RUVEN AFANADORThe Handmaid’s Tale arrived.