Acrobat

U2's song "Acrobat" and Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale have striking similarities. Both works seem to focus on a girl that is opressed through choices that she did not necessarily want to make. Many of the topics discussed in "Acrobat" correlate directly to The Handmaid's Tale, making this song a perfect reflection of the thoughts and situations Atwood's novel.

The two opening lines in U2's song "Don't believe what you hear/ Don't believe what you see" were a direct connection to Atwood's character, Offred. Offred did not want to believe that the world she knew had changed so drastically. She did not want to believe that her role in society had been reduced simply to how she preformed her duty of childbearing. Offred did not want to believe in this world that she saw before her, where men where hung because they were pro choice. Offred tried to ignore these things and tried to keep believing that things were bound to change. Another line that correlates with the novel is "When I first met you girl/ You had the fire in your soul/ What happened to your face/ Of melting in snow". These lines describe how Offred's fiery nature, and love of life have slowly drained from her. She no longer fights for her rights, or for how life used to be. Offred has conformed to everyday life in the society that has be forced upon her. She has become lifeless, excepting things as they come, instead for fighting for them as she would have done in the old United States.

Another shocking similarity comes from the lines "You know that your time is coming round/ So don't let the bastards grind you down". As a handmaid, Offred has only so much time to do her duty of reproducing. The stress of not being with child, and the shame of not doing your duty surely brings some women to the brink of insanity, or at least into silent shame. This verse also brings into account the ceremonies that Offred had to go through once a month. She knows when it is time for the ceremony, and although it is an awful thing, she must not let it get the best of her, she must stay strong.

One of the most important things to Offred, and probably the one that kept her sane, was her mind. Offred was free to think what she wanted, when she wanted, it was probably the only thing that she had left that was under her control. The line from "Acrobat", "And you can dream" reflects the importance of this one last free will, free action. A line that directly correlates with this is, "And you can find/ Your own way out". Offred's dreams, her thoughts, her 'mind scenarios', where her way out. They were her way to escape the confinements of being a Handmaid, and losing all her rights as a women. Through her mind, she is able to go anywhere she wants, be anyone she wants, see anyone she wants. Offred's thoughts are the things that her keeping her sane in this world where she is considered nothing but a reproductive object.

As you can see, U2's song and Atwood's novel are extremely similar in their content, as well as their scenarios. Both women are treated similarly; it might as well have been the same person writing both the novel and the song. These two works go hand in hand, and the song helps to further describe The Handmaid's Tale.