Margaret Atwood has been called prescient 鈥� particularly when it comes to her famous 1985 dystopia 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale鈥� and the recent rollback of reproductive rights in the United States 鈥� but the renowned Canadian author says her predictive powers failed her ahead of last week鈥檚 U.S. election, which delivered Donald Trump another White House win.
鈥淚 searched. I invoked, 鈥極h God, let it be sun.鈥� But it was darkness all around,鈥� she said to laughter Tuesday night at a forum hosted by the Alberta Teachers鈥� Association, Calgary Catholic Local 55 and Calgary Public Local 38.
Calgary鈥檚 Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, with more than 2,500 seats, was nearly full for the discussion with Atwood about 鈥渄emocracy, public education and the common good.鈥� She is to speak Wednesday at an event hosted by the Edmonton Public Library about 鈥渢he importance of freedom of expression.鈥�
Atwood said she hesitates to make blanket statements about what drives the American people because there are starkly different histories and sensibilities in every region.
鈥淵ou have to get your mind around how other people think,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think some people would shoot themselves rather than having a woman leader.鈥�
But she said the populace is also less polarized than many would think.
The presidential race was like a 鈥渕ultiple choice questionnaire with only two choices,鈥� when most people have 鈥渕ix-and-match sets of values.鈥� The Republicans were victorious in clinching the presidency, but at the same time ballot initiatives affirming abortion rights passed in several states.
Atwood may have drawn a blank on predicting the election鈥檚 outcome, but she said she does have some prognostications now that it鈥檚 been decided.
鈥淲atch what goes on inside the White House 鈥� We have several people with quite large egos backed by two billionaires who also have large egos and who don鈥檛 like each other,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 think bookies are going to start making book on how long Donald Trump is going to last because is he really necessary for these billionaires anymore? On the other hand, are they necessary for him? Who shall win?鈥�
She also predicts 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to hear a lot more talk about class than we鈥檝e been having since the 1940s.鈥�
Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 2022, undoing a half-century of federally protected abortion rights, Atwood wrote in 鈥淭he Atlantic鈥� magazine that she did not mean for Gilead, the totalitarian state in 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale,鈥� to become a reality.
鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale,鈥� since adapted into a Hulu television series starring Elisabeth Moss, takes place in the near future in what is now the United States. It is governed by religious fundamentalists, and beset by environmental calamity and plummeting birthrates.
Women are treated as property and some are forced to be 鈥渉andmaids鈥� 鈥� their sole purpose is to bear the children for wealthy, infertile, couples. Handmaids are marked by ultra-modest red garments and white conical bonnets that obscure their peripheral vision.
She told Tuesday鈥檚 forum that her ideas for 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale鈥� didn鈥檛 come from her own mind, but were inspired by discussions the religious right had been having.
鈥淣ot the outfits, but the core principles,鈥� she quipped.
鈥淓verything in the book has either happened or was happening somewhere, sometime. Because otherwise, people would say, 鈥楽he鈥檚 really weird.鈥欌��
Atwood was asked by the event鈥檚 moderator whether people should be afraid.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we should be afraid at all, by which I don鈥檛 mean that there isn鈥檛 something horrible happening,鈥� she replied.
鈥淚 mean that fear makes you feeble.鈥�
She was also asked whether there is any comfort to be found in the famous Martin Luther King Jr. quote: 鈥淭he arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.鈥�
Atwood replied: 鈥淭his is what makes people give up on vigilance 鈥� 鈥業t鈥檚 all going to be fine, I don鈥檛 have to do anything because it鈥檚 bending toward justice all on its own.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not real. There is no yellow brick road.鈥�
