“This person is mad” was the surprised thought Margaret Atwood had when a Danish composer contacted her about turning The Handmaid’s Tale into a opera. So begins her Guardian essay that touches equally on the history that inspired her, the genesis of the novel, the opening of the opera, and the relevance it all has to current events. Towards the end she writes: “In The Handmaid’s Tale, the eye from the American dollar bill is used as a logo by the Gilead secret police, who control people through credit card information. It’s the same eye just adopted by the Homeland Security folks, who can now – yes – control people through credit card information.” (via calamondin)