'The Handmaid's Tale' protesters celebrated by author

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The characters and iconography of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" have become a protest symbol in the United States, much to the delight of the author.

The novel, published more than three decades ago,is currently enjoying a revival as a TV show, tells the story of fictional women forced to produce babies for elite couples and the red capes they wear have become "an immediately recognizable visual symbol" according to Atwood.

"I'm very pleased that people are able to use it in this way and that it's had the impact that it has had," the 77-year-old told an audience at London cultural hub the Southbank Centre.

File of Margaret Atwood, author of "The Handmaid’s Tale". /AFP Photo

While the success of the book version of "The Handmaid's Tale" has endured since it was published in 1985, and the TV show has won awards, the story has gained a new audience under US President Donald Trump.

Those who have donned the striking clothing of Atwood's characters include a group of women who in June stood outside the US Capitol in Washington to protest the US Senate Republicans' healthcare bill.

"You have, practically, a scene from the show where a bunch of male legislators were making decisions about women with no women involved [in] making those decisions. So it's a good protest thing," said the prolific Canadian writer.

While activists have brought the fictional figures into modern-day politics, Atwood said "The Handmaid's Tale" drama series was not changed despite filming taking place during the election of Trump last year.

Women dressed as handmaids demonstrated against funding cuts to Planned Parenthood outside the National Capitol in Washington. /Reuters Photo‍

"[Program makers] woke up on November 9 and said, 'We are now in a different show.' Even though nothing in the show itself had changed, it was going to be framed differently," she said.

Atwood's 2003 novel "Oryx and Crake" charted the destruction of the Earth by global warming, pandemics and genetic engineering. It hit the shelves shortly before the deadly outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and bird flu, and as people increasingly became aware of climate change.

A woman at a rally in Washington that called for an investigation into the role of Russia in the 2016 election. /Reuter Photo

"The Handmaid's Tale" preempted the Taliban's misogynist regime in Afghanistan, although Atwood has insisted she is simply skilled at recognizing recurrent themes in history.

"I don't believe that you can really predict the future, and nor do I believe that is only one inevitable 'the future'. There's a number of possible futures, how you act now can influence what future we end up getting," she told the audience in London.

It is not the first time fictional characters have been applied as a symbol of protesting. The masks of Guy Fawkes, a member of a group of English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, were also widely adopted as an icon of protest movements.

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Source(s): AFP