How one is perceived by others heavily determines how one will we treated by society. In the novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” written by Margaret Atwood, identity and how one appears heavily determines the extent to which one is confined and how much freedom one has. This idea is developed throughout the novel through various characters and the symbolism of colours seen in the clothing worn by them.
All of the handmaids in The Handmaid's Tale, Offred especially, demonstrate truly how much one’s appearance and identity matter. In the novel, the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian state, replaces the democratic state in the United States of America. As a result of this transition, everyone's identity is stripped away and although the most powerful
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Martha's are dressed in “dull green” (10) symbolizing cleanliness and health. They have the freedom to do what they want as they are the ones watching over the handmaids to “[keep them] safe” (25). The handmaids are dressed in a striking “red” (9), symbolizing fertility and blood; their dresses are also made out of thick and uncomfortable material. This outwardly shows the only purpose they serve, and limits them both metaphorically and physically. Red can also symbolize rebellion. The Olfgen that persists for most of the book is also a beacon of hope and freedom for Offred. When Olfgen she tells Offrerd about “Mayday” she realizes that Ofglen is a potential friend and ally, a member of the resistance (253). Whereas the handmaids have to wear an uncomfortable, thick dress, the wives can wear a “light blue” cotton airy dress (290). Light blue, a traditional renaissance colour, symbolizes their higher social class and tranquility; the Wives have the ability and choice to own luxuries such as a thick “winter cloak” or a light airy fabric for the summer (292). The husbands, the Angels, and the Eyes wear black (10), symbolizing death and threat. Angels fight Gilead's wars and protect the country's borders. They are rewarded for their loyalty and devout belief in Gilead with their high status. Angels are allowed many privileges, including being allowed to have a Wife. Some Angels are even permitted to have a Handmaid.The Eyes of God, also referred to simply as the Eyes, are the Republic of Gilead's secret police, responsible for maintaining law and order and rooting out infidels and traitors. They drive in black vans with tinted windows and wear dark sunglasses. Throughout the novel, Offred begins to visit the commander regularly behind Serena Joy’s back. Eventually, he Commander secretly takes her out to a club called
Margaret Atwood is famous for many things. She is a poet, novelist, story writer, essayist, and an environmental activist. Her books are usually bestsellers and have received high praises in the United States, Europe, and her native country, Canada. She has also received many Literary awards, like the Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the two Governor General’s Awards (“Margaret Atwood” Poetry). Through her books, she has written about what she sees in society towards women. She discusses how gender equality was corrupted in the past, but still is far from being reached, and women’s roles in society (“Spotty-handed”). Atwood also takes events in her life; like the Great Depression, Communism, and World War II; and applies it to her works. Margaret Atwood's works, including her novel The Handmaid's Tale, reflects women’s fight in equality, how society determines
The novel’s protagonist, Offred, uses two sets of images to recount the vast difference between a “freedom to” society, and a “freedom from” society. She recalls to the reader a photographic clarity of her previous life as an American woman with liberties, and also those of her present life as a handmaid, or slave to the Republic of Gilead. Aunt Lydia, who is responsible for teaching the enslaved women of Gilead how to be handmaids, attempts to fill the women
Offred is a handmaid, in the novel The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood, who no longer desired to rebel against the government of Gilead after they separated her from her family. When Offred was taken away from her family the Government of Gilead placed her in an institution known as the Red Center where they trained her along with other women unwillingly to be handmaids. The handmaid’s task was to repopulate the society because of the dramatic decrease in population form lack of childbirth. Handmaids are women who are put into the homes of the commanders who were unable to have kids with their own wives. The Handmaids had very little freedom and were not allowed to do simple tasks by themselves or without supervision like taking baths or going to the store. There was an uprising against the government of Gilead and many people who lived in this society including some handmaids looked for a way to escape to get their freedom back which was taken away from them and to reunited with their families which they lost contact with. Offred was one of the handmaids who was against the government of Gilead before she was put in the Red Center, but she joined the uprising after she became a
In the book, The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood writes about an alternate universe about America that illustrates our worst fears. Some of the fears depicted in the book can be seen in the world today, such as the distaste for abortion and the mentality that men are supposed to have more power than women. These issues are not only known as social issues but also feminist issues. Feminism is the belief that women and men should be treated equally socially, politically, and economically. This book shows how these issues could get worse in our society. The author uses Offred, the protagonist in the story, to show how the world could change for the worst. Offred, a handmaid in The Handmaid 's Tale, showed how men and society had control over
Character Analysis of The Handmaid's Tale Moira = == == We first meet Moira "breezing into" (P65) Offred's room at college.
Many texts that were published from different authors have introduced topics that can be related in today’s society, but Margaret Atwood’s creation called, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, gives voice to the thoughts and revolves around the narrator Offred, a woman whose rights have been deprived due to political issues. However, the information shared by Offred to the reader to the text is not reliable for the reason that she only touches upon her own perspective. Through the text, Atwood depicted what the United States of America would be in the future based on the actions of humanity during 1980’s. The text is set up in an androcentric and totalitarian country called Gilead, where the government attempts to create a utopian society. Thus, in order to attain this society, the authorities generated their legislation from the teachings of the Holy Bible in an attempt to control humanity. The governing
In the novel The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood the themes of Religion and inter-human relationships are the themes that are most evident in the text. This novel shows the possibility of the existence of an all-powerful governing system. This is portrayed through the lack of freedom for women in society, from being revoked of their right to own any money or property, to being stripped of their given names and acquiring names such as Offred and Ofglen, symbolizing women’s dependant existence, only being defined by the men which they belong to. This portrayal of women demonstrates the idea that individuals are unimportant, that the goals of the society as a whole are more pertinent. “For our purposes, your feet and your hands are not essential” (chapter 15) is a quote revealing that Gilead denies rights to individuals and to humankind. In The Handmaids Tale, handmaids are only considered of value for their ability to reproduce, otherwise they are disposable. Religion is an aspect very prominent in the society of Gilead. We see this in chapter 4, where Ofglen and Offred meet and th...
Margaret Atwood uses the culture of how handmaids dress to psychologically change how Offred sees and thinks about the world and others. On the way home from shopping with her partner Ofglen, Offred sees a group of tourists who are dressed how women used to dress before the war. Offred and Oglen stop and watch the tourists; "We are fascinated, but also repelled. They seem undressed" (28), Offred then remembers that she too used to dress like that. Offred's reaction shows that being a handmaid and having to dress so modestly can alter how you think about yourself and
Another way the women in The Handmaid’s Tale are unequal to men is in dress. In modern society it is normal to think of clothing as a way to express our personality and individuality. What you wear helps others know who you are. In the novel, the main character Offred grew up in a westernized world –freedoms like self expression and speech- but it was taken away from her when she became a handmaid.
Gilead’s subjugation of women is also evident in their clothing. The roles of the women in the society were predetermined by the color of their dresses: Handmaids wore red, the Wives wore blue, and green was worn by the Marthas – their individuality and autonomy completely stripped from them. The handmaids’ dresses were referred to as a habit and was similar to the hijabs worn by Muslim women: covering them from their wrists down to their ankles, with the only skin visible being their neck and face. Offred compares the habits to the blouses worn by Lauren Bacall and Katherine Hepburn:
In The Handmaids Tale, Gilead the dystopian state is the reason for all of misery and misuse of power. In the book, the narrator Offred explains how Gilead came to be. Gilead was created because of low birth rates, the mass killing of the congress and the president, and pollution from radioactivity and toxic waste. From there, social classes were created to determine each role of people in the society. The Handmaids are used to make babies of the Commanders, while the Wives are underneath the Handmaid, and the action of sexual intercourse takes place. The Commanders are the men that are high in ranking of Gilead, and their Wives are considered to be sterile, and this is where the use of Handmaids come in. The narrator Offred is a Handmaid and she explains how she feels “erased” and how she is powerless and becomes suicidal. During pre-Gilead, the rights of women were abolished, and given to the closest family male member. This is where Offred feels powerless because her husband Luke wanted to make love that night the law was passed for women, but she refu...
Margaret Atwood’s book “The Handmaid’s Tale”, Offred ( The main Character) struggles with expressing Individualism among a society that constrains a woman by labelling her for her duties and worth. Offred is a “Handmaid” which is a group of women who are used for reproduction, being a “Handmaid” is considered to be very degrading because these women are seen for only their bodies to provide children and nothing more. An article previously read, written by “Frieda Fordham” discusses Jungian Archetypes and one that best correlates with the book is “The Persona”. The Persona is defined as “A collective phenomenon, a facet of the personality that might equally well belong to somebody else, but it is often mistaken for
In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Offred recounts the story of her life and that of others in Gilead, but she does not do so alone. The symbolic meanings found in the dress code of the women, the names/titles of characters, the absence of the mirror, and the smell and hunger imagery aid her in telling of the repugnant conditions in the Republic of Gilead. The symbols speak with a voice of their own and in decibels louder than Offred can ever dare to use. They convey the social structure of Gileadean society and carry the theme of the individual's loss of identity.
What exactly is your identity, and where does it lie? What makes you, you and what does it mean to be yourself? These are many questions that come up when discussing and questioning one’s identity. Most answers come up include gender, preferences, beliefs, etc. In The Handmaid’s Tale, the identities of all women were stripped away and given new identities, beliefs, dress code, and rules to follow. The author of The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood used Offred’s character to show the theme of individual’s loss of identity in the Gileadean society. Atwood was able to plant this image in the reader's mind with every detail explaining the conditions of Gilead. Having to lose an identity is like being brainwashed. The people of Gilead are brainwashed
At the bottom of the food chain is the women. Compared to men, they are the inferior sex. Basic human rights were stripped away leaving them with nothing but their red dresses and white winged hats. All they have to hold on to is their memories hiding inside their heads. Poked with cattle prods, herded into a crowded gymnasium, and forced to comply with beyond strict rules, the handmaid’s are closely comparable to slaves. Past lives are just that, their past. Women are not only Handmaid’s, there are a total of seven classes, the Wives being on top. The Wives wear all blue and are the partners of the commanders. The Marthas and the Aunts are infertile women who serve commanders and or train Handmaids. Econowives are similarly compared to Handmaids with the difference that their servitude and services are for lower-ranking officials. At the bottom are the Unwoman, they either refuse to be impregnated or are infertile, and as a consequence, they are sent to work in the colonies. Some may choose to work as Jezebels, which is a slang term for prostitution.Most all men have better lives than all classes of women. Commanders or more specifically the Commanders of the Faithful are married to the wives. Angels and Guardians of the Faith are soldiers fight outlaws and enforce laws. The eyes are Gilead’s secret police, no one knows who they are, but they are always