Character Analysis of The Handmaid's Tale Moira ===== We first meet Moira "breezing into" (P65) Offred's room at college. She is the breath of fresh air. As Offred says, "She always made me laugh" (P66). One of her roles is to bring humour to the reader, to lighten the situation and contrast with the horror of the Gileadean regime. An example of this is when Moira changes the hymn "There is a Balm in Gilead" to "There is a Bomb in Gilead" (P230). Margaret Atwood uses imagery to illustrate the role of Moira's humour in giving hope to the handmaidens. She describes Moira as a "giggle; she was the lava beneath the crust of daily life" for the handmaidens in the Red Centre (P143). I think in this metaphor Margaret Atwood is describing the effect of Moira's bubbly personality, always rising from under the surface of the hard Gileadean regime. Moira's rebellious and nonconformist nature is evident from Margaret Atwood's first physical descriptions of her. Before the regime took over, Moira had one "gold finger nail she wore to be eccentric" (P47). I think Margaret Atwood uses Moira as the rebellious character fighting against the regime. Her role is to stand out from the other female characters. She is in contrast with the reaction to the Gileadean regime of Offred, who endures the system in order to survive, and Janine who is totally broken. Moira is the only female character in the book to maintain her original name. This makes her distinct from the other women in the book and is another example of her individuality. Another role of Moira's rebellious nature is to give hope to Offred and help her to survive. Following Moir... ... middle of paper ... ... was so important to Offred, and is no longer the stronger character, as she is also now trying to "save her skin" (P261). Although she has lost her rebelliousness, she retains her humour and teases Offred, "there's lot's of women around. Butch paradise, you might call it" (P261). The role of this change in Moira's character is to show the strength of the Gileadean regime. They can even break Moira, they have "taken away something - what? - that used to be so central to her" (P261). Moira has become indifferent to her fate and has lost her strength to choose. I think Margaret Atwood uses Moira's final role to illustrate the fate of many people under the Gileadean regime. She simply disappears. The heroic character does not have a spectacular ending "something that would befit her" (P262), but is never heard of again.
Because these women aren’t valued, it is as if she’s not there which greatly diminishes their self-worth. One quote to highlight this claim is “All you have to do, I tell myself, is to shut your mouth and look stupid (Atwood).” This quote connects to this claim because Offred knows that she is only valuable because she can reproduce, she settles for having no self-worth and knowing that she is no longer entitled to an opinion. Offred staying quiet and dumb can be viewed as a role or mask in the persona because due to her environment of low worth find it fitting to become an
Anderson: Well as you can see outside, people are already starting to go crazy from the shutdown of technology, lights, and electricity. For some reason you have all come together, whether it is to caution us about what is to come in the near future as our society progresses or to make suggestions to improve the community to save us from the dystopian lifestyle in your books. Whatever the reason, Janine it’s great to see you. I found your character in A Handmaid’s Tale very interesting. What do you have to say about being here?
Moira plays the role of a nonconformist in the novel, she went against Gilead and its strict rules attempting multiple escapes, she is a leader and a role model to the women, as the story progress Moira’s mentality changes as she becomes content with her job and enjoys her life
Offred, among other women depicted in this novel, tries to overcome this dominion. In her own way, she attempts to do this by ensuring the Commander’s expectations of her behavior which could result in her freedom. Thus, there is a present power struggle between the Commander and Offred throughout The Handmaid’s
In places where conformity is required, often times individuality is lost completely. In her science fiction novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood tells a story from the point of view of Offred, a woman in a totalitarian America, revealing the idea that a controlling and restricting government can cause individuals to lose their sense of identity and individuality.
Everyone has their own unique personality that makes them them! This is the one thing that should never be taken away from a person. Unfortunately, in the novel, A Handmaid's Tale, author Margaret Atwood did this exact thing. All characters, no matter ranking, where stripped away from their uniqueness in the society of Gilead. Mainly, the Handmaid's were affected by this wretched society and the reader can see this as Offred, a handmaid, narrates the story. From her we can clearly see they have no freedom. No voice. No singularity. No nothing. By looking at the way the handmaids speak, dress, and how they act towards others, one can see how these women are deprived from individuality. Without individuality, the world is a depressing place as
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is a riveting dystopian tale that shows the journey of a young woman whose sole job is to produce children. Offred, the main character, is portrayed as a kind woman with a slightly twisted sense of humor. However, through the use of recurring motifs, Atwood reveals that while Offred does indeed go through a terrible journey, she inevitably is unable to learn and grow from it and therefor is stuck as a static character.
Offred from The Handmaid's Tale uses different tactics to cope with her situation. She is trapped within a distopian society comprised of a community riddled by despair. Though she is not physically tortured, the overwhelming and ridiculously powerful government mentally enslaves her. Offred lives in a horrific society, which prevents her from being freed. Essentially, the government enslaves her because she is a female and she is fertile. Offred memories about the way life used to be with her husband, Luke, her daughter, and her best friend Moira provides her with temporary relief from her binding situation. Also, Offred befriends the Commander's aide, Nick. Offred longs to be with her husband and she feels that she can find his love by being with Nick. She risks her life several times just to be with Nick. Feeling loved by Nick gives her a window of hope in her otherwise miserable life.
Fear is power. Fear is ever-present in Gilead; it is implemented through violence and force. It is through fear that the regime controls the Gileadian society. There is no way Offred, or the other Handmaids can avoid it. The dead bodies hanging on the wall are a relentless reminder of what rebellion and conflict result in. The abuse of power is also present in chapter fifteen after Moira attempts to escape, she is taken to the old science lab and has her feet beaten with steel frayed wires and is then left on her bed, ‘’Moira lay on her bed as an example.’’ (pg. 102 ) She is an example of what rebellion results in. Therefore, creating fear in the other Handmaids to prevent them from rebelling.
I decided to do some research on the author, Margaret Atwood. She’s Canadian, which is awesome, and currently resides in Toronto. She has written over forty pieces of poetry, children literature, fiction and nonfiction. Another fact I found, is that her work has been published in over forty languages including: Icelandic, Estonian, Farsi and Japanese. Margaret is a very accomplished woman, and I think it shows in her writing and the beautiful descriptions she supplies. I have come across a few words that I have not heard before, for example ‘palimpsest’, ‘litanies’ and ‘jubilant’. What I liked about these words, other than I learned new words, was that Atwood used them in an effective manner. She didn’t just say ‘Oh look I know all these fancy words’ and then threw them in; rather, she used them in a thoughtful way, adding to the story. For example, “Nevertheless we are jubilant, it’s a victory, for all of us. We’ve done it” (Atwood 159). ‘Jubilant’ is expressing happiness or joy, and I thought that her word choice was very eloquent and proves the kind of writer she is.
Offred’s take on her own space is unique in a way. When Offred first arrives at her new posting she is given a room.“The door of the room- not my room, I refuse to say my- is not locked” (8). She did not want
Dystopia is a very negative, bleak picture of the world in which oppressive societal regime creates an illusion of a perfect society. Margaret Atwood creates a nightmare world where a group of the religious extremists overthrown the government and started a sexual revolution. She wrote this novel during the rise of the feminist movement in the 1960s in America. Therefore, some people might argue that she portrays a typically feminist vision of the dystopian society. For a long time feminist’s fight for the liberation of woman’s rights and freedom of thoughts, however, Republic of Gilead is a theocratic state founded on the traditional values installed by God in the Old Testament that subjugates women’s identity. The Handmaid’s Tale is still
Offred lives in a society where she is told what to do, what to wear, how to speak, what is right, and what is wrong. She lives her life everyday doing exactly what she is told to do. Although that is her reality, someone is making it. If her reality is being created for her, then is that truly her reality? Knowing what is and is not Offred’s reality makes no difference in the end. “There will be an ending to the story, and real life will come after it” (Atwood 39) Although she may be unaware of it, Offred lives in two very different realities. She has her reality, which is being treated for her and she lives through that by living through her subconscious. Then there is actual reality. The reality when she does not focus on subconscious but instead focuses on her physical reality. She does not do this often because when faced with the outside world Offred realizes the world she lives in and the fact that she can not change it or make her own decisions could destroy her. This is why she stays in her
It was a cold winter day while the office party was dying down.. Those left included Dr. Dread, Mr. Miss, Mrs. Miss, Mjr. Minor, Mr. Mayhem, Lt. Lee, Cpt. Carl, and Dr. Dejavu who was in the restroom. Dr. Dread went to go use the restroom and walked in to find that Dr. Dejavu was dead! Quickly everyone grew worried as they thought that Dr. Dejavu had been killed. The idiotic people quickly tried to piece together the doctor's death. After time they concluded it must be murder.
Offred is one of the main characters in The Handmaid's Tale. She was the faithful wife of Luke, mother of an eleven month old child and a working woman, before she entered the Republic of Gilead. She was given the name "Offred", when she entered Gilead. This was to make it known that she was a handmaid. Offred becomes psychologically programmed in Gilead as a handmaid, and the mistress of the commander who is in power of all things. She was used for her ovaries to reproduce a child, because they are living in an age where birth rates are declining. Offred was ordered by Serena Joy, the handmaid's barren wife who develops some jealousy and envy towards her to become the lover of Nick. Nick is the family chauffeur, and Offred becomes deeply in love with him. At the end of all the confusion, mixed emotions, jealousy, envy and chaos towards her, she escapes the Republic of Gilead. Offred is given treatment and advantages by the commander that none of the there handmaids are given. During the times the commander and Offred were seeing each other secretly, he began to develop some feelings for her that he tried to hide. Somewhere along the times when Offred and the commander began having secret meetings with each other, Offred too began to develop some feelings for the commander. Offred is also a special handmaid, because she has actually experienced love, the satisfaction of having a child years before. She knows what it is to feel loved, to be in love and to have someone love you. That is all when she has knowledge, a job, a family and money of her own. That is when her life was complete. Because all of that has been taken away from...