Nostalgia is a common feeling of the human populous, but in it can be a sense of denial. Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale depicts an awful world, but so much of it is swept under Offred’s passive observations of it which ends up undermining the weight of the situation. The story of Moira is that of the social activist courageous enough to question authority, however, Atwood does not deliver a triumphant heroine in her. Hope is an important lifeline that Offred clings to, and Moira plays a significant part in that, but Atwood’s depiction of their relationship denies hope its prevailing image of savior. Instead of fueling an active struggle against oppression, Moira’s character is used as placating “if only” for Offred to daydream about. Moira is …show more content…
Offred’s greatest flaw is her unwillingness to discomfort herself. Moira is clearly a source of comfort for Offred because of the hope she makes her feel, but that hope is something that she covets in a way that negates the very thing she admires. When Moira first reveals her desire to escape, Atwood writes “I feel panic. No, no, Moira, I say, don’t try it. Not on your own…I couldn’t stand the thought of her not being here, with me. For me” (89). Offred admires Moira’s irreverence, but not when it leaves her behind, so instead of supporting her friend’s fight, she suppresses it because she is unwilling to take a risk. Moira is perfect to reminisce about because she softens the dread of the day, but when she takes an opportunity to act out against Gilead, Offred can only think about her own discomfort, and not the change Moira is …show more content…
Only when Gilead reaches Offred by getting her fired and freezing her bank account does she begin to panic, writing: “…I phone my mother…but there was no answer…I waited awhile and phoned Moira. She wasn’t there either, but when I tried half an hour later she was… In between these phone calls I just sat on the sofa. She was not stunned the way I was (178)”. Even at the beginning, Offred was unwilling to take any action other than waiting for Moira to get back to her and later asking for her to come over personally. Offred waits for the 2 strongest women in her life to tell her things will be alright, but they are only two people, not the wonder women she wants them to be. Interestingly, Atwood creates a likeness between Moira and Offred’s mother which establishes a chain of social advocacy failures throughout time, ending with Ofglen who also fails in the end. Through this, Atwood lets the reader know that there have already been years of suffering that people like Offred’s mother have attempted to fight, and that the years to come will also have people like Moira and Ofglen. The point Atwood makes is that the heroes we know will not fix everything on their
Although Offred is the heroine of this story, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the hero’s journey can be found in many characters in the story as well. This story is breaking into shambles between the past and the present, however, through the story, readers can still see the signs of the hero’s journey that Joseph Campbell has studied. Offred, being a handmaid, has been thrown into a world where women are powerless and stripped away of their rights to read and write. Atwood illustrates a dystopian world where equality is a part of history, not in the present day Gilead. However, Offred is one of the main characters who ceased to live in a degrading world and find means to escape. Thus, Offred begins on her Hero’s Journey, which occurs
Moira is presented through Offred as the novel is written in first person narrative. The readers get a very biased view of Moira because we only got Offreds view of Moira.
Throughout the majority of the novel, Offred recounts on her mother’s character, whom she thinks is dead. She was a single mother and a proud feminist. In the first quarter, Offred recounts on a flashback of her mother burning porn magazines, claiming that they are degrading to women. However, towards the end of the novel, Offred learns that she is in fact alive, yet is living in the Colonies. Moira had seen her in a video about women living the Colonies, which is completely contrasted from the beginning, when Offred viewed her mother in a documentary protesting. This shows how Gilead has significantly changed her as a person. Living in the Colonies is just as bad as death because although she is alive she is required to do menial and even dangerous labour like cleaning radioactive waste. Earlier in the book, during Offred’s flashbacks, her mother was always a strong female character. She was always speaking and acting on behalf of women’s rights, yet now she has not fulfilled these expectations. She has been subjugated and indifferent like the rest of the women, not at all optimistic and energetic like she was in her previous life. Her complicity shows the reader how oppressive the society is and how even the toughest characters become
Similarly to Montag, reading provides Offred with a sense of rebellion and acts as a way to fight against conformity, as women are not allowed to read. The Latin phrase which is carved into her closet symbolises inner resistance to Gilead, allowing her to feel as though she can communicate with the woman who engraved the message; even more so does it make Offred rebellious, when the meaning of the phrase is revealed to be “Don’t
Margaret Atwood's renowned science fiction novel, The Handmaid's Tale, was written in 1986 during the rise of the opposition to the feminist movement. Atwood, a Native American, was a vigorous supporter of this movement. The battle that existed between both sides of the women's rights issue inspired her to write this work. Because it was not clear just what the end result of the feminist movement would be, the author begins at the outset to prod her reader to consider where the story will end. Her purpose in writing this serious satire is to warn women of what the female gender stands to lose if the feminist movement were to fail. Atwood envisions a society of extreme changes in governmental, social, and mental oppression to make her point.
The ability to create life is an amazing thing but being forced to have children for strangers is not so amazing. Offred is a handmaid, handmaid's have children for government officials, such as Commander Waterford. Offred used to be married to Luke and together they had a daughter but then everything changed; Offred was separated from her family and assigned to a family as their handmaid. The society which Offred is forced to live in shaped her in many ways. In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses cultural and geographical surroundings to shape Offred's psychological and moral traits as she tries to survive the society that she is forced to live, in hopes that she can rebel and make change.
Offred is consistently cautious when it comes to interacting with the Commander. She feels as though she has to present herself in a way that will allow her to gain his trust and utilize it in her favor. Offred says, “The Commander likes it when I distinguish myself, show precocity, like an attentive pet, prick-eared and eager to perform” (Atwood 183). When Offred poses herself in the way that the Commander expects, it shows how his power influences Offred’s actions. The connection of Offred to that of “an attentive pet” also shows how the Gilead Society has taken away her humanity. Without her humanity, Offred loses her sense of self-worth which leaves her vulnerable to the Commander’s power. Along with this constant fear of portraying herself in a manner that would upset the Commander, Offred is also afraid to give away too much information about herself which could potentially end with the Commander ceasing their private meetings together. Offred expresses, “And if I talk to him I’ll say something wrong, give something away. I can feel it coming, a
...rs, drinkers, a piece of the underground past jumps into Offred's life and she is astounded. Thanks to the commander she also meets Moira, her long time friend from before Gilead. This act of resistance from the commander brings Offred a lot and if he were caught, would face serious charges.
Offred has not portrayed any heroic characteristics in The Handmaid’s Tale, through her actions of weakness, fear, and self-centredness. This novel by Margaret Atwood discusses about the group take over the government and control the Gilead’s society. In this society, all women has no power to become the leader, commander like men do. Offred is one of them, she has to be a handmaid for Serena and the Commander, Fred. Offred wants to get out of this society, that way she has to do something about it. There wasn’t any performances from her changing the society.
Offred has had so many horrible things happen to her, where she has no control, I think trusting someone is her way of having some control over her life and the decisions that are made. Offred has met a lost of kind people in her life, and I think that it why she is able to continue on, and trust people. She has met so many controlling people in her life, but she has also met countless women who are in the same postion as
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.
...entioned forms of Offred’s power were not physical power. She also has the most physical power as she is the person who carries the baby and gets pregnant. Then later in the novel after Serena suggests about seeing Nick. Offred is given a cigarette and then a match and with that match Offred could burn the house down killing the Commander and Serena and then trying to escape. She could burn herself so that she no longer has to live or suffer the indignity of being continually raped by this society.
Offred’s journey is a prime example of the appalling effects of idly standing by and allowing herself to become a part of the Gilead’s corrupt system. This woman is a Handmaid which was recently placed within a new
Offred had been though many mixed feelings throughout this entire book. She has been able to feel, experience and thinks thoughts that she had not ever imagined that she would have. Offred can not escape the fact that in spite of the treatment from Serena Joy and the commander, that they both will have if not already have an impact on her life. Not to mention Nick also. Nick gave her the comfort and the security that she wanted, and at the end nothing done to her by the commander or his wife mattered to her. Living in the Republic of Gilead will always be a memory that she will probably try to forget.
Though Offred is developed as a character through her opinions on female sexuality, she is further characterized by her individuality and willingness to defy her social expectations as a female, assigned to her by her government. In Atwood’s work, the narrative is told by an intelligent individual named Offred who is oppressed by Gilead’s female expectations but is not afraid to defy these assigned roles despite not being a traditional heroine (Nakamura). Even as Offred’s previous identity is stripped away from her, she retains small pieces of her womenhood and individuality through defiant actions such as manipulating men with her feminity from swaying her hips slighty in their line of sight to making direct eye contact with certain men, which she is forbidden from. On the other hand, a major act of rebellion from