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Conformity is something we are all very familiar with. We all conform to the world around us even if it may not be the most pleasant thing for us. Offred in the Handmaids Tale is no exception. Margaret Atwood Uses Offred conforming outwardly while questioning inwardly to highlight the theme of oppression and secrecy in the handmaid's tale. Offred must conform to the society she lives in, the men around her and her duties as a handmaid. All three of these of these topics highlight the theme of oppression and
Throughout the book Offred and Ofglen appear to be conforming outwardly while questioning the world around them in secrecy. Both Offred and Ofglen are used by Atwood to highlight the oppression of the world they are in. In chapter
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Throughout the book she sees the commander in his office which is forbidden to women. However, Offred is aware that she cannot say know to the commander because he is a high-ranking man is Gilead's society. She tells the reader that "to refuse to see him could be worse. There's no doubt about who holds the real power." This quote shows how she must conform to the commander even though it would be in her best interest to refuse to see him. During her visits to the Commanders office, he will sometimes request that Offred play scrabble with him. Offred knows she shouldn’t play scrabble with him, she tells the reader, "Now it's forbidden, for us. Now its dangerous. Now its indecent." She also portrays scrabble as sort of a forbidden fruit saying, "It's as if he offered me drugs." This portrayal of the game scrabble really highlights how oppressed Offred is. She cannot enjoy simple games or have any sort of pressure. Offred is not allowed to refuse the commander so she must conform to him even if he's asking her to do something illegal because she has next to no rights. These meeting also greatly contribute to the theme of secrecy. Before Offred can enter the office, she must check to see what Nick is doing and how he is wearing his hat to see if she has the signal to go ahead. This also allows the reader to have a dire sense of …show more content…
Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson."
This text blatantly makes it clear to the reader that handmaids are expected to conform to the society in the sense that women are responsible for all of men's faults regardless of how the men treat them. Janine eventually ends up conforming to the rules of Gilead, "it was my fault she, she says. I led them on. I deserved the pain." This quote of her conforming just shows how the handmaids are so heavily oppressed that they feel that they must take responsibility for the faults of others even when it harms them. The handmaids accusing the rape of being her fault know it's wrong to blame Janine, however they know that they need to harass her to survive in the world they are in. Offred tells us, "We meant it. Which is the bad part. I used to think well of myself. I didn’t then." This idea that the handmaids must tear each other down to conform to the world they are in really develops the fact that they are in a society where they are so oppressed that they can't express how they really feel even if it is harmful to someone else. This also contributes to the theme of secrecy because handmaids must keep their true thoughts and feelings hidden. Handmaids are also required to engage in mating rituals with their commanders and their wives regardless if they consent or not. Offred describes this ritual as neither rape or making love, it is just something she must bear.
In the novel offred and others in that time was going through hardships, struggles and challenges.
They are not free to choose when or who t... ... middle of paper ... ... f no use. Again here Atwood presents Offred in a negative manner. Atwood then from showing Offred in a negative way, to positive, then back to negative, she shows us the club of Jezebels and shows us hopes for Offred again.
There are two possible events that can occur with Offred's arrest and readers have the ability to open the book to new possibilities. If Offred is arrested, she will likely be tried for treason and killed. However, if she escapes into freedom, she will have a new lifestyle away from Gilead. She is different from Winston as she only wants to survive and survives because of her memories of her past Conclusion:
The Handmaid’s tale is a story in which throughout the text, the readers witness the events that occurred in Offred’s life in the past or the present. However, for this reason, there is uncertainty that the narrator is telling the truth. “If it 's a story I 'm telling, then I have control over the ending...But if it 's a story, even in my head, I must be telling it to someone. You don 't tell a story only to yourself. There 's always someone else. Even when there is no one.” (Atwood 39-40) This quotation is significant because the readers know that the irony of her telling that this is a story is evident that she has control because the reader is limited to the knowledge of the narrator. Overall, The Handmaid’s tale focuses on many topics, but the main idea of the story is that the actions of what society does, foreshadows their future. When there is no one to lean on after the physically present superior model is gone, people will learn to turn to and have faith in an unseen
The threat of physical abuse is huge. Being woman is enough of a crime, but “any crime can result in an execution and a public hanging on ‘The Wall’” (Cameron 3). A woman can be hung for just about anything. If they defy the people in charge they can get hurt. The women are constantly abused. The Gilead government is in charge of what goes on in this society. If a woman has an affair with a different man they are taken and possibly tortured or hung. The Red Center, which is where they were taught how to be Handmaid’s, the women were constantly tortured. They had Aunts that looked over them. These aunts were not nice and, “they had electric cattle prods slung on thongs from their leather belts” (Thomas 91). The aunt’s view was all that was needed was the Handmaid’s baby making parts. The women did not need their feet, hands, or any part other than the torso. When the woman did something wrong or tried to run away th...
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 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
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
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.
Women were purely defined by the men who had complete control over them. In the novel Offred had some control, by keeping her name to herself which maintained a little bit of her independence. As soon as people saw her they knew she was a handmaid, but as soon as people heard her name they knew exactly who her commander was, and from there on only thought of her as belonging to Frederick. Their name affects how themselves and others viewed them which Offred seems to notice when she says this, “I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former name, remind myself of what I could once do, how other saw me” (Atwood 111). She states here that when she had her other name she was a completely different person, her other name gave her the power to be herself, but as soon as her name changed so did she. She also says
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.
...t create a feeling of disorientation towards the reader. Atwood does this to enable us to understand just how disjointed life is in Gilead. Offred continuously involves the reader, she directly addresses us and anticipates our response and even feels she has to justify some of her actions, she is a self-conscious narrator. Atwood is also preparing us for the revelation in the Historical notes that Offred is recounting her story into a tape recorder. The story is open ended; we are not told what exactly happened to Offred, Atwood does this in order to have more of an impact on the reader.
Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, the author Margaret Atwood gives the reader an understanding of what life would be like in a theocratic society that controls women’s lives. The narrator, Offred, gives the reader her perspective on the many injustices she faces as a handmaid. Offred is a woman who lived before this society was established and when she undergoes the transition to her new status she has a hard time coping with the new laws she must follow. There are many laws in this government that degrade women and give men the authority to own their household. All women are placed in each household for a reason and if they do not follow their duties they are sent away or killed.
This is the way Atwood gets across her feelings about the future world that Offred lives in. She forms a close relationship with the reader and the character, and then shows the reader Offred’s feelings about different aspects of the world. This is not to say that everyone reading the book will get the exact same thing from it.
In this manner, Atwood’s characterization of Offred through her individuality and defiant nature, ultimately allow her to present just how societal expectations go hand in hand with gender roles as Offred challenges them just to retain the most basic parts of her identity as a female.