The Importance Of Symbolism In The Handmaid's Tale

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Paula Hawkins, a well-known British author, once said, “I have lost control over everything, even the places in my head.” In Margaret Atwood’s futuristic dystopia The Handmaid’s Tale, a woman named Offred feels she is losing control over everything in her life. Offred lives in the Republic of Gilead. A group of fundamentalists create the Republic of Gilead after they murder the President of the United States and members of Congress. The fundamentalists use the power to their advantage and restrict women’s freedom. As a result, each woman is assigned a specific duty to perform in society. Offred’s husband and child are taken away from her and she is now forced to live her life as a Handmaid. Offred’s role in society is to produce a child for the Wives. A Handmaid that is unable to produce a child is sent to the colonies to clean toxic waste. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred, Nick, and the Commander are unorthodox. To begin, Offred defies convention in many ways. The requirement of a Handmaid is to wear a loose, red dress that covers the woman’s entire body except her eyes. The Handmaids are not permitted to wear makeup and they are required to keep their faces covered. The Republic has these requirements in order to keep women from feeling vain. Vanity is seen as a sin in Gilead, and women are not supposed to be …show more content…

Offred’s desire to find her family leads her to make decisions that do not follow the rules of society. Nick’s attraction to Offred inspires him to go beyond his role as an assistant to the Commander and help her escape the Republic of Gilead. Finally, the Commander’s arrogance and desire to have an affair with Offred completely contradicts his leadership role in society. All three characters are clearly unorthodox, going beyond the expected behavior for their assigned roles in

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