The ironic part about the two characters, The Commander and Aunt Lydia, is their actions, despite their roles in the regime. When Offred and The Commander have one of their first secret meetings, she is surprised that he owns magazines because she “thought such magazines were all but destroyed” and it was where “you would least expect to find such a thing” (Atwood 156). The irony in this is the fact that even The Commander, a person with one of the highest titles in the regime, neglects the rules with no sense of regret. It is also implied in the novel that he had taken another mistress before Offred which shows that his involvement in Offred's story is not the first instance in which he broke the rules. Not only that, but it is told that he is a part of an illegal prostitution organization which is so obviously against the regimes beliefs that if he were caught, he would be hung or worse.
And is there a way out to survive this tragedy in both novels? The body is a precious thing for everyone to have. The concept of having your own body and taking care of it is very important and vital, unfortunately this is the exactly opposite of what happened in both The Handmaid’s Tale and Woman at Point Zero. In both novels, their bodies are not their own and they are not the ones who were in control of their bodies but the other people. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred did not want to look on her body anymore because it is strange to her, as what she said: “My nakedness is strange to me already.
In Atwood’s novel, symbolisms of sex, flowers, and color add to the development of the novel and the deeper meaning of the plot. In The Handmaid’s Tale, color is often mentioned while describing clothing. Each individual in Gilead wears a certain colored uniform that is symbolic of their role in
As long as internalized sexism remains unaddressed and unhealed, mistrust and “horizontal oppression” will continue (Szymankski 103). Internalized sexism “[reinforces the] web of insecurities and rigidities” between women (Pheterson 159). Relationships between women in The Handmaid’s Tale reflect this. The acrimony between Offred and Serena Joy or Aunt Lydia and the novice handmaids both reveal the same truth; the female characters in The Handmaid’s Tale antagonize one another because of the toxic situation in which they must live. In their attempt to survive, they become complicit in the society that restricts women.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margret Atwood is very descriptive when the main character, Offred, is describing color in the environment, and in particular the color red. The color red is the color that will decide the future of the handmaid’s. It is a color correlated with shame and with pregnancy, showing both signs of failure and success by the handmaid’s. The use of the color red and shame are often linked together through Offred describing blood in violence and death. The red in the blood relates to the female reproductive system, resulting in a failure by the Handmaids.
Manpreet Chera ENG 3U105 Mr. Anderson January 5th, 2015 The Handmaid’s Tale ISU Journal #3: Character Offred is the narrator and protagonist of The Handmaid’s Tale. Offred belongs to the class of Handmaids, fertile women forced to bear children for elite, barren couples. Handmaids show which Commander owns them by adopting their Commanders names, such as Fred, and preceding them with “Of.” Offred remembers her real name but never reveals it. Offred was once a librarian and she no longer has family or friends, though she has flashbacks to a time in which she had a daughter and a husband named Luke. Offred remembers her sadness, fear, and isolation as her rights were slowly taken away from her during the establishment of the Gileadean regime.
cultural constructs of femininity, identity, and the extent of government control. The story explores the affects social and political trends have on society. The Handmaid’s Tale evaluates gender roles and the subjugation of women. Atwood’s use of aphorisms, symbolism, and allusions urges readers to examine the juxtaposition of cruelty and vulnerability in femininity. Throughout the novel, aphorisms play a large role in depicting the role of women as subservient to their male counterparts.
The Religion Influences in The Handmaid’s Tale Word Count: 1563 This purpose of this essay is to establish and explain connections between the Christian Religion and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. It is not attempting to point out flaws or discriminate against the religion. Margret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is a dystopian novel, that centres around the themes of corruption, oppression, and theocracy. Told in the first person, the novel follows the female ‘Offred’ in her daily life/activities and past experiences in the newly founded “Republic of Gilead”. From my personal research, the events in the novel were influenced by negative situations that involved the American society prior to the 1980’s.
The relationship between language and power within The Handmaids Tale will be used over the course of the novel to further convert and condition the society of Gilead to follow it’s theocratic ideologies through fear and intimidation. Furthermore, protagonist Offred will continue to reflect on and argue the beliefs of the new United States throughout the text in attempts to hold onto the world she knew before; not allowing the republic to take control of who she is now and erase who she was. This malicious regime, intimidates this former egalitarian society into following inhuman practices and regulations through the introduction of social institutions such as “The Eye” and “The Guardians” (Atwood, 17,20). The guardians, seen as the hands of God, are the
Whether one era or society allows to think about themselves and individual is always obligated to make there action for there happiness and for themselves .In the novel The Handmaid 's Tale by Margaret Atwood, Offred’s acceptance towards complacency helps her survive in a misogynistic society but internally she is refusing to comply to sustain her identity. As much as Offred disagrees with the value and beliefs in the society she has to comply in order to endure. The commander throughout the book breaks many rules one of them was calling Offred secretly in the nights.Offred cannot decline the commander 's request, situation like these causes Offred to be forced in to complying even if it is against the Gilead’s law. In the society Offred 's in her decision and the acts of complying is difficult “ But to refuse to see him could be worse. There’s no doubt about holds the real power.”(Atwood 136) she cannot challenge the power of the commander even without agreeing she has to forcefully comply to every command she is told.