Strength In The Handmaid's Tale
Strength is the word that comes to my mind when describing the book, The Handmaid’s Tale. This theme is seen throughout the book which is seen in Offred the majority of the time. In Gilead strength is what pushes her through each day. I believe that Offred is not the only one who shows strength, but many other women in the story do as well.
Offred has an enormous amount of strength when she is forced to have sex with the commander. “ What he is fucking is the lower part of my body. I do not say making love, because that is not what he’s doing.”(Atwood, 94). This scene shows that Offred has great strength because she is being forced to have sex with a man whom she does not care for. Offred has experienced what it’s like to have sex with someone
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She is talking to herself about how she must remain calm, and act natural, even though it is the last thing she wishes to do. “I wait. I compose myself. My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born” (Atwood, 66). Offred has been through so much, you would expect her to break at any moment, but she is able to remain calm due to her strength.
One of the most significant times when Offred shows how strong she is, is when she is about to be captured by the Eyes. “Instead I could noose the bedsheet round my neck, hook myself up in the closet, through my weight forward, choke myself off” (Atwood, 292)....”But it’s too late to think about that now, already their feet are on the dusty-rose carpeting of the stairs” (Atwood, 293). Offred debates many ways that she could escape or kill herself, but in the end she realizes that she doesn’t want to die, and that she wants to continue on.
Strength is shown repeatedly throughout The Handmaid’s Tale. Offred is pushed and forced to do things that she would never do, and through it all she is able to come out strong, and in the end, hopefully survive all she has been
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Theme Of Power In The Handmaids Tale
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952 Words | 4 PagesThroughout the novel, Moira’s use of informal language and slang is apparent. This is significant because Moira’s crude vocabulary is dramatically different from how the Handmaids are taught to speak, marking her as a dissenter under the restrictive rule of Gilead. For instance, Moira scoffs that the Red Centre is “a loony bin” in Chapter 13. The use of the colloquial noun ‘loony’ to describe the Red Centre establishes a conversational, almost childish tone of voice. This contrasts from the rather mechanic and automated voice Offred has when she becomes a Handmaid, replying with contrived phrases such as “praise be” to other Handmaids.
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928 Words | 4 PagesAt the same time, the Historical Notes reveal that other records of those who lived in Gilead also exist (346). Though Offred has never participated in a coordinated regime subversive activity, her story, along with those of other survivors, now form a polyphony of resistance. Storytelling in The Handmaid’s Tale performs various functions: it is Offred’s way of resistance, her survival strategy, her intellectual pastime, and a testimony to the future. By telling herself stories she escapes into memories, shape and change her experience, and substitute the lacking communication. She uses storytelling to preserve herself, to validate her existence, to prove her life matters.
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