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Theme Of Secrets In The Handmaids Tale

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In a utopian world in which the main character has to do what they are told, there would have to be secrets among the people around them. The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel by Margaret Atwood in which a Handmaid by the name of Offred lives in the home of her Commander and his wife and she, along with other Handmaids, have specific roles to play and are forced to do those roles. As a Handmaid, Offred has to lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, due to the fact that the story takes place at a time in which births are declining, the Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are fully functional. Secrets lead to guilt or mistrust in oneself as shown through Offred’s interactions with other characters, behavior changes of characters throughout the story, and by the significance of “Mayday” as used by Atwood. Secrets lead to guilt or mistrust in oneself as shown through Offred’s interactions with other characters because in the novel, Atwood writes “Perhaps it was a test, to see what I would do. Perhaps he is an Eye.” (Atwood 18). At this part of the novel, Offred has some type of suspicion on a Guardian named Nick due to a gesture that he sent to Offred. An “Eye” has a reputation for being a type of spy of the Commander who could basically be anyone but only certain people know who is or who isn 't an “Eye”. This makes it a secret because you won 't be able to know who is spying on you and watching your every move, waiting for you to go

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