Serena Joys In The Handmaid's '

In the novel The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood the story is narrated by Offred. She is a Handmaid in the new society of Gilead in a story that takes place in the future. By having Offred narrate the story the readers of the story get to see the important memories of Offred’s old life, including the many different relationships that she had. One of the relationships that she reminisces of is the one between her and her best friend Moira. Early on in the novel, Offred remembers a night that she was with Moira. She was busy finishing a paper and Moira wanted to go out. We also learn that Moira wrote a paper on date rape. That memory of her best friend, Moira, shows how

His and all of the commanders maltreatment of women presents itself throughout Offred's story. Offred’s commander however, begins an unusual relationship with her, by seeing her outside of his home and creating moments of intimacy, which is highly unusual between a Handmaid and those she serves. After several attempts to conceive with Offred, those surrounding the Commander begin to suspect that he is actually sterile, which could be a potentially embarrassing discovery if anyone outside the household found out. At that point, Serena Joy, fearing the consequences of her husband being sterile, encourages Offred to have an affair with Nick and attempt to become

Offred struggles with her new life, stating, “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; to remind myself of what I once could do, how others saw me” (Atwood 97). Offred is emotionally run down. She misses her husband Luke and the way he made her feel. Offred spends most of her days wondering about her husband Luke, and daughter. She wonders if her husband is dead, made it across the Canadian border, or was captured. Although Offred never finds out Luke’s life status, Serena Joy offers to tell Offred some information regarding her daughter. Consequently, Offred must sleep with Nick and conceive a child in spite of receiving the information. As long as the Commander believes he is the father of Offred 's child, no problems will arise. Offred 's decision is unconventional and risky, both for herself and Nick. If Nick and Offred are caught, they will be executed. However, her unorthodox decision pays off. Serena Joy obtains a photograph of Offred’s daughter and informs Offred that her daughter is now around eight years old and has been adopted by a family loyal to the regime. Offred is informed that her daughter is alive and in safe care. The new information provides Offred with a sense of relief.

Offred makes a habit of visiting the bathroom, not to use it but to communicate with Moira. Moira is slowly luring Offred to break the rules, trying to turn Offred from being a submissive woman to a woman who 'll stand up for what she believes in.

Offred collaborates with the Commander and his wife, Serena Joy, in order to repopulate the earth, like every other red woman must do with their commanders and their commander’s wives. Offred also works with Nick, the household’s Guardian, firstly to produce a child for the commander and his wife. After developing a sexual relationship with Nick, he manages to work an escape for Offred from the home she was stationed in. According to the afterpiece, which states, “The item was unearthed on the site of what used to be called Bangor… [which] was a prominent way station on what our author refers to as ‘The Underground Femaleroad’ ” (301), Offred was able to escape up to Maine, at the very least, of not escaping the country to Canada. Left behind in Maine, was tapes of Offred telling her

The wives are in the room during the ceremony as if they are the ones getting pregnant themselves. Martha’s are the servants during this dystopian society. They are forced to do anything that the wife or commander want them to do. There are econowives that are married to a low ranking husband that are not quite a commander. Each woman is separated to make sure they are doing their specific jobs. How Offred got her name is because she is Of Fred as in Fred is her commander. Therefore any girl would be Of---- depending on what their commanders’ name is.

There are many instances in the novel, where Offred pauses in the middle of her story and in a way complains to the audience about how hard it is to tell this story. For example: “It’s also a story I’m telling, in my head, as I go along. Tell, rather than write, because I have nothing to write with and writing is in any case forbidden. But if it’s a story, even in my head ... But it’s not good, because I know you can’t.”

Atwood demonstrates a sense of hatred and jealousy within Serena Joy, which is directed towards Offred as she is unintentionally an intruder and is invading Serena Joy’s private life. Eventually, this jealousy enables Serena Joy to try to obliviate Offred by “fixing it up with Nick”. Also, Serena Joy indicates that she is willing to “help” Offred by showing her a “picture”, “something you want”. However, all these actions are a result of Serena Joy’s self-interest and her manipulative personality, “there’s a hint of her former small-screen mannequin’s allure, flickering over her face like momentary static”. Consequently, Atwood highlights Serena Joy’s “roguish” actions caused by jealousy and a desire for revenge upon the very person who has been deprived her of possession of the Commander; she deliberately withheld the news of Offred’s lost daughter and the photograph that Offred has been longing for.

Since she wasn’t getting caught, it boosted her confidence. She started to believe that the things she used to only dream about were now a possibility. In a way, she still strived to be Moira. Every time Moira was mentioned, Offred seemed to have this longing to do whatever Moira had done.

This gives us a hint on the totalitarian society of Gilead that Offred lived through, where she had no control over her own life. She wishes she had control over what would have happened to her. Overall,

It is hard to believe that a character whose name is composed of the words “serene” and “joy” could emit the opposite of what her name suggests, but Serena Joy of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid's Tale disproves this stereotype. While some may argue that Serena is generous to Offred, she only does this as a means of exploitation rather than pure generosity. Her character exhibits cynical character traits, demonstrating selfishness through her lack of empathy for others, maliciousness through her constant explorations of the Handmaids, and hypocriticalness through breaking her own laws. She is the poster child for the dystopian society’s tyrannical government. The government desires someone who can effectively rule over the Handmaids with fear

When Offred escapes at the end of the book, it is unclear whom nick releases her to leaving readers curious of what group he may be part of. But it seems to be that Offred really does trust nick and is willing to leave (escape) but deep down she is hoping that he really does have feelings for her and the baby she has is Nick’s. "Don't let the bastards grind you down. I repeat this to myself but it conveys nothing. You might as well say, Don't let there be air; or Don't be.

Her belief gives her a false sense of security as well as her unwillingness to rebel due to fear of the Eyes. Her conversations with others are "Praise be," "Blessed be the fruit," and "May the Lord open" it is difficult for Offred or any women to really have a meaningful conversation for fear that anyone is a spy. Everything that Offred does is now part of the norm of society. She doesn't question her duties just does what is expected of her. As Offred begins a secret relationship with Nick she believes she has reclaimed a tiny piece of her past. She becomes addicted to the small amount of companionship from Nick, causing her to turn a blind eye to the injustices going on around her. She feels empowered because it was her own choice. When in reality she did what was expected of her. Using her body in order to produce a child.

However we see a more villainous side to The Commander when he asks Offred to play scrabble with him. He manipulates Offred into having almost a false relationship with him because this is non existent with his wife, Serena Joy. The relationship between the commander and Serena Joy is very numb, cold and formal. They are very alike in character and so they control each other. Their relationship is somewhat business like and lifeless. In one chapter Serena Joy says to Offred ‘He’s my Husband till death do us part’ and this sentence feels almost forced. As the reader we feel she says this because of the last handmaid and because of the jealousy she feels towards Offred. She wants to take it away before she can even have it. This relationship with Serena Joy puts things out of balance and Offred and in a way wants to go back to normality. He is unhappy about the situation in Gilead and wants to forget about the present and live in the past. He

Unlike Moira, Offred is desperate to conceive the Commanderís child in order to survive. Both women parallel many women in todayís society. On one hand, there are feminists who rebel against society no matter what it costs. On the other hand, there are women who are just trying to survive and find their place in a society in which they are second class citizens. In the novel, Offred is torn between smearing her face with butter to keep her complexion and hanging herself. In the same manner, she is caught between accepting the status of women under the new regime and following her own desires to gain knowledge and fall in love. Offred doesnít know whether to accept the circumstances and die inside, or to fulfill her own desires, set herself free like Moira has done. The contrast between Moira and Offred reveals Atwoodís attitude towards women and their sometimes self-destructive submission. Atwood shows the oppression of women through the extreme setting of the story, but she also allows the reader to see how women passively oppress themselves.