Symbolism and Loss of Identity in The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

One of the many prevailing themes in literature is that power is gained and can be manipulated when restraints are placed on natural desires of the individual. This passage is significant because it is an example of this theme, for it shows how power and manipulation have completely changed and restricted the people, especially women, of Gilead. Due to this, the passage reveals the shared anger that the Handmaids possess, and the cruelty that has been brought upon the society. The use of similes, diction, syntax, and illustrate the impact that this event had on Offred, for she feels such anger towards the unknown man and the crime he has supposedly committed. These literary and rhetorical devices additionally serve to make this event seem as

In today’s news we see many disruptions and inconsistencies in society, and, according to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, humankind might be headed in that direction. The deterioration of society is a concept often explored biologically in novels, but less common, is the effect on everyday social constructs such as the position of women as a item that can be distributed and traded-in for a ‘better’ product. The Handmaid’s Tale elaborates the concept that, as societal discrimination towards women intensifies, gender equality deteriorates and certain aspects of societal freedoms are lost. Offred’s experience with serving Gilead demonstrates a victim’s perspective and shows how the occurring changes develope the Republic.

From the outset of 'The Handmaids Tale' the reader is placed in an unknown world, where the rights and freedom of women have been taken away. We follow the narrative journey of a handmaid, named Offred.

The Handmaid’s Tale is a story told in the voice of Offred, who is the character of the “handmaid”, which is described best by women who are being forced and used for reproduction because they can make babies. In the Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood uses symbolism, which is the use of symbols to represent ideas, to show the reader the handmaid’s role in society of Gilead. The handmaids were women who had broken the law of Gilead, and forced into having sex and reproducing for the higher class. They had no rights and were watched constantly so this created a very nervous atmosphere. This horrible way of living is most likely why Offred never fully made the reader aware of the horrible life she was forced to live because

This enables women not to become rebellious of the system, as you can only become rebellious with the power of language. The handmaids in Gilead are also deprived of their identity, as they are the possessions of the commanders, and so are named after they commanders e.g. “Offred” and “Offglen”. However, the jezebel sequence approaches the roles of women in a different manner.

Women in the past were perceived as insignificant because of the society’s inability to embrace and acknowledge women as of equal importance as men and of those who are wealthy. In Margret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, the character by the name of Offred, is a handmaid and tells her perspective of the dystopian life in the community of Gilead. The women of 1985 serve the males and the rich if they are not a wealthy maiden themselves. However, regardless of class, women are always discerned as of lesser significance than men. This is manifested through Offred’s observation that although the women who are a Commander’s wife are entitled of higher authority than the handmaids, they are still seen as insignificant. In order to give them

Therefore 'oranges' symbolise 'hope.' Overall I have come to a conclusion, that Offred the handmaid, believe that one day she will be free from the Gileadian regime and that one day she will be rescued by her prince, who will take her away from all the trouble that she is facing. Margaret Atwood has used many ways in which the novel presents 'hope' to both Offred and the readers through, flashbacks of the past, characters that are rebelling- Serena Joy, Nick, Moira and the previous unknown handmaid, and possessions such as oranges. Offred never seems to lose 'hope' and if she does she has a flash back of her past, which causes her to yearn for the past and want things to be the way they were before the Gilead regime took over and snatched her away from her family and deprived her of the one thing that she had, which was love and affection. All Offred is left with is 'hope.' Hope for a better future, hope of a method to escape, hope to find her family and hope that one day things will be back to normal so that she can... ' Pick up from' where she left

Nevertheless, Language both written and spoken have played a major role in The Handmaid's Tale. Language is vital in representing the oppression of women in Gilead. Throughout Atwood's novel many women experience the power of the regime through the denial of language. Gilead defines women based on their gender roles, such thing is evident in the stores women are allowed to shop at. The name of the stores reflects the women's fertility, for example “Mild and Honey.” In the society of Gilead, stores are renamed to enforce female functions in society, this is revealed as Offred and Ofglen’s make a trip to the grocery grocery store, Offred states, “Our first stop is at a store with another wooden sign: three eggs, a bee, a cow. Milk and Honey” (Atwood 28).

In the book The Handmaid 's Tale by Margaret Atwood, the foremost theme is identity, due to the fact that the city where the entire novel takes place in, the city known as the Republic of Gilead, often shortened to Gilead, strips fertile women of their identities. Gilead is a society that demands the women who are able to have offspring be stripped of all the identity and rights. By demeaning these women, they no longer view themselves as an individual, but rather as a group- the group of Handmaids. It is because of the laws that have been established that individuality has been demolished. From these points that will be raised, it can be concluded that a handmaid’s role in Gilead is more important than their happiness, and mental wellbeing.

In the Gilead society the handmaids have to cover up their bodies, wear long dresses, and cover their faces with vial’s and wings. These rules for the women are the same if not similar in Afghanistan, India, and some south Asian countries. In Pakistan women can be raped and if no evidence is found to prove it was rape the men could get away with it and the women could be charged with pre-marital sex and sentence to prison. This is similar in The Handmaid’s Tale; the handmaids go through “the ceremony” as they call it. The handmaids had to lay on their backs once a month in hope to become impregnated by the commander. The handmaids are valued only for their womb, ovaries, and reproducing. If their ovaries were no good or if they couldn’t have children for any other reason, then the handmaid was not valued or not needed and was sent to “the club” where all the unclean, no use of handmaids are. The handmaids with valuable ovaries are alive only to serve a purpose which is to reproduce.

What jumped out at me here was how all of the mentioned handmaids seem to have their names beginning with ‘Of’. First of all, the letter O looks like a womb or an egg. This possibly hints at their already evident role in society- to procreate and have children for the commanders. But, if the reader goes a step further, it is evident all the handmaids have names that begin with ‘Of’. This alludes to the principle that the handmaids belong to their commanders, and that they have to do their duty, and nothing more.

The handmaids are one of the many social groups in Gilead. Their main purpose in Gilead is to bear children for the infertile,

The Handmaid’s Tale is about Offered as she shares her thoughts and experiences in a journal-like form and provides some advice. Offred is a lower class female who has been taken from her husband and daughter at 5 years old to be a handmaid for the red commander at the red center. The point of this center is to reproduce with the Commander

In Gilead Handmaids are seen as adulterous, harlots and are hated by everyone because of their role, “But the frown isn’t personal: it’s the red dress she disapproves of, and what it stands for.”(pg.19 ) they are especially hated by the wives of commanders.

“I feel thankful to her. She has died that I may live. I will mourn later” (Atwood 286). Many sacrifices and hard decisions are made by unorthodox people to keep what they believe in alive. There would be no rebellions and no change without these nonconforming people. Offred, the main character and a Handmaiden, would have faced eminent death in her strictly orthodox world had it not been for the rebelliousness of those who died before her wanting change. The Republic of Gilead, previously known as the United States, is a theocracy. Environmental events and population decline prompt changes. A caste system is created, and each caste performs specific duties. They are punished if the laws are not followed. The Eyes are at the top of the caste system; they make sure the laws are obeyed. Next are the Commanders and their Wives. The Handmaiden’s main task is to produce a child with their Commander. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, some unorthodox characters challenge the theocracy such as Offred, Ofglen, and Nick.