Symbols In The Handmaid's Tale

In The Chrysanthemums, Elisa is a woman who is trapped at her husband Henry’s ranch by her gender and society’s idea of what a woman can manage. She is a very strong, capable woman who works all day to make the house spotless and the garden thrive. Elisa is good at her work, “behind her stood the neat white farm house… it was hard swept looking little house, with hard-polished windows, and a clean mud-mat on the front steps”. That show just how much work she puts into keeping the house clean. Elisa knows she is capable of successfully accomplishing any number of what society labels as men’s work and being held back makes her bitter and resentful. In an attempt to feel freedom, Elisa gifts some of her chrysanthemums to a traveling solicitor. She is devastated when she spots the flowers dumped on the road on her way to town with Henry. Elisa, like her flowers, feels discarded and devalued by men and society.

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

In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Offred recounts the story of her life and that of others in Gilead, but she does not do so alone. The symbolic meanings found in the dress code of the women, the names/titles of characters, the absence of the mirror, and the smell and hunger imagery aid her in telling of the repugnant conditions in the Republic of Gilead. The symbols speak with a voice of their own and in decibels louder than Offred can ever dare to use. They convey the social structure of Gileadean society and carry the theme of the individual's loss of identity.

The most symbolic element in nature that is commonly used in novels is a flower. Flowers have been used in various genres of literature and just like a specific color, authors use a specific flower to convey and to communicate different types of messages. For example, a rose can be used to represent simplicity, beauty, love or even lust, whereas a white daisy can be used to represent innocence and purity. Margaret Atwood also uses flowers repetitively in her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. Atwood’s motif of flowers, clearly represent the love, and fertility associated with the woman in the Gilead society; Offred’s most important role of bearing children and her desires are demonstrated through the flower’s descriptions.

Seemingly, the flowers represent Elisa. She believes she is strong and tough and able to accomplish anything thrown her way; however, taken for granted as she is only a woman allowed to look and act accordingly. Surrounding the flowers is a wire fence set up to keep out predators and to separate the flowers from the rest of the farm. The wire fence is symbolic in the fact that it is identical to the world Elisa lives in. Elisa is contained within the farm, unable to explore or leave without the help of someone else. Elisa is stuck on the farm, isolated from the rest of the world so that she can be kept safe. Naive and unaware of how the world works, her husband keeps her on the farm to protect her from harm. When Elisa gives the chrysanthemum to the travelling merchant, she gives him a small piece of herself. Later, as her and her husband are driving to town, she sees the flower tossed aside as though it was nothing; as a result, she realizes she could never go off on and live the way the merchant had. The flowers embody her character still, and how out of her home without protection, the world can be harsh and cruel. In short, Elisa’s isolation leaves her ignorant, unable to understand how callous the world is, and comes to the bleak realization that she can’t live a life anywhere outside of her fence. Because of how women were treated, constantly pushed down and unable to pursue their interests, Elisa is left unable to learn what life has to offer. Learning

At this point the poet uses symbolism substituting a flower for his mother. This is an appropriate symbol as, like his mother, a flower is feminine, delicate and

In John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums”, he uses the chrysanthemums, fence, and garden to symbolize Elisa’s thoughts and feelings throughout his story. He uses these symbols to show love, neglect, loneliness, protection, and passion for his characters.

In his short story, “The Chrysanthemums,” John Steinbeck’s use of symbolism throughout the story provides the development for the plot which demonstrates that women sometimes suffer from estrangement and solitude while in search for their identity. Steinbeck presents the main character, Elisa Allen, as a frustrated woman who is dissatisfied with her current lifestyle as she yearns for a more adventurous one, instead of living up to society’s expectations of a woman only being a simple housewife. To support the theme, the author uses the fence and the flowers in a symbolic technique to represent the feelings of loneliness and alienation to portray Elisa’s relationship with the outside world.

Elisa is especially proud of her chrysanthemums and how big they are this year. Steinbeck exhibited this pride Elisa portrayed as "she straightened her back and pulled on the gardening gloves again. Yes they'll be strong this coming year." Elisa worked hard at her garden and it was important to her. In fact it was the only thing she had to be proud of. For Elisa the chrysanthemums symbolized the work she feels she is capable of as a

Nick, was a part of a resistance movement, Mayday; in which made efforts to undermine the dominance of the authority that was inscribed by Gilaed. Nick brought in notions from the past; as well as brought in mythical and fairy tale notions that were once remembered from it. Offred, although, was in charge of her own escape, subtly through her own thinking capacity; her ability to draw, and connect memories of her past, to her present in order to have some clarity; in a society, in which, that robustly maintained the ability to close of critical thinking for women. It was therefore, the past, was a powerful tool to understand the present; this is an aspect that can help soften the impact of the harsh reality of the future, but not eliminate it’s ability to control life entirely. There is an abundance of floral imagery that is written into The Handmaid’s tale, “Atwood’s flowers are central to this evocation of linguistic change, which is also the story of anguished mothers and abducted daughters”.(Hooker, 2006.

She does not help with the ranch or the cultivation of the orchard, but rather tends to her own garden. Her reportedly stellar chrysanthemums represent her delicate side. By maintaining and ensuring a yearly exemplary flourish, Elisa sustains and nourishes her suppressed womanly essence. Although Steinbeck reveals that, “The

Steinbeck uses chrysanthemum’s to symbolize Elisa’s strength and power in order to show how societal standards cause women to miss out on opportunities and become frustrated with the confinement of their expression. “[Elisa] was cutting down the old year's chrysanthemum stalks with a pair of short and powerful scissors. She looked down toward the men by the tractor shed now and then. Her face was eager and mature and handsome; even her work with the scissors was over-eager, over-powerful.” Chrysanthemum stalks require a great deal of force to be cut down, which is highlighted through Elisa’s use of “powerful scissors.” Ordinarily, flowers are portrayed as beautiful and delicate; however, chrysanthemums are sturdy and tough. Steinbeck chose specifically to use chrysanthemums because they symbolize the strength Elisa has; she is confident, empowered, and masculine, but all of her strength is confined within the standards of society just as the chrysanthemums are confined within the walls of her garden. Elisa, as a woman, is unable to express herself as strong, masculine, and proud because that was not the standard that women were held to during that time; her expression is confined to her work in the garden with her chrysanthemums, and it is frustrating for her to miss out on the opportunities that would showcase her strength and let it be appreciated by her husband and the mender because of the standard of delicacy and beauty that women are held to.

Offred can see herself in the mirror like a distorted shadow, a parody of something, some fairy-tale figure in a red cloak, descending towards a moment of carelessness that is in the same as danger. A Sister, dipped in blood."(8). In Cliff Notes, Mary Ellen Snodgrass wrote, "The persistent color motif suggesting menstruation and the female cycle in the blatant scarlet color of the Handmaid's uniform"(31). For that reason, it seems appropriate the color used to represent the Handmaids is red. Their job is to deliver a child for Commanders and their wives; therefore, the menstruation cycle has a strong meaning. Giving birth is another representation. Red could be associated with the bleeding and afterbirth that is part of childbirth. The mode of transportation to travel to the birth of a fellow Handmaid is the Birthmobile. The bench seats, curtains, and floor, as well as the Birthmobile itself, is red. The place where all of the of Handmaids are trained as potential breeders is named "Red Center." That is where they are taught how to act and present themselves proudly. The Red Center is also where the Handmaids are told everything they cannot do anymore, such as read, because they are women. In today's society, we associate "Red Light Districts" with prostitution. Several examples in the novel show how little the other women in the Republic think of the function of the Handmaids. Perhaps they look at the Handmaids lives as a form of

"[Elisa's] passionate involvement with the process of planting becomes an expression of all the suppressed romance in her life" (Lewis 393). "She is a strong, childless woman of thirty-five that has subliminated her maternal instincts by producing remarkable flowers" (French, John 83). Nevertheless, "the plants and flowers cannot compensate for the lack of understanding and affection from her husband" (McCarthy 27). In the story, Elisa plays the role of a simple-minded lady who allows her husbands thoughts and actions to dominate her. "Elisa's marriage neither fills her time nor fulfills her desires" (Hughes 24). However, Beach concludes that Elisa without a doubt has a "soul" and is much less simple than she seems (Beach 32).

To begin, the red color of the handmaid’s dresses represents the immorality of the services they provide to the powerful commanders and their wives. In Gilead handmaids are mandated to have sex with their commanders in the hopes of baring a child. Giving birth to a healthy child is the ultimate goal of the handmaids that they must devote themselves entirely to in order to be safe under authoritarian rule. The red color of their dresses is a constant reminder to themselves and others that their importance is their fertility. Offred the protagonist states, “everything except the