The Symbolism Of Red In The Handmaid's Tale

In The Handmaid’s Tale, each individual wears a certain colored garb that is symbolic of their role in society. The wives of the Commanders wear blue, which is a royal color, symbolizing the high status of the wives. Blue is also seen as a cold color, which represents the attitudes of the Wives towards the Handmaids. The color blue is often associated with the Virgin Mary, symbolizing the Wives ultimate role as mothers – but ones who have not conceived themselves but rear the children anyway. The Handmaids’ red dresses are long, draping, and covering every inch of their bodies.

The novel is set as a taped interview with Offred, one of the few fertile women left. Offred’s story "provides a view of a frightening future in which racism and homophobia run rampant, personal freedom is lost, sexual practices are ritualized, and the earth has become polluted beyond reclamation” (Sova 101). In Gilead, all women have become slaves. Handmaids exist solely to become pregnant by the Commanders. Pornography is outlawed.

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.

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.

It shocks me how the people of Gilead do not get any luxuries like coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, music or reading. I don’t understand how prohibiting those items benefit Gilead. People are still able to get the items, if they really want something they will find a way to get it.

In Gilead, members of the society are labelled by their age and economic status. The deep red cloaks, the blue embroidered dresses, and the pinstripe garments are all uniforms to define a person’s role in society. In particular, the handmaid’s cloaks also say a lot more about their position. The fact that they are like a nun’s gown, and are also called ‘habits’, signifies chastity and dedication to God.

Red is also a color to symbolize blood and that the handmaids still get their period and hope to have it miss on one month in hopes that they are pregnant. Although not all the girls are handmaids there are also different classes such as wives and Martha’s. Each that is classified wears a different color. The wives blue and the Martha’s green. The reason why the wives wear blue is because then other people can notice that they are a wife of a certain commander.

Gilead is a society not far from the present and it based around one central idea, control of reproduction by using women’s bodies as political instruments. Handmaids are women who the state took complete control of through their political subjugation. They are not allowed to vote, hold property, read or do anything that can make them independent from their husband and the state. These handmaids are reduced to their fertility and treated like nothing more than a set of ovaries and a womb. They lose their identity and become an object of the state. The narrator of The Handmaids Tale is a handmaid by the name of Offred. The novel takes place in first person point of view and this allows the readers to see how she is treated and all the events that take place for her. First person point of view allows the reader a closer view as to how a central theme develops by giving the reader a firsthand experience from the mind of the narrator.

The way the authority communicate to them, influences the individual on the way they act upon or believe in things. The authority in the Novel uses this concept of communication to the people so that they will obey them and to scare them. The government uses theocracy language to manipulate and pervade the use of God and the Bible. One of the most common example of phrase that the language of the society in Gilead uses is “Under his eye”. This means that they are being watched by the eye of God or the authority which gives them the feeling of being careful with their about their actions and their speech. Another example that they use in theocracy language is what Aunt Lydia always says. As stated in the book, “She pretended to do all that love-the-sinner, hate-the-sin stuff, but she enjoyed it,” (Atwood 248). Although the tone of the author’s voice indicates irritation and madness. They uses a nice language saying “Love the sinner” or love the person who did something bad. This shows the goodness of god to which it means that they might have done something so terrible, but people should love them, because they know that God will always forgive

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

In The Handmaid’s Tale, red is a distinct color used to represents Handmaids. The color relates itself with the feeling of shame and is also a symbol for fertility as it is associated with the blood of the menstruation cycle. The clothes which Handmaids dress in are also red. This can be noted from a description Offred says: “Everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood, which defines us.” (Atwood, 1986, p.8). Furthermore, the accessories which Handmaids are given are also red:

This allusion is applied with this one quote from Aunt Lydia, the woman who indoctrinated the handmaid's to the ways of the Republic of Gilead, "The Republic of Gilead. . . knows no bounds.  Gilead is within you" (p. 23, italics: mine).  The lush soil, and the future, of Gilead was located "within" the handmaids.

In literature, the color red symbolizes many things, each with its own emotional impact. Red can be associated with violence and bloodshed, or it can be associated with love and intense emotions. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred, chosen to be a “baby-maker” for a couple she was assigned to, desires to escape the dystopian society that she lives in. Thus, Margaret creates a fictional government that uses totalitarianism, violence, and the reoccurring pattern of the color red to illustrate the negative impact it has on women, especially the Handmaids.

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