The Handmaid's tale

The Handmaid's Tale is a fictional novel by Margaret Atwood about the struggles of Offred, a handmaid in the Republic of Gilea, the modern day United States. This story focusses on the consequences of going back to a basic society where women have no rights and men are the supreme rulers. Margaret Atwood was truly prophetic in her novel, which was written in 1986, and still connects to the world today.



Author Biographical Information
Margaret Atwood was born in 1939 in Ottawa. She received her degrees at the University of Toronto and Radcliffe College. As a child she spent much of her time in the wilderness of Canada and began to write at the age of six. Her poems, plays and novels were about the life of an ant. These childish writings set the stage for her writing carreer and as she said a decade later, “Suddenly [writing was] the only thing I wanted to do.” Throughout her writing carrer she has received many awards and honorary degrees. Margaret Atwood lives in Toronto with her husband Graeme Gibson and their daughter. (Atwood 312)

Setting: Historical Information
The Republic of Gilead is the country that sprang up after the present day United States collapsed.

Genre
Fiction takes what could happen and makes it reality. Fiction normally combines elements of fantasy and the real world in such a way that the reader can empathize with the narrator.

Plot Summary
The Handmaid's Tale is a futuristic novel showcasing the idea that "returning to traditional values" is not always a good thing. In the new regime of the Republic of Gilead women have lost all their rights and everything has gone back to the basics. Everything from clothing to speech is dictated by the government. Women have lost the right to read, to walk alone, to speak to men, they were even barred from wearing makeup.

As the story progresses we learn more about the main character, Offred, through a series of flashbacks. She was once married to a man named Luke. She had a daughter and a cat. They lived in a little apartment near her work at the college library. Her best friend was Moira, a trouble maker and honest person. Her mother was a scatterbrained old lady who like to protest government decisions. She smoked. She liked reading. There was so much to her before the new laws were in place.

Offred is now a Handmaid, a woman that was deemed to have viable ovaries and was forced to have sexual intercourse with her assigned man once a month, hoping that she will become pregnant so that her living nightmare will be that much closer to ending. She misses the old days when women could dress up, go out, smoke, read, and enjoy life, but that is a thing of the past.

In the end her world takes a surprising twist as her confident commits suicide and the black van comes for her (this is usually a bad sign). Nick, the chauffer, comes ahead of the men in the van and tells her that they are part of the mayday resistance.

The novel ends with the readers wondering what happened to Offred.

Characters

 * Offred- Offred is the character that is composing the story to inform others of what her time was like during the new Republic of Gilead. Offred is only wanted for her gender specific traits that allow her to bear children.


 * The Commander- The Commander is the man that Offred was assigned to so that she can bear children for his wife, who is barren. He is the one that allows Offred to read, an act forbidden in the modern times, and takes her out to his club.


 * Serena Joy- Serena was a singer back when women had rights and now she is the barren wife of a high ranking official. She loathes Offred but dares not harm her for fear of the punishment. It is Serena’s idea to have Offred sleep with Nick in hopes that they could produce a child and Offred would leave her house.


 * Nick- Offred’s lover on Serena’s orders, Nick is the go to man for the Commander and his wife, who is supposedly getting black market items from him. Nick is the one who informs Offred that the Mayday resistance is here to liberate her.


 * Offglen-Offglen is another Handmaid but she is part of the Mayday resistance. She gets Offred involved and helps guide her to understanding the resistance and their efforts to right the new order.


 * Cora- Cora is the nice servant that takes great pains to make sure Offred is doing well. She is the one that found the other Handmaid hanging from the chandelier and fears that Offred will try the same.


 * Rita- Rita cooks all the meals for the people of the house. She does not hate Offred, but is jealous that she is that valuable. Rita does her best to keep everyone well fed and healthy. She runs the show behind the scenes.


 * Aunt Lydia, Aunt Elizabeth- They are the ones that transferred all of the old world habits of the Handmaids into the newer, efficient baby factories.


 * Moira- The trouble maker of the new government, Moira tries to run away and fails. Eventually she ends up as a call girl at the club that the officials go to for their quirky needs.


 * Luke- Presumed dead, Offred has many flashbacks of better times that involve Luke, her companion and husband.

Author's Style
Margaret Atwood writes in the style of a journal or diary as she describes Offred and her world. This is most clearly demonstrated with the use of first person and how the events proceed chronologically while leaving room for personal thoughts and flashbacks.

Example- “I wish this story were different. I wish it were more civilized. I wish it showed me in a better light, if not happier, the at least more active, less hesitant, less distracted by trivia…” (Atwood, 267)

Setting
The setting of The Handmaid’s Tale is in the newer version of the United States: the Republic of Gilead. The majority of the story takes place in the Commander’s house, where Offred lives and works as a Handmaid. When here Offred is normally in her room or in the Commander’s office playing scrabble. Other important settings would be the market where Offred and Offglen buy groceries, The Wall where traitors are hanged, and the stadium where the reapings take place.

Themes

 * Women as tools- the women in The Handmaid’s Tale are used for only their ability to produce children. The women are deprived of all great joys in life from reading to listening to music to having a private walk.


 * Government is not always a good thing- The Handmaid’s Tale epitomizes the thought that too much government interaction with the people is not really a way to live life. In this novel the government has taken over every aspect of people’s lives, telling them not to read, forcing them into submission, and taking out anyone who even says a word of rebellion.


 * Freedom is costly- Throughout the novel Offred flashes back to what her friends and loved ones had done for the sake of freedom; losing their lives, going through immense pain, and giving up everything they owned.

Motifs
(see reference 4)
 * Sexual Violence- This was the main reason for the founders of Gilead to create the world they live in now, but everything they do points to sexual violence towards women such as the ceremony and the night club Jezebels.

Symbols

 * The Winged Eye- a symbol of the government’s power and authority. Seems to also be the watchful and merciful eye of God.


 * Red outfits of the Handmaids- red is a color of passion and love but also lust. The Handmaid’s wear red to symbolize their fertility and distinct occupation in their society.

Significance of the Opening/Closing Scenes

 * Opening Scene-The opening scene is a flashback of Offred’s from when she was first introduced to the new world of being a Handmaid. She is vividly remembering the gymnasium that they slept in, the beds they were issued, the officials around her, and the people who shared this new fate. This sets the stage for the rest of the novel as Offred gives insight into the time before, giving the readers the faint clue that the time has changed even though it is meant to be in the present.


 * Closing Scene-Offred is dragged away from the home of the Commander by people who may or may not be May Day resisters. This leads the reader wondering what has happened to Offred and if she is given a new beginning.

Memorable Quotes

 * “Better never means better for everyone, he says. It always means worse, for some.” (Atwood, 211)

This quote was a memory of the protagonist’s that her husband Luke had said. Offred thinks of this when she is ruminating over what has happened to her.


 * “There is a silence. But sometimes it’s as dangerous not to speak.” (Atwood, 29)

Offred and her shopping partner, Ofglen, are asked if they are happy by an interpreter leading around Japanese tourists. In a world where everyone could be a secret eye (spies paid by to government to find rebels) and any word could be used against you, saying too little is just as bad as saying too much.


 * “One of the gravestones in the cemetery near the earliest church has an anchor on it and an hourglass, and the words In Hope… Why did they put that above a dead person? Was it the corpse hoping, or those still alive?” (Atwood, 106)

Offred wonders if such a blissful item as hope could exist in a world as cruel and disjointed as hers. Was there hope after death? Is there still hope in life?


 * “There is time to spare… the amount of unfilled time, the long parentheses of nothing. Time as white sound…” (Atwood, 69)

Offred is waiting. Waiting for something that seems not about to come. This happens many times in the story and it is how we can describe the personality of Offred; these are the times when we get a glimpse into her thought processes.”


 * “I resign my body freely, to the use of others. They can do what they like with me. I am abject. I feel, for the first time, their true power.” (Atwood, 286)

Offred has finally lost hope, lost the little she held onto, the little bits that kept her sane. She has now made herself their tool. They have broken her.

Allusions

 * The whore of Babylon
 * The Bible
 * The Old Testement
 * Time Magizine