The Handmaid's Tale

The novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is about a handmaid named Offred whose job is to have sex with the Commander in order to produce a child. The society of Gilead was formed in response to the crisis caused by dramatically decreased birthrates; the state’s entire structure is built around a single goal: the control of reproduction. Women are reduced to their fertility and treated as nothing more than a set of ovaries and a womb. Gilead seeks to deprive women of their individuality in order to make them docile carriers of the next generation.

 

An important symbol I found in this novel was the handmaids red habits. The handmaid’s habits reminded me of the hijab that Islamic women wear. I found that the reason that Islamic women wear them is because it says in the Muslims' holy book, the Qur'an that Muslim women should draw their veils over their bosoms when they go out so they will not be molested. This way of dressing preserves the women’s modesty just as in The Handmaid’s Tale where women are supposedly respect above all else. The color of the habits is very symbolic. The red color is supposed to symbolize fertility, which is the primary function of the handmaids. Red is also the color of the blood of the menstrual cycle and childbirth. However, as seen in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter red can also symbolize sexual sin. While the handmaids’ role in Gilead supposedly finds its justification in the Bible, in some sense they commit adultery by having sex with the Commanders, who are married men.

 

My favorite passage is on page 295:

“Whether this is my end or a new beginning I have no way of knowing: I have given myself over into the hands of strangers, because it can’t be helped. And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light”

This finale part of Offred’s story leaves it up to the reader to decide if she escaped or if she perished. I would like to think she escaped just because I enjoy a happy ending but also because she ended the story on a lighter note. If Atwood had just left it as, “…And so I step up, into the darkness within,” I would have felt that Offred did not survive her journey but because, “…or else the light,” is added in at the end I feel that Offred escaped with the help of Mayday. At the very least I believe Offred came to terms with her life and was content as she stepped up into the van.

In spite of the disturbing sex scenes I enjoyed this book. While the subject matter was a bit uncomfortable the story was interesting and I was never once bored. Though a little confusing at times I especially enjoyed the flashbacks. It helped me to identify easier with Offred because she came from a time that was similar to my own and she wasn’t as obscure a character as Equality 7-2521 and D-503. Something I found interesting in all three novels was the loss of their names. Though we never learn Offred’s original name we know that she once had one and the loss of that name was just another way to strip away the person that she was before Gilead was established. Equality 7-2521 and D-503 aren’t really names although they are the only names the two characters had ever known. Since these characters didn’t have a true name it made them less of an individual; they were just parts in the machine of society.