The Handmaid's Tale By Margaret Atwood

Her belief gives her a false sense of security as well as her unwillingness to rebel due to fear of the Eyes. Her conversations with others are "Praise be," "Blessed be the fruit," and "May the Lord open" it is difficult for Offred or any women to really have a meaningful conversation for fear that anyone is a spy. Everything that Offred does is now part of the norm of society. She doesn't question her duties just does what is expected of her. As Offred begins a secret relationship with Nick she believes she has reclaimed a tiny piece of her past. She becomes addicted to the small amount of companionship from Nick, causing her to turn a blind eye to the injustices going on around her. She feels empowered because it was her own choice. When in reality she did what was expected of her. Using her body in order to produce a child.

Offred is in a great deal of pain throughout the story. This makes for a good novel because conflict provides entertainment for the reader. However, one must understand her social stature in the new society to understand what she endures. Offred is a Handmaid which is similar to a sex slave. A Handmaid’s only purpose in life is to bear children. However, this is a difficult task considering pollution and syphilis

Offred leaves the Commander’s office when she says, “Live in the present, make the most of it, it’s all you’ve got” (Atwood 143). The story The Handmaid’s Tale composed by Margret Atwood, takes place in a theocracy titled, The Republic of Gilead, which is present-day United States. Almost everyone in the republic has become infertile due to a nuclear contamination. The narrator and main character of the novel is named Offred and her job is that of a Handmaid. Handmaids in the new society have the job of serving any member of the hierarchy as the birth mother of his children. Offred is on her third commander. If she does not have a baby this time she will be sent to the colonies to clean up

Small things here and there. As time went on she seemed to get more and more bold with her rebellion. What started out as simply having a normal conversation with Ofglen, lead to sneaking out at night to sleep with Nick. I think as the book continued, Offred continued to get more bold.

In the Handmaid Tale written by Margret Atwood it takes place in what used to be the United States,but now is called the Republic of Gilead,where a political group called the Sons of Jacob has overthrown the U.S government, and due to environmental issues the women of Gilead cannot have children, so they created handmaids who can carry a child for them. My initial impression of the main character, Offred, has changed because at the beginning of the story I did not see her being rebellious in little ways. Offred has changed because instead of focusing on her old life, she has become more complacent with the one she has, and willing to do whatever it takes to get out of Gilead. One quote that supports that Offred has become more rebellious is “It was a magazine, a women's magazine it looked like from the picture, a model on glossy paper,hair brown,neck scarfed, mouth lipsticked;the fall fashions”(Atwood 156).

Women in Gilead are just seen as reproductive machines, like as they were commonly used in the Bible. Aunt Lydia brainwashes the handmaid's by stating: “This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary” (31). However, Offred knows that her life will never be ordinary. She admits to the reader that her once free life is lost.

Imagine not being able to go out, all you do is just stay inside doing nothing, and when you are able to go out they send you to do errands. Offred is a handmaid for a new society that took over a part of the United States. Her world consist of having sexual intercourse or a ‘Ceremony’ with a specific male once a month in order to reproduce and give birth. She also isn't able to communicate with others. In the novel if handmaid’s get pregnant they aren’t allowed to keep the child, they eventually give it to the Wife, the partner of the Commander, who then cares for it and acts as if it’s one of her own.

"Lying in bed, with Luke, his hand on my rounded belly. The three of us, in bed, she kicking, turning over within me" (103). Her life as a Handmaid left Offred lonely and desperate for an emotional human relationship. The third officer she was sent to was a high-ranking commander named Fred, where her name Offred meaning "Of-Fred" was given. She begins an illegal relationship with the Commander, meeting with him outside of the set "ritual ceremony." Handmaids and the officer they're assigned to are not suppose to see each other other than when they have emotionless sex to produce a baby. The Commander's wife, Serena Joy, also begins to talk to Offred illegally, asking her to have sex with Serena's driver named Nick in effort to get Offred pregnant. She begins an affair with Nick and begins to enjoy his company. Then Serena discovers that the Commander and Offred are having an affair and send the secret police after

The way that Atwood explores the theme of survival through her is by showing the struggles and threats of her being a handmaid. Some of the struggles that Offred faces to survive throughout the book are following the rules and regulations the government of Gilead has made for handmaids that include staying away from their families, sacrificing morals, beliefs, and freedom having to wear the same clothes every day and many more. Based on the information in the book if Offred or anyone is Gilead breaks any of these miserable rules they will be hanged at the wall. It is also conveyed that Offred doesn’t deny following these rules and wants to survive because she is determined and hopeful to get back to her family this is explained when Offred says “I intend to last” in chapter 2 page 17. Another threat to Offred or a handmaid’s survival is not having a baby.

Offred is one of the Handmaids that is mentioned throughout the book. “Offred’s narrative voice is tinged with desperation and irony as she describes the harsh limitations of society”(Gianoulis). With that being said, it is true that the societal role that women play in Gilead, does affect the day-to-day life, and will harm them. Offred mentions

Offred is a Handmaid in what used to be the United States, now the theocratic Republic of Gilead. In order to create Gilead's idea of a more perfect society, they have reverted to taking the Book of Genesis at its word. Women no longer have any privileges; they cannot work, have their own bank accounts, or own anything. The also are not allowed to read or even chose who they want to marry. Women are taught that they should be subservient to men and should only be concerned with bearing children. Margaret Atwood writes The Handmaid's Tale (1986) as to create a dystopia. A dystopia is an imaginary place where the condition of life is extremely bad, from deprivation, oppression, or

Offred admits, “I went back to Nick... I did not do it for him, but for myself entirely” (268). Regardless of the profundity of her relationships with them, it is Offred’s interactions with the Commander, Serena, and Nick that result in her being able to read, increase her chances of getting pregnant, and experience an intimate relationship on her own terms. All of which are strictly forbidden and not without risk, yet she has the power to do so because they can’t incriminate her without incriminating

Offred, not her real name but the name given to her by her occupation, is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. The Republic of Gilead is a

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

Offred, within the novel, is seen as being in one of the lowest classes within the hierarchy of women only putting her above the women who are sent to the colonies. Unlike the handmaids, the Martha, who are helping ladies to the Wives, talk about Offred like she is not in their present but viewed her as “a household chore,one among many”(Atwood 48). Although the Martha are women too, they have more control than Offred. By viewing Offred as a household chore conveys that Offred is an inconvenience but still a necessary part of Gilead. Speaking about Offred like this emphasizes that she is below them in the status of society and they are not seen as equals. In addition, Offred, being a handmaid, wasn’t allow to talk to the Wives in a direct manner (Atwood 14-15). By Offred not being allowed to talk to the Wives illustrates that the Wives authority over the handmaids. Furthermore, the handmaid’s are viewed as less and “[reduced]... to the slavery status of being mere ‘breeders’” (Malak). By conveying the handmaids are slaves shows are they force without consent to have sex with men and that the handmaid focus is to breed, unlike the Martha, aunts, and Wives. Moreover, the class system within the female hierarchy of Gilead is utilized as a political tool thus adding to the assumption