In Margaret Atwood’s dystopian world of Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale, we are introduced to a totalitarian world in which fertile women are captured and it is their duty to have children for elite couples. Throughout the novel, the primary handmaid and protagonist, Offred, reminiscences on her former life as she reveals the realities of her new life with a somber tone. I argue that Offred being stripped of her purpose and being suppressed into someone she is not intensifies her desire for control and authority and she chooses not to escape because of human tendencies to quench control and submit to new roles. Throughout the novel, Offred’s juxtaposition of her former life with her life in Gilead reveals her feeling of oppression. The old gymnasium
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“Things have changed. I have something on him, now. What I have on him is the possibility of my own death. What I have on him is his guilt. At last” (188). Offred’s ability to have some portion of control over the Commander entices her and changes her outlook on her situation. Claiming these bits of control allow room for manipulation and the perception of being in control, regardless of the fact that she still has to oblige to some form of submission. She capitalizes on his vulnerability and presses him into giving her more authority and privileges, such as the lotion and time with …show more content…
[...] What’s going on” (188). After she captivated this control over him, the following chapter begins with, “Night falls. Or has fallen. Why is it that night falls, instead of rising, like the dawn? Yet if you look east, at sunset, you can see night rising, not falling; darkness lifting into the sky, up from the horizon, like a black sun behind cloud cover” (191). The concept of night rising and falling illuminates the idea that the same thing is happening for individuals, but it is a matter of perspective and whether or not one is looking to the east of west. For some, the regime in Gilead means that their world is rising and for others, it signifies a downfall. In Offred’s case, she feels as if, “Night has fallen, then. I feel it pressing down on me like a stone” (191). After gaining some control over the Commander she recognizes that she can view her situation with a new perspective like from the east, but the reason “night falls [is] because it’s heavy” for her and the weight of her past is pressing her down
“Things have changed. I have something on him, now. What I have on him is the possibility of my own death. What I have on him is his guilt. At last” (188). Offred’s ability to have some portion of control over the Commander entices her and changes her outlook on her situation. Claiming these bits of control allow room for manipulation and the perception of being in control, regardless of the fact that she still has to oblige to some form of submission. She capitalizes on his vulnerability and presses him into giving her more authority and privileges, such as the lotion and time with …show more content…
[...] What’s going on” (188). After she captivated this control over him, the following chapter begins with, “Night falls. Or has fallen. Why is it that night falls, instead of rising, like the dawn? Yet if you look east, at sunset, you can see night rising, not falling; darkness lifting into the sky, up from the horizon, like a black sun behind cloud cover” (191). The concept of night rising and falling illuminates the idea that the same thing is happening for individuals, but it is a matter of perspective and whether or not one is looking to the east of west. For some, the regime in Gilead means that their world is rising and for others, it signifies a downfall. In Offred’s case, she feels as if, “Night has fallen, then. I feel it pressing down on me like a stone” (191). After gaining some control over the Commander she recognizes that she can view her situation with a new perspective like from the east, but the reason “night falls [is] because it’s heavy” for her and the weight of her past is pressing her down