Offred’s struggles throughout Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale illustrates the effects that relationships and experiences have on an individual’s sense of self and hunger for freedom.
The Republic of Gilead is a warped modern-day rendition of Puritan life, a “fertility cult” (Nakamura 3) under the guise of a religious society. Like the Puritans and many other historical cultures, the women of Gilead are treated like objects to be issued, thus robbed of their voice and their individuality. This idea of men owning women as property is introduced early on, almost as an afterthought, during Nick’s introduction. He is described as “low status: he hasn't been issued a woman, not even one” (Atwood 18), a statement echoed in the …show more content…
The Commander’s particular relationship spanned beyond the typical ceremony of copulation required of Handmaids, choosing instead to reintroduce Offred to the society that existed before Gilead. It was destined to be unorthodox from the very beginning; “my presence here is illegal,” Offred notes before entering the Commander’s study. “It’s forbidden for us to be alone with the Commanders” (Atwood 136). Though this rule is to prevent further sexual activities, nothing of the kind occurs during her excursions to this forbidden room. “In the Commander's study she heroically reads forbidden books and magazines and begins to assert her own personality in her relationship with him” (Perkins 2); the works that she is suddenly exposed to, Vogue and Mademoiselle and Hard Times, remind her of the past that she had once lived, when she had taken these materials for granted, and instill in her a sense of personal identity beyond anything she had felt since Gilead had begun. She even shares with him one of her closest secrets, the Latin phrase that holds her hope up for the entirety of the novel -- Nolite te bastardes carborundorum, “don't let the bastards grind you down” (Atwood 186) -- as one more ack of knowledge, and thus, rebellion. The relationship with Ofglen, on the other hand, was one of secrets, whispers, and the thinly-veiled promise of escape. Ofglen is one of the few Handmaids Offred has near-constant contact with, and typical to women of Gilead, she begins as a source of jealousy for Offred. On one occasion, as Offred is considering her robotic yet pious qualities, Ofglen drops a peculiar statement: “It’s a beautiful May day” (Atwood 43). Offred recognizes this as a restrained call for help of some kind, but not until much later
The Republic of Gilead is a warped modern-day rendition of Puritan life, a “fertility cult” (Nakamura 3) under the guise of a religious society. Like the Puritans and many other historical cultures, the women of Gilead are treated like objects to be issued, thus robbed of their voice and their individuality. This idea of men owning women as property is introduced early on, almost as an afterthought, during Nick’s introduction. He is described as “low status: he hasn't been issued a woman, not even one” (Atwood 18), a statement echoed in the …show more content…
The Commander’s particular relationship spanned beyond the typical ceremony of copulation required of Handmaids, choosing instead to reintroduce Offred to the society that existed before Gilead. It was destined to be unorthodox from the very beginning; “my presence here is illegal,” Offred notes before entering the Commander’s study. “It’s forbidden for us to be alone with the Commanders” (Atwood 136). Though this rule is to prevent further sexual activities, nothing of the kind occurs during her excursions to this forbidden room. “In the Commander's study she heroically reads forbidden books and magazines and begins to assert her own personality in her relationship with him” (Perkins 2); the works that she is suddenly exposed to, Vogue and Mademoiselle and Hard Times, remind her of the past that she had once lived, when she had taken these materials for granted, and instill in her a sense of personal identity beyond anything she had felt since Gilead had begun. She even shares with him one of her closest secrets, the Latin phrase that holds her hope up for the entirety of the novel -- Nolite te bastardes carborundorum, “don't let the bastards grind you down” (Atwood 186) -- as one more ack of knowledge, and thus, rebellion. The relationship with Ofglen, on the other hand, was one of secrets, whispers, and the thinly-veiled promise of escape. Ofglen is one of the few Handmaids Offred has near-constant contact with, and typical to women of Gilead, she begins as a source of jealousy for Offred. On one occasion, as Offred is considering her robotic yet pious qualities, Ofglen drops a peculiar statement: “It’s a beautiful May day” (Atwood 43). Offred recognizes this as a restrained call for help of some kind, but not until much later