Archetypes In There Handmaids Tale, By Margaret Atwood

There Handmaids Tale, by Margaret Atwood. It is a dystopian novel wrote in 1985. The story is told from the point of view of Offred and switches between the present time, and the time before then with the events as to how she got into the situation she is in. The main character 's name is Offred. She is a handmaid to a wealthy family. A handmaid is a fertile woman who would provide the family she works for with children. In the beginning, Offred resists Gilead, the place where she lives. She tried to escape once and it was unsuccessful and so she dutifully does her job. Throughout the story, she breaks more rules, but never joins the movement against the ideals of the handmaids. She starts up an affair to follow through with her duty to provide …show more content…
Social status was depicted by the colors one wore. The color red is worn by all handmaids. It is a archetype. The color red symbolizes fertility, the blood of the menstural cycle and childbirth. The handmaids job is to produce a child. The color red also can be a sign of promiscuity, and many of the Commanders wives feel as though the handmaids are promiscuous or “slutty.” The handmaids are also committing the sin of adultery and in The Scarlett Letter, Hester wore a red A symbolizing adulterer. The handmaids also wear white angel wings. This symbolizes the purity they have and the sacredness of the life they are supposed to be creating and birthing. The commanders wives wear blue. The archetype of blue often is associated with spiritual priority and is the symbol of the Holy Mother. The wives are the mothers. In Gilead, there is also a secret police group. Their names at the Eyes of God. The symbol of the eye is all-seeing and all knowing and it shows that the government has total command and sees all and knows all. The Commanders wife that Offred is in the house of has a garden. This archetype represents the fertility and the feminine aspects of the commanders wife. The Handmaids Tale is set in a future america. Offred lives in the area of what used to be Harvard and the Area is called Gilead. She remembers a time before the requirements of the Handmaids where she was in love with a married man, her mother was part of …show more content…
The United States is over thrown by a totalitarian government and they rename the country Gilead. It is based from a strict christian principled ideal and extreme gender differences. All young females who could conceive must be trained in as handmaids because the birth rate is really low. There is one handmaid per household, and once a month, the handmaid must have sex with the Commander of her home while the commanders wife sits behind her. Offred cannot leave the house except to grocery shop and the Eyes, which are the secret police, watch her constantly. Before The fall of the United States, Offred was married to a man named Luke and had a daughter. She had a best friend named Moria who was a rule breaker. The leaders of the new country sought to protect women because in the United States before the overthrow, pornography, violence and prositution were common. Then the Gilead regime took over and all women 's rights were taken away. The argument was that women were given more safety and respect in the new way of life. Moria is at the education center where Offred is brought to be taught about the new regime but she escapes and Offred has no idea what shies doing or where she is. Offred 's life settles in her new home with the commander and she endures the ceremony of impersonal sex with her commander. She visits the doctor often for pregnancy tests and on one visit, the doctor offers to