The Slippery Slope Between our Word and Theirs

The Handmaid’s Tale is packed with real-world connections; the most obvious is the politics around controlling women’s bodies. Gilead uses abortion and clothing as some of the ways of oppressing the women of its society, which can be reflected in our own.

This ongoing theme of controlling women’s bodies in The Handmaid’s Tale is so relevant considering all that’s happened in the past year with Roe v Wade getting overturned. In the book, it depicts ex-doctors that had performed abortions in the time before that have been hanged/killed for it. A real-life comparison that immediately comes to mind is southern states since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Some southern states have not only outlawed abortion but have created laws so strongly against it that anyone that got an abortion/performed one would get a life sentence in prison. In Gilead, people have been taught the propaganda around the concept of abortion. As stated on page 33, “These men, we’ve been told, are like war criminals. It’s no excuse that what they did was legal at the time: their crimes are retroactive. They have committed atrocities and must be made into examples, for the rest.” This has become so sensitive in some states that recent laws to prosecute doctors not only for abortion, but for discussing abortion, or discussing ‘family planning.’ While the consequences for breaking these laws aren’t as bad as what happens in Gilead, real life doctors are made examples of in our society for other doctors as a warning. Just as the people of Gilead understand what happened when they pass a salvaging and see exactly why a man was executed - “Each has a placard hung around his neck to show why he has been executed: a drawing of a human fetus.”(pg 32) - doctors in our society are made an example of through news sources, so people understand the gravity of performing/undergoing an abortion and what the consequences are. That is just recent legal development. Abortion doctors have been killed/assaulted in the USA since the 1980s. Not only that, there have been cases of clinics getting vandalized and even bombed. It’s a very slippery slope between the legal and illegal situations surrounding abortion that could lead to how anti-abortion culture in Gilead works.

The real-world comparisons don’t stop at abortion laws, but other ways of controlling women’s bodies. There may be large differences between Gilead and our democracy, but it is comparable in other parts of the world. Gilead has very strict laws on how women are supposed to live in their society. Every woman has a specific dress code they must follow, and dire consequences if they fail to follow them. This reminds me of other theocracies in the world such as Iran and other countries with Islamic extremes. Mahsa Amini was a woman who was arrested and beaten to death just a year ago for not wearing a hijab correctly. While we are not exactly sure what would happen in Gilead if Offred didn’t follow her Handmaid’s uniform, there have been mentions of being ‘shipped off’ or other extremes for what feels like small reasons. Just like Gilead, our world looks for ways to control women in any possible way, which happens to emphasize on clothing a lot. This method of oppression is often blamed on women. As Aunt Lydia says about men, which is just an echo of our society´s rape culture, “They can’t help it. God made them that way but he did not make you that way.” (pg. 45) Women are treated as objects in our society and Gilead´s. Victim blaming is such a common thing to happen when a woman is assaulted, the first thing that comes up is ¨what were you wearing¨. This idea is especially emphasized on page 55, ¨The spectacles women used to make of themselves. Oiling themselves like roast meat on a spit, and bare backs and shoulders, on the street, in public, and legs, not even stockings on them, no wonder these things used to happen.¨ Completely blaming something like assault on clothing is used in such an oppressive way; reinforcing the idea that ¨It’s not in men’s control.¨ “Modesty is invisibility, said Aunt Lydia. Never forget it. To be seen-to be seen-is to be-her voice trembled-penetrated. What you must be, girls, is impenetrable.” - pg. 28

There are countless other real-world comparisons to be found in The Handmaid's Tale, but the themes on controlling women's bodies are the most significant.  

¨Now and again we vary the route; there’s nothing against it, as long as we stay within the barriers. A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.¨ - pg. 174

Lit Log 1 Winston Elliott

This image outlines the use of fear in government and society. This scene takes place while the handmaid and Olglen are walking back from collecting groceries. They decided to take the long way back at home just to peer upon the wall. It is almost as if they are drawn to the scene. The handmaid thinks “I know as well as she does what she’s really after” (30) in response to Olglen wanting to see the church which is next to where the bodies hang from the wall. Why would someone want to see an image they fear? Perhaps to remind herself of her adherence to her role as a handmaid in the new society.

I wanted to have the only color in the piece be the red in the handmaid’s attire. The way they are described in the book gives the feeling of everything around them being dull and less interesting compared to the handmaids so I wanted to convey that in my piece. The red also draws the spectators eye first before the bodies hanging on the wall. My intent was for the viewer to look at the handmaid’s first and follow their gaze to the people up on the walll.

This scene is significant to me because it shows how people, especially governments use and or abuse fear. In the context of the book, fear is used to control people. If you act out of line, you will be strung up on the wall. America is very similar and only less extreme. If you act out of line, you can go to jail or you will pay a fine. Some of the world still follows the handmaid’s tales methods. It’s fear that is the backbone to any governments control over their people. This made me think about whether fear is essential for a country to function. The unfortunate truth is that it is. Without the fear of consequence there would be no societal order. The majority if not all humans possess some extent of greed. The fact of the matter is, we all want something, whether it be an item, a comfortable life, or even a comfortable life for our children. If someone such as a loved one is hurt and needs help, needs something, an item or a cure people break the law today to help them. In today’s world we see people despite possibilities of jail or a fine breaking the law to help or provide for someone they love. The love they feel outweighs the consequences for their actions. This was a driving factor for Luke, the handmaid, and their baby girl. They forged documents, disregarding the fear and tried to flee the country because of love for their freedom and child. Now think if everyone acted like this, society would be chaos. With no fear of breaking the law people would no longer need to weigh the risks and rewards of taking what they want. people would no longer need something as powerful as love to justify breaking the law. With no government, no fear of the consequences for breaking law, what is stopping people from taking what they want? Morality? Sure this could be enough for a small handful of people, but not the masses.

This brings up the question of if humans are inherently evil or not. This can be traced to experiments now outlawed such as The stanford prison experiment and Milgram experiment. The Milgram experiment demonstrated that regular humans would knowingly administer lethal doses of electricity to another person when instructed to do so by an authority figure. If people were inherently good, they would take matters into their own hands and stop delivering lethal shocks of electricity to the screaming recipient. If people were inherently good then the use of fear in government would be needed. How much fear is too much? In the handmaid’s tale, there is the very direct and extensive abuse of fear by the government. You see people disregarding their old life and conforming to a drastically different regime and lifestyle purely because of fear. In America there is the debate of if the death penalty should still be allowed, which ultimately boils down to if the government should be allowed to threaten with that level of fear. Unfortunately the world we live in isn’t so different from the handmaids, its governed all by fear.

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Birth Day Ceremony

The start of the ceremony, is the day where a child is being brought into the world, the world of Gilead. Ofred wakes ready for the special event and hears the sirens of the birthmobile which sounds like the sirens of something tragic happening like a crime and the police turning their sirens on to alert everyone on the road or the siren of a fire truck; it none of those but a siren of life where a van turns those sirens on to alert everyone that someone is giving birth. As soon as the van gets there, there are guardians standing in front of the van covered in a red carpet with other pregnant women in there waiting. The women there were crying and praying for unknown reasons. But soon enough Ofred finds out it’s because they are hoping their child comes out normal without any problems, such as coming out with missing limbs, having a hole in their organs, etc. Looking at this art piece you get to see the reader’s imagination of how the ceremony went. The first thing that would catch your attention is the van, which in this case is the Birthmobile and the three random women inside of the van. If you look deeply into this photo you can see details described early in the text such as the sirens that sound like one that you would hear during death, for ambulances, or a fire, also you can see the curtains on the windows that were mentioned on the page. 111. Once you look at the Birthmobile the second thing you may notice is Offered in a red cloak like seen in the cover of the book, being led by a guardian. She is getting in the Birthmobile in the driveway outside her home as you can see the tall apartment buildings in the background. The last detail you will see in this art piece is that the women in the Birthmobile don’t look too happy and they look like they are crying, hoping their child will come out normal and that they don’t fall in the 1 ⁄ 4 chance of their child coming out as an unbaby. Also, I made sure to make the background feel cloudy and dark because whenever the story takes place in a dystopia the first thing you think of for its setting is a dark place so I colored the background gray. This scene is Important to the story because this is the next step into Offred’s life and it changes the direction of where the story is going. At first, it was about the society they lived in and how life there is different from the lives we the reader are in. Now it is about Offred and these ceremonies that she is getting into and the relationships they are having with other characters such as the commanders and others: Serena Joy, Moria, Jannie, Aunt Lydia, and more. Even when you go on to the latter pages Offred strengthens her relationship with one of the Commanders, and he even lets her do things that aren’t allowed such as read and look at things like magazines.

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Fable of the Freed One: An In-Depth Analysis of "The Handmaid's Tale".

Lit Log #1 For my Lit Log, I will be doing prompt #1, and comparing a part of The Handmaid’s Tale to a historical context. Specifically, I will be analyzing the later half of Chapter 22, where Moira, having had as much as she could take from The Aunts, frees herself from the re-education camp. I call the reader’s attention to page 133, where the other residents of the camp realize that “…Moira had power now, she’d been set loose, she’d set herself loose. She was now a loose woman.” The way that Moira not only escapes from the terrible fate set out for her, but also makes herself a hero in the eyes of the other handmaids-in-training reminds me very much of the 15th Century Maid of Orleans herself, Joan of Arc. The way they both radiate power, allowing themselves to become the one of the last symbols of hope in their people’s eyes, is too much of a coincidence for me to not notice.

However, there are, I believe, two small differences between Moira and Mdmsl. of Arc, that being their receival among their fellow women, and their beginnings. When Joan was fighting for the Dauphin, she did so out of loyalty to France, but also, sources say, due to the guidance of the Archangel Michael, a prominent figure in Heaven, most well known for dealing the final blow to his equally infamous brother, Lucifer Morningstar, when the latter led a revolution that, if successful, would have displaced God as the ruler of everything. Lucifer’s defeat, and subsequent(not to mention immensely publicized) banishment from Heaven, led to him becoming the being we know and loathe today as The Devil.

Moira, on the other hand, fights only for herself, and against power and religion, as the latter is what got her(as well as the whole country)into this whole handmaid situation in the first place. From that point of view, one might see her as a sort of Anti-Hero Joan of Arc. Not only that, but her reasons for fighting are extremely similar to Lucifer’s as well, both parties wanting more than the fates that those in power had arranged for them. However, for the sake of Moira’s image in the eyes of the readers, I’m going to continue with the Joan of Arc comparison.

However, the difference in their receival among their fellow women is much more, shall we say, hard to distinguish, but can be detected by a keen literary eye. Both Joan and Moira are despised by the men of their era, and admired by the women, of their generation as well as ours, though it is in public opinion where the difference can be found. Where Joan today is lauded with terms of heroism among females and males alike, Moira’s reception is more akin to that of Joan when she was alive, only loved by women, in secret, lest they too be accused of uprising. My point is illustrated best by Offred on Page 133, where she writes: “We hugged her to us, she was with us in secret, a giggle; she was lava beneath the crust of daily life. In the light of Moira, the Aunts were less fearsome and more absurd. Their power had a flaw to it.” The terms upon which Offred is writing this are what I will be discussing next: her escape from the training camp.

Another great author, Roald Dahl, once wrote that most people, when faced with challenges of the highest degree, surrender and hope that things turn out for the best, while others choose to push as hard as they can, with every ounce of strength they have, to overcome said challenges. Moira, as is plainly obvious to anyone who reads Chapter 22 of The Handmaid’s Tale, is one of the latter. The sheer bravery she showed in threatening Aunt Elizabeth like that, followed by stripping her to her skivvies and impersonating her to escape, is reminiscent, like many other things in THT, of the Jews who were forced to employ all manners of deception to escape the Holocaust, in that only those with an unshakeable nerve would have been able to pull it off. After that, though, Moira’s fate is completely up in the air. She seems to have completely vanished from the face of the Earth after escaping the camp. Of course, one can only imagine what sort of effects this has on Offred’s already scarred mind. All I hope is that Moira doesn’t meet the same fate as Joan of Arc, burned at the stake like a marshmallow.

The Handmaid's Tale Mirror of Life

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is written about women in this fictional dystopia and how they are treated, but while reading, I see many instances that remind me of my life. As a woman, I have experienced my share of harassment. It began at a very young age. I remember at elementary school, one guy in my class grabbed my chest and tried to play it off as an accident. I didn’t know what to do. At the young age of 10, I was afraid to speak up, scared I’d be told I’m overreacting simply because it was an “accident”. All I did was slap him and walk away. It was all I could get my body to do.

In our society, when a woman is assaulted, the question is always “what were you wearing? “Why didn’t you fight him off?” “Maybe you gave him a signal that you wanted it.” The blame is somehow always put upon the victim, and not the aggressor. The Handmaid’s Tale has the same thought process. When Aunt Lydia says “They can’t help it. God made them that way but he did not make you that way.” (45) When she says this, she is shifting the blame onto the women, saying that it is in man’s nature to behave this way. That it is on the women if they are raped or assaulted. This makes women afraid to speak out, like how I was.

As I got older, it only got worse for me. Being touched without my permission became a constant recurring thing in middle school. From the groping of my chest, to a guy flipping my skirt up and running away. I remember confronting that guy the next day with my friends around me. Once I was done speaking, I pushed him to leave. My friends clapped and encouraged me that I did the right thing. But at that moment I did not feel empowered. I felt weak, similar to how the women in this book feel.

Being raped is a fear I have that is always in my mind. When I am alone taking my train and bus home, I always have that thought in my head. “Is he coming over here?” I keep my head bowed to act like I’m on my phone as I glance up to see where he goes. “Why is he looking at me?” I move so I’m out of his line of sight. If there’s a group of guys, walk fast and don’t make eye contact. If he says hi to me, don’t respond. But then again, no reply could put me in just as much danger.

Countless women have been killed for simply saying no. No to giving out their names, their numbers, or for even not smiling back when spoken to. “Sometimes it’s dangerous not to speak” (29) is a quote I deeply relate to. When you live in a world where anything could set off a man and get you killed, it’s terrifying. When women are catcalled, we are expected to take that as a compliment. We have to hide how we actually feel just to get home safely. The ending scene in chapter 11 reminds me of this. “I must leave the impression that I am not offended.” (61) When I had to read chapter 11, I could not read it. Having to read a descriptive section of someone getting assaulted made me cringe. I can never read or watch a rape scene it just makes me sick. I do not like having to imagine that. I had to skip around that page.

The women in the Handmaid’s Tale society main role is carrying children. It is so important that if you are not able to have kids, you are now an Unwoman and get sent to an island. You are deemed useless. Being sent there is like a punishment. It’s something the women want to avoid. This is clear throughout the book, but is evident after Janine gives birth in chapter 21. Since she has proven herself still useful to this society, “she’ll never be sent to the Colonies, she’ll never be declared an Unwoman. That is her reward.” (127) And that is it.

The need for the woman to bring children into the world as the only thing that makes them useful reminded me a lot of how society in our world is. Although we live in a time where women have more choice of what they want to do with their lives, having kids is always expected. I hear this from my Mother often, as she continues hoping I’ll change my mind and want kids at some point in my life.

Life as a woman is like constantly walking on eggshells just to be safe, just like in The Handmaid’s Tale. The book is a mirror of reality. I see that very clearly.

Gilead: Where Church and State Meet

Right now our country is divided between right and left. Both sides are seemingly trying to pull the country in two opposite directions. I know you said we should write about politics OR religion, but I feel that in this scenario we cannot separate the two. As of 2023 over 60% of the U.S. Population identifies as Christian, and about 25% identify as catholic. A large wave of conservatism has been running rampant through our country for quite a long time now and with social media that wave is only growing with younger people also adopting these older politics. Many of our republican representatives share these very strong, conservative political views that deeply impact women (and men) stemming from Christian ideals.

Abortion has been a very controversial topic for longer than I could probably imagine. Recently, it has still been at the forefront of political discussions and debates with pro-life and pro-choice protests sparking violence. The Handmaid’s Tale has made it very clear that Gilead is a pro-life society and abortion is punishable by death. Even assisting with an abortion can turn you into an ornament on “the Wall” where those killed at the “Men’s Salvagings” are displayed as a public warning.

“Each has a placard hung around his neck to show why he has been executed: a drawing of a human fetus. They were doctors, then, in the time before, when such things were legal. Angel makers, they used to call them; or was it something else?” pg. 32

As tensions around abortion laws have been brewing, most recently, Roe v. Wade was overturned which has greatly upset those with pro-choice values. Remember that The Handmaid’s Tale was written as a precautionary tale and Margret Atwood did not put anything in here that she says humans haven’t already done. Gilead is the direction she believes we are going in and the overturning of Roe v. Wade can be considered a step in that direction.

There has always been a stigma around sex in the catholic church. Many christians believe sex should be for reproductive purposes only, which is why any pre-marital sex is considered sin. The idea is that sex is a means for an end, usually a family. However in Gilead it doesn’t seem to be about starting families. The Commanders and Handmaid’s aren’t raising these babies, and they definitely aren’t starting families. Yet the negative stigma around sex for pleasure is still very present. Despite that, characters have shown clear wants for sex throughout the book. But, it’s not just the sex they want, it’s the intimacy.

“We all do it. As long as we do this, butter our skin to keep it soft, we can believe that we will some day get out, that we will be touched again, in love or desire” pg. 96 Offred compares the idea of having sex with Nick in secrecy to “shooting someone”.

“He puts his hand on my arm, pulls me against him, his mouth on mine — how I’d like to — My hand goes down , how about that, I could unbutton, and then. But it’s too dangerous” pg. 98 Even the Commander, who is the one that is supposed to be reproducing with Offred and nothing more desires that intimacy.

“I want you to kiss me, said the Commander” pg. 135

Today, slut-shaming has become a very common thing in our society. Stigmatizing and ultimately condemning a woman for engaging in behavior judged to be promiscuous or sexually provocative. The wiki dictionary on slut-shaming defines sluts as “people, especially women and girls, who are perceived to violate expectations of behavior and appearance regarding issues related to sexuality”. As a society we already have “expectations” about how a woman should conduct herself in regards to her sexuality. Everyone is different when it comes to sex and the way they express their sexuality. But most people have a sex drive, and Gilead is designed to suppress them and indoctrinate them to believe sexual expression and desire is wrong.

Janine, a girl who was raped, was openly condemned in class and used as an example for all the other girls.

“Whose fault was it? Aunt Helena says — Her fault, her fault, her fault, we chant in unison. Who led them on? Aunt Helena beams, pleased with us. She did. She did. She did. Why did God allow such a terrible thing to happen? Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson.”

“We meant it, which was the bad part.” pg. 72

We are being taught the same things now. Obviously not in such an extreme manner, but the way we see several forms of media portray sexuality and the way we see society respond, similar messages are being spread and understood as true. The most important thing about The Handmaid’s Tale in my opinion is that it is based in the future, and not the past. This book serves as a warning that is extremely relevant now as the wall of separation between church and state becomes less and less stable.

“There’s nothing in The Handmaid’s Tale that didn’t happen, somewhere” -Margaret Atwood

Words That Cannot Be Spoken Are Sung

Playlist (feel free to listen to the songs as you read):

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzHaSBLTLc668JW94hXUiCftIWfjeJ_DL&si=5YBMCy2LjbfERMz0

DAYLIGHT - DAVID KUSHNER

“Oh, I love it and I hate it at the same time, hidin' all of our sins from the daylight.” This song expresses how our souls are split into two. There are two voices, one reminding us of what's right, while another approves of how amusing it would be to move towards wrongdoing. We normally lean towards light, but a part of us is attracted to darkness. In “The Handmaid’s Tale”, while the reader is aware of Offred's thoughts, nothing is certain about her opinions and how she will feel towards certain moments. A specific moment is when Offred reveals her thoughts when she first secretly meets with the commander. “I think about how I approach the Commander, to kiss him, here alone, and take off his jacket, as if to allow or invite something further, some approach to true love, and put my arms around him and slip the lever out from the sleeve and drive the sharp end into him suddenly, between his ribs.” (139 - 140). Offred constantly gives the reader insight into her dark thoughts but pushes them away when she sees the darkness in them. She constantly reminds herself and the readers that there are rules in place where consequences will follow if broken. At times, people start to lean towards the dark side of themselves because it’s a different force, a different experience from their usual lives. In a way, this is an escape from their reality and discovering something exciting they didn’t know they could encounter.

GOOD GRIEF - BASTILLE

This song talks about missing your loved one while expressing the problem of adapting to their absence. The deep feeling of losing someone and surrounded by sadness. “Every minute and every hour, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more. Every stumble and each misfire, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more.” The connection between the book and this song is when Offred talks about Luke. In some moments, she talks about how she misses him. “I wanted to feel Luke lying beside me.” (52). In others, she tries to get around what happened to him after they got separated. “I believe Luke is lying face down in a thicket of bracken…” (104). Another quote I want to include is, “But this is wrong, nobody dies from lack of sex. It’s lack of love we die from.” (103). Thus far, Luke hasn’t been portrayed as being present in Gilead. Even so, through her dreams, Offred still remembers Luke vividly in the moments they shared before Gilead. It’s painfully clear she deeply longs for him and misses his presence because of her frequent returns to the love she received from the people most dear to her.

YOUR’RE SOMEBODY ELSE - FLORA CASH

A song about realizing your loved one is not who you thought they were. The story behind this song is how the main character feels that they were once the other half of their partner's life but recognizes that they’ve been neglected and tries to wrap around the reality of where they stand in the relationship. As a connection to the book, I argue that this song describes the Commander’s Wife's (also known as Serena Joy) emotions as Offred begins to get in the middle of her relationship with the Commander. Moreover, this song also connects to how the Commander feels towards his relationship with his Wife. “There is loathing in her voice as if the touch from my body flesh sickens and contaminates her… Which of us is it worse for, her or me?” (95). After the first ceremony, Offred notices Serena Joy's emotions and reactions and can’t help but question how badly of an impact it had on her. Thus far, Offred mentions how she feels bad towards Serena Joy because she’s going behind her back to meet the Commander which is painfully obvious it is. Her having to witness another woman get with her husband because she is unable to bear children, how that must pain her. And then, “No, he said. She wouldn’t understand. Anyway, she won’t talk to me much anymore.” (158). When Offreds brings up the question about why the Commander did not show the magazines to his Wife this is his response. He too is noticing the change in their relationship and how Serena Joy is slowly drifting away from their relationship; in a way, losing interest in him. Even though, not stated in the book, the readers notice how the Commander and his Wife’s relationship is getting worse due to others coming in between them and the lack of communication and interaction.

WHO I AM - THE SCORE

“I am lost with a direction. I am failure and perfection. Without grace, but I am tired. Of walking life like it's a wire.” This is a reflective song about accepting and being true to oneself. It talks about acknowledging that you’re both good and evil, strong and weak. When considering the characters from The Handmaid’s Tale, Moira is the closest one to resonate with this song. “Moira had power now, she’d been set loose, she’d set herself loose. She was now a loose woman… Moira was like an elevator with open sides.” (133). After knowing what happened with Moira, Offred reflects on how she escaped and was successful when there wasn’t any trace of a possibility. I never could have anticipated Moira’s method of escaping. This was another Moira from how Offred described her as a close colleague in a normal friendship. Female resistance. Gilead wasn’t the place Moira wanted to be in so made her path. Her character is strong and doesn’t overthink what she wants. She’d been seen as having power by the other handmaids because she had done something that they thought of but never exercised due to the regimes that held them in place, which led them to be extremely complacent because of the consequences they were aware would come after if they tried to go against them. In contrast, the reader notices that Moira doesn’t care about those regimes/rules and decides to fight for her life instead of letting others rule it.

HARD SOMETIMES - RUEL

I conclude that this song relates to how Offred is tied to her thoughts. “I don't feel like myself and. I can't help being selfish. Sometimes the pressure gets the best of me.” This song is about struggling with life. It talks about the battle to find happiness and a connection. At times, Offred remembers and dreams about the happy memories when she was beside her loved ones. “In other moments, Offred's thoughts appear dark, thinking about the worst possibilities, hoping they aren’t true at the same time making them sound realistic. “Time’s a trap, I’m caught in it. I must forget about my secret name and all ways back. Live in the present, make the most of it, it’s all you’ve got.” (143). Thus far, having experienced so much, I reason that Offred feels as if she’s been wasting her time thinking about the past, hoping that something will change when in reality there might not be change at all. That she won’t see the people she loves again. She’s decided to focus on her present life and make the best out of her time as a handmaid. It’s not certain, but I noticed a shift in Offred’s train of thought that started with Moira’s actions and her and the Commander’s secret meetings. Even so, I still consider that she will continue going back to her memories because that’s what keeps her going in hopes of a better tomorrow.

Offred needs something more illegal than the item theft

In the Handmaid’s Tale, we follow Offred through her day to day life that seems traumatizing in so many different ways. Offred experiencing awful relationships herself, and bearing witness to gruesome images of those around her are just some of the common occurrences her day may include - yet through all of this, were reminded multiple times of Offred’s desire to steal something.

At a first glance, this repeated detail can seem like it´s unnoteworthy, and a strange choice of a detail to repeat - quite literally in the context of safety concerning situations. To me though, Offred’s desire to steal something seems deeper: it seems like a fight for something to represent herself with.

In our world, I see self expression as fundamental to human existence - people represent their values, identity and aspirations in everything they do. Whether in person or online, communities people choose to be a part of are key to their identity - identity can be signaled or fulfilled by joining religious congregations, social groups and sports clubs. Clothing items also let people show off their individual style, and sometimes even show beliefs for social / political norms.

In Gilead, Offred has none of this. She, along with all the other women of Guiliad are stripped from their personalities and valued by society solely for their labor and reproductive roles. Women are classified by their roles: Wives, Handmaids who have babies, or Martha’s who clean and cook. Handmaid’s like Offred take on the literal names of their commanders (¨Of - Fred¨), and all of them are assigned a strict dress code.

I don’t see Offred’s desire to steal something as an evil craving, a means to upset the item’s owner or even just a desire to get a useful item. I see it as solely a craving for something to represent herself. Who wouldn’t crave this item like if they were in Gilead? Offred stealing this item would object to the rules of Guilead, object to the roles of power, and give her a physical, rebellious keepsake. Looking at it would be a reminder to how she did not conform to Guilad’s rules - she was better than them!

Later in the text on pages 136-137, once we’re already introduced to Offred’s desire, Atwood seems to further touch on this interest and illustrate it as a true personal Journey Offred feels she needs : Offred says “It’s an old one, he said, a curio of sorts. From the seventies, I think. A Vogue. This like a wine connoisseur dropping a name. I thought you might like to look at it. I hung back. He might be testing me, to see how deep my indoctrination had really gone. It’s not permitted, I said. In here, it is, he said quietly. I saw the point. Having broken the main taboo, why should I hesitate over another one, something minor? Or another, or another; who could tell where it might stop? Behind this particular door, taboo dissolved.”

Initially, this was confusing. It goes against the sensible solution of why we kept hearing about Offred’s desire to steal something. How does an antique, rare Vogue article not sound like the perfect thing? How could Offred be such a beggar and chooser? It even had the illegal element that Offred desired?! Later on though, I realized the embarrassingly obvious intention as to why this was included by Atwood, that answers all of the questions as to why the item stealing was brought up so many times: this desire of an item, isn’t just a desire for a single physical item that represents Offred, it’s a desire for the journey of that item. The commander giving this item to Offred, not only takes away from the illegality and power proving desire of truly stealing something - but it also makes it come from someone she hates.

Offred recognizes she is far from herself ; Offred even recounts memories of her younger self in an alien-like way. For Offred, this item stealing detail shows us that she needs this personal improvement - but even if she steals the perfect item - Offred will be far from fulfilled. Assuming that Atwood will eventually wrap up the book in some heartwarming way (given so far gruesome nature) that completes Offred’s journey - makes me think that something big will happen. No simple end to the book like Guilead’s end to the oppressive society or Offred’s escape could do the job ; I think Offred will have to do something incredibly dominant to reach a far opposite of the power she feels now. Maybe kill the commander.

Maya Smelser - The Herd and the Household

This artwork represents the relationship between the Handmaids and the Commander in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Just like with a shepherd and his sheep, the Commander both controls and cares for the Handmaids. Like a shepherd used his sheep for their wool, the Commander uses the Handmaids for their ability to conceive. Shepherds must watch over their herd, like the Commander watches over his Household. Throughout the book, the Handmaid’s are controlled in everything they do, who they can talk to, where they go. Etc. They are simultaneously manipulated, through indoctrination and punishment. In chapter 13, the narrator even compares herself to a farm animal, saying, “I wait, washed, brushed, fed, like a prize pig.” (69) She and her fellow Handmaids are treated like animals, to serve a singular purpose. This idea is significant because Gilead relies so heavily on its power structure to function the way it does. The Handmaids are at the very bottom of the pyramid, while the Commander sits at the top. The Handmaids are powerless, like animals in a farm, and have no choice but to follow the commands they are given. The Handmaids are treated as less than human beings, as simply baby machines.

The book also contains a lot of Biblical references and imagery that I wanted to emphasize in my artwork. Sheep and shepherds are a common metaphor in the Bible, typically with God as the shepherd and his “children” as the sheep. Because Gilead is a very religious based society, I wanted to extend this metaphor through my artwork. I chose to have all the sheep looking at the Commander to reference the scene where the Household is listening to him read the Bible. At this moment, the narrator thinks, “we’re all watching him. It’s the one thing we can really do, and it is not for nothing: if he were to falter, fail, or die, what would become of us?” (88) This relates back to the sheep and shepherd metaphor because the Handmaids must rely on the Commander, he is their leader. I wanted my artwork to explore the line between control and care. The Handmaids must be devoted to their Commander, but not by choice, more because they see it as their duty. The Handmaid’s identities exist only as an extension of the Commander. The narrator asks “what would become of us?” because she cannot separate her existence from his. Even their names are linked to their respective Commander. The narrator’s name is “Offred” because her Commander’s name is Fred. Her identity can only be “of” him. Overall, I was very intrigued and unsettled by this relationship while reading, so I wanted to analyze it in my Lit Log.

The Handmaid and History

“The Handmaid’s Tale,” written by Margaret Atwood, has drawn from many historical sources to flush out the events and world of Gilead. This is because Margaret Atwood herself was born on November 18, 1939. She has seen drastic changes in society and put some historical parallels into “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Atwood said, “ When I wrote The Handmaid’s Tale, nothing went into it that had not happened in real life somewhere at some time. Some key events that would inspire Atwood in her life are World War II, the beliefs of Nazi Germany, and the rise of the conservative Christian right in the 1980s. In this essay, I will be focusing on the two influences that helped shape the world of Gilead.

Margaret Atwood was born three months after the start of World War II. Her early childhood was filled with memories of seeing her neighbors being sent off to war. World War II, more specifically, Nazi Germany, inspired the world of Gilead in major ways. The most direct parallel between Nazi Germany and the world of Gilead are the handmaids and the extra wives of SS men. Heinrich Himmler was an avid supporter of polygamy. The Nazis claimed that monogamy was satanic and created by the Catholic Church. Many high-ranking Nazi officials would claim these extra wives or mistresses. This was called the Lebensborn program. These women would be used to birth children of “racial purity”. You can draw clear parallels between the SS men, the commanders, the handmaids, and the extra wives. During the creation of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a movement raged through America that sought to return America to “traditional” values. This movement was known as the conservative Christian movement. The Conservative Christian Right is a movement dating back to the 1940s and is the second major inspiration for the society of Gilead. Gilead is hinted at to be America throughout the story.

“We had flannelette sheets, like children’s, and army-issue blankets, old ones that still said U.S.”- page 4

“The Handmaid’s Tale” takes place in a theocratic nation where belief in Christianity is compulsory, and gender roles are rigid and driven to their extremes. In Gilead those who go against its norms will be either banished, killed, or beaten ruthlessly.

“What they are hanging from is hooks. The hooks have been set into the brickwork of the Wall, for this purpose.”… “Each has a placard hung around his neck to show why he has been executed: a drawing of a human fetus. They were doctors, then, in the time before, when such things were legal.” – Page 32

Gilead is the ideal American future for Christian conservative movement. In the book, there are characters directly based on key figures of the conservative Christian movement. For example, you have Serena Joy, who was based on Phyllis Schlafly, an anti-feminist. You can see this in the book.

“She was good at it. Her speeches were about the sanctity of the home and about how women should stay home. Serena Joy didn’t do this herself. She made speeches instead, but she presented this failure of hers as a sacrifice she was limiting for the good of all.” Page 45

This is a direct parallel to the real woman. Phyllis Schlafly was a woman who preached the same beliefs and was a key figure in the conservative Christian right.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” is a cautionary tale in addition to being a brilliant work of fiction. “The Handmaid’s Tale,” written by Atwood, presents a society in which social emancipation has only regressed while time has advanced. Atwood draws these stark similarities to actual historical occurrences. From Nazi Germany to the conservative Christian movement, Atwood was warning the reader against allowing these regressive and conservative ideas to corrupt and swallow them. Hopefully after reading “The Handmaid’s Tale” you will take this message to the real world.

Gilead Through Forbidden Sound

Six Feet Under- Billie Eilish

Six Feet Under by Billie Eilish, a haunting song about love and loss, resonates deeply with the themes in The Handmaid’s Tale. The song’s melancholic tone and lyrics reflect the underlying despair and longing that permeate the life of Offred. In this society where women are stripped of autonomy and identity, Offred, like the persona in “Six Feet Under,” experiences a symbolic death - the loss of her past life, name, and family.

The line “Our love is six feet under” particularly echoes Offred’s silent mourning for her illicit relationship with Nick and the burning memories of her husband, from whom she’s been forcibly separated. Both the song and the book explore themes of love’s remnants in the face of oppressive forces, the burial of the characters’ former selves, and their struggle to maintain hope and identity when everything has been taken away. Through this lens, “Six Feet Under” encapsulates the emotional landscape of The Handmaid’s Tale.

You’re somebody else - Flora Cash

You’re Somebody Else by Flora Cash mirrors the internal conflict Offred experiences in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The song’s chorus, “You look like yourself, but you’re somebody else,” reflects the cognitive dissonance Offred undergoes, forced into the role of a Handmaid while remnants of her former self linger. She navigates this by dissociating from her current reality, a psychological defense mechanism poignantly captured as she states, “I try not to think too much. Like other things now, thought must be rationed” (116).

Offred’s dissociation is further evidenced when she forgets portions of her past, her identity blurred and eroded by Gilead’s oppressions. She admits, “I can’t remember what my real name is” (84), signifying her loss of self, similar to the song’s narrative of not recognizing someone once cherished. The line “Well you talk like yourself. No, I hear someone else” from the song echoes Offred’s struggle to connect with who she was before Gilead, her past self becoming a stranger. Both the novel and the song artfully express the haunting journey through loss, adaptation, and the human spirit’s resilience amidst the erasure of identity.

Atlantis- Seafret

The song Atlantis by Seafret captures the profound sense of loss and helplessness. Atlantis parallels the despair in The Handmaid’s Tale, its lyrics about a distant utopia reflecting Offred’s sense of helplessness and her shattered reality in Gilead. Her feeling of confinement is vividly captured, mirroring the song’s narrative of an unreachable haven.

Offred’s overwhelming sadness and sense of loss resonate with the song’s chorus, “I want you to know that I can’t let you go.” She clings to her past yet feels powerless, a sentiment echoed in her poignant realization: “We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print” (20). Both the song and the novel encapsulate a longing for what once was, underscoring a shared theme of enduring spirit amidst loss and captivity.

Homesick- Boywithuke

Homesick by Boywithuke resonates with the profound longing and sense of loss that Offred experiences in “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The song’s essence of yearning for something unattainable deeply reflects Offred’s internal landscape as she aches for her child and the life she was forcibly untethered from. This intense longing is palpable when Offred painfully reflects, “I want Luke here so badly. I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable” (127).

Her memories are faint, almost out of reach, yet charged with emotions she cannot suppress. “The night is mine, my own time, to do with as I will, as long as I am quiet. As long as I lie still,” (52), Offred muses, indicating her silent calls and yearnings for a savior, for a return to her past life — calls that she knows, heartbreakingly, will go unanswered.

The idea of missing something you can’t have in the song mirrors Offred’s helplessness and desire for her previous freedoms, a life that’s now a mere shadow. Her situation in Gilead is a constant reminder of those unreachable memories, making the song’s theme of homesickness an apt metaphor for her emotional exile.

Take me to Church- Hozier

Take Me to Church by Hozier connects deeply with The Handmaid’s Tale, both critiquing institutionalized religion’s corruption. The lyrics “We were born sick, heard them say it” reflect Gilead’s doctrine, where women are inherently flawed and need strict governance. This ideology is evident when the Aunts indoctrinate handmaids: “We learned to whisper almost without sound…We learned to lip-read…our heads flat on the desks, our hands at the sides of our faces to shield our words from the other girls…Aunt Lydia said.” (154).

Similarly, “I’ll tell you my sins, and you can sharpen your knife” from the song captures Gilead’s brutal retribution system, paralleling the fear Offred feels: “I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it’s shameful or immodest but because I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely.” (63), underscoring the oppression she endures due to the twisted religious dictates.

The song and the book both serve as stark reminders of the dangerous trajectory when religion is corrupted for power, highlighting the perilous outcomes of blind faith and authoritarian control in society, hinting that such influence rarely, if ever, leads to a just end.

Mitski in The Handmaid's Tale

Liquid Smooth by Mitski

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bfurc6KcMwk

Liquid smooth by Mitski is about recognizing that youth and beauty is a privilege. This privilege wants other people to notice it in you before it is gone; referring to getting older and plain.

Liquid smooth implements the idea of a woman’s body being seen as an object to men “my skin is plump and full of life”. We see Offred referring to this idea with her own body. “I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation… Now the flesh arranges itself differently. I’m a cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am and glows red within its translucent wrapping.” (pg. 73)

The women in The Handmaid’s Tale are living in a civilization where the youth are more fortunate. Older women like the wives aren’t successful the way the handmaids are. Yes they have power compared to them, wealth and husbands. But they can’t have what is mostly important in the society of Gilead, children.

Once more to see you by Mitski

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9yfLGT_ozQ

Once more to see you by Miski explores the strong desire to be with someone even with the circumstances of trying to maintain an image to the public. Mitski explores this by singing about important moments individuals experienced together.

“If you would let me give you pinky promise kisses, Then I wouldn’t have to scream your name. Atop of every roof in the city of my heat. If I could see you. Once more to see you.”

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the main character Offred is alone and often depressed. Her past life is gone, and the person she loved the most is as well. Throughout the book, Offred calls out to Luke in hopes he will hear her. “I looked up at the blind plaster eye in the ceiling… I wanted to feel Luke lying beside me, but there wasn’t room” (pg. 52). Offred’s state of mind is fragile and the more time passes, her deepest wish is to have someone by her side.

Bag of bones by Mitski

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf0rzDVijC0

Bag of Bones by Mitski is a song about feeling trapped in one’s routine while being lost and looking for an escape. Mitski explores the song’s character as their messy room, translating to the chaos of their life and mind. “I’m all used up, pretty boy, over, and over again.” We see this feeling of being trapped with Offred’s character multiple times in The Handmaid’s Tale.

In chapter 7, Offred is able to explore the memories of her life in hopes to escape. The memories in the beginning are good and later become dark. The complete tone shift shows the chaos that is going in her mind. “I would like to believe this is a story I’m telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance.” (pg. 39) Offred is tired and deeply wants to escape, she has hopes but hopes might not last forever.

Wife by Mitski

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7FwNXxgl10

In the song Wife by Mitski, the deep exploration of the struggle of women defining themselves in relation to their marriage shows a sense of entrapment. Offred is not the only one that might feel trapped. Every woman character seems to have their own trouble relating to their new life. The chorus reveals that the speaker feels pain to her partner by their inability to have children together. Like Serena Joy, she daydreams about having a song and giving a name of her own.

The speaker in the second verse wants to break away from the “cliff” and find her own path but she is again held back by her inability to give children. Serena Joy is met with this fate. She spends time gardening for this exact reason. “Maybe it’s just something to keep the wives busy, to give them a sense of purpose.” (pg. 13) Hoping to take her mind away from everything she can’t give, she does things in hope to give something.

Me and my husband by Mitski

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU_Dbxciei8

Me and my husband by Mitski explores the idea of companionship, unconditional love, and stability. Mitski reflects upon the dying good moments and the comfort of her marriage. The song explores the character’s sentiment towards her husband and that she is grateful to be able to depend on the man in her life.

This dynamic is seen with Serena Joy and the commander. Eversince the new age of Gilead has set in place, her relationship with the commander has undergone turbulent waters. With her inability to give children, their relationship is a mere picture and something to display stableness in the family. “As for my husband, she said, he’s just that. My husband. I want that to be perfectly clear. Till death do us part. It’s final.” (pg. 16) With her old life gone and everything she had power over, Serena Joy guards what she does have heavily in hopes she won’t lose it again.

The Truth About Gilead

¨The Handmaid’s Tale” is a novel that takes us into the disturbing world of Gilead a theocratic regime characterized by control and manipulation. In Chapter 13 of the book, we are introduced to Janie, a character who shares a traumatic experience, which serves as a reflection of how oppressive societies can manipulate and control individuals. As Janine’s story unfolds, she shifts the blame onto herself, a response encouraged by the oppressive to real-world historical, religious, and societal contexts where victims of various forms of oppression are pressured to internalize blame, resulting in profound psychological consequences.

Janine’s harrowing story initially appears to be recounted with an unsettling sense of pride, which gradually transforms into an admission of guilt. This transformation highlights the psychological manipulation and coercion employed by the oppressive regime of Gilead. Janine, like many others in her society, has been indoctrinated to internalize blame, even for traumatic experiences that were beyond her control. Blaming the victim is a common response encouraged by oppressive societal concepts. Victims of oppression, whether it be gender-based violence, political persecution, or systemic discrimination, often find themselves pressured to shoulder the blame for their own victimization. This phenomenon reflects a deeply ingrained culture of victim-blaming, which has persisted throughout history. It insinuates that victims bear some responsibility for their suffering, a notion used to discredit their experiences and silence their voices.

The historical context of the inquisition serves as a poignant example. The Inquisition, established by the Catholic Church during the 5th to the 19th centuries, aimed to enforce religious orthodoxy but resulted in the persecution and suffering of those deemed heretics. Similarly, Gilead’s society wields religious authority to suppress dissent and manipulate personal narratives, particulary evident in Janine’s testimony.

Living in societies where victim- blaming is prevalent takes a toll on the psyche. In Gilead, as in many real-world situations, the widespread victim blaming and insistence on personal culpability for traumatic experiences can erode self- worth, self-esteem, and emotional well being. This reflects a harsh reality where individuals who have experienced trauma must contend with the weight of societal judgment and their own-self blame. In both the fictional world of the novel and the historical context of the Inquisition, we can observe the manipulation of religious institutions and the use of religious narrative to justify persecution and suffering are recurring themes. These instances underscore the importance of safeguarding religious freedom and maintaining the separation of church and state.

Aunt Helena’s role in Janine’s testimony is significant, as she represents a figure of authority within the regime. Her manipulation of religious rhetoric to justify Janine’s suffering evokes historical instances where religious institutions have been used to legitimize oppressive practices. This includes situations in which religious leaders have sanctioned systemic abuse or discrimination, leaving individuals to grapple with the weight of their religion being manipulated to control and oppress them. The response of the other Handmaids, who shift the blame onto Janine during the Testifying event, underscores how the regime fosters a culture of victim-blaming.

This mirrors real-world contexts where victims of sexual assault, abuse, or any form of violence often face scrutiny and blame, contributing to a culture of silence and self-blame. The chanting of “Her fault, her fault” serves as an example of how societies perpetuate harmful stereotypes and narratives that perpetuate abuse and injustice. This offers a poignant commentary on the dangers of intertwining religious authority with oppressive rule. It serves as a stark reminder of how religious institutions, when co-opted by authoritarian powers, can be used to justify persecution and suffering, often at the expense of individual agency and truth. The passage also demonstrates how totalitarian societies can use psychological manipulation, victim-blaming, and religious authority to silence and control individuals who have experienced trauma. This psychological manipulation is a powerful tool for oppressive regimes, as it forces individuals to participate in their own subjugation.

In conclusion, the psychological toll of victim-blaming, as portrayed in “chapter 13” is not confined to the fictional world of Gilead. It reflects a grim reality in real-world historical, religious, and societal contexts, where individuals who have experienced trauma are pressured to internalize blame. The parallels between Janine’s experience and historical instances such as the Inquisition underscore the need to challenge oppressive systems that perpetuate harmful narratives and victimization. “The Handmaid’s Tale” offers compelling commentary on the complex interplay between power, control, and individual resilience in the face of adversity. It serves as a stark reminder of the profound impact of oppressive ideologies on the victims.

Who Would I Have Been? - Readers Response

In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood all of the handmaids are basically prisoners. The only thing that people can’t stop them from doing is remembering their old life, and imagining who they would have been if they weren’t handmaids. “The night is mine, my own time, to do with as I will, as long as I am quiet. The night is my time out. Where should I go?…I would like to believe this is a story I’m telling… if it’s a story I’m telling, then I have control over the ending.” The main character Offred talks about what she did when she was younger with her mom, and remembers the old times with her best friend Moira. Those parts make me think of myself, when I sit at school during lunch or lay in bed trying to fall asleep. I think about my home, Poland. I like to go back to Poland in my head, I like to keep the memories just how they are, remember all the vacations with my parents, my childhood friends and all the things we would do at the park and in our little town. However, at the end, a lot of the times I end the story a different way than it actually happened, so that I feel better about moving here. I just tell myself a story about how coming here was better for me. Tell myself that if I was in Poland I wouldn’t have met all my friends, played sports, and had all the opportunities that I have here. Sometimes deep down I hope I would have hated it more in Poland than I do here, even though deeper down I know I would be happy there. Offred talks about her memories more than actually thinking about how her life would be right now, if everything was still normal; but I still feel like I have a personal connection to Offred, when she mentions having her free time. This connects to when Offred would watch television in the morning, and if there was nothing to watch she would put on “Growing Souls Gospel Hour ” where they told Bible stories for children and sang hymns. “The first time was on television, when I was eight or nine… one of the women was called Serena Joy. She was the lead soprano…the woman sitting in front of me was Serena joy. Or had been, once.” When she was 8, Offred used to watch Serena on television, 25 years later she’s her handmaid; this represents how we never know what will happen next, everything can change overnight; the only thing that will never really change is our ability to make stories, and remember everything that has happened to us before. Serena used to be this big, famous, person, but now she’s a nobody; her life changed out of nowhere, and now she’s doing the same thing to Offred. I used to watch American movies with my parents. I would dream about going to an American high school with a football field and going to games with my friends… but now that I’m actually here, it’s nothing like the movies I watched. “ the things I believe can’t all be true, though one of them must be. But I believe in all of them, all three versions of Luke. Whatever the truth is, I will be ready for it.” This part from Chapter 18 I feel summarizes Offred’s true feelings. She needs to have hope; hope that everything will end soon, she gets to see Luke again and her daughter. She hopes to get to live with them again, cross the border successfully and never have to worry about being taken away from them, and being killed for something that people shouldn’t have to worry about getting killed over. She hopes that she can go outside anytime she wants, go to the store and talk to people, find Moira and tell her everything that has happened to her. She hopes for her “old life” back. The Handmaid’s Tale is a representation of the word hope, and shows the reader that anything can change in life, but the past is never gone, and imagination can make or break a person.

Journal Entry: Give Me An Orange

October 13, 2023

I have this love, hate relationship with the term summer. Summer is the season where you are freed from school. The school doors opened to what I thought was an escape from grinding all those homeworks and tests. When I think of summer, I think about relaxing on my lovely bed— just sitting there doing nothing what-so-ever. I mean, it’s called summer break for a reason, am I right? I could lay in bed and scroll through my phone all day, if it wasn’t for the nagging of my parents, telling me to get my act together. But what I realized was, the more relaxed I was during the summer, the more work I would have to make you later on in the future. Back in middle school, I used to be assigned summer homework. It was a thick package of English and mathematics problems. I remember how I would end up taking the answers given in the back of the package, not even attempting any questions. Here I am now, a high school student who lacks knowledge and test taking skills. Just like the oranges that’s constantly being referred to by Offers—taking the small things in life for granted. The existence of the “orange” became a norm that we tend to think things were always meant to be the way they are. When that norm is gone, we think back and regret how we didn’t cherish the things we took for granted.

In chapter 5 we were first introduced to Offred’s impression on oranges after it wasn’t a privilege anymore: “It will be something, a small achievement, to have made oranges happen.” (pg 25) Ever since Central America lost the war oranges have just been hard to get. I would assume Offred to have something like, “Seize your chance! These oranges are here right in front of you. Take them!” in the back of her mind. Of course, the circumstances have changed. “But I haven’t bought any coupons for oranges.” (pg 25) Even before that, Offred needs to have access to the token that allows her to go outside. Tokens and coupons are what’s keeping her from getting the oranges. Referring back to me, procrastination and lack of motivation is like the token and coupons that prevent Offred from getting the oranges, they’re keeping me from utilizing summer as a chance to grow. As Offred’s story continues to unravel, the term “orange” would be a constant repetition in the book. This term also shows up mostly either when she rambles about her past or when she’s lost in her own thoughts. Not only did she use the phrase orange as a fruit but she also had descriptions of orange juice. In chapter 25, Cora spills the drink because she saw Offred on the floor, her head half way in the cabinet. At first I thought she was worried about Offred thinking she might have been in an accident, but later on says that she thought it was just her clothes and that Offred ran away. The spilled orange juice symbolizes how taken aback Cora was in that moment. She felt betrayal but most of all, disappointed thinking Offred might have left her by herself. The fact that Offred would have a chance to escape just like Moira and didn’t tag her along seems to her was unbearable. Cora later ended with “but it was you” with a sense of relief.

Once you miss the opportunity, will you ever be able to get another one? “To the left, the double doors to the dining room are folded back, and inside I can see the long table, covered with a white cloth and spread with a buffet: ham, cheese, orange— they have oranges!” (pg 116) Being met upon an opportunity, I was introduced to many people and courses that have helped me grow as a scholar. Missing the opportunity to utilize summer as a chance to explore various potentials came more opportunities throughout the school year. Although it is a bit rushed, it’s better late than never! I will squeeze every drop of juice that orange has to offer. At the very least, I don’t want to make regrettable choices of never trying. Just like how Offred would grab an orange or two every time she gets the opportunity to. Give me an orange— give me a chance.

War Conflicted

The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, explores oppression, control, and the struggle for freedom in a society.

There is a specific connection between the novel and the conflict between Israel and Palestine, focusing on the treatment of women and the use of religion for oppression. Both Gilead and the Israeli government are seen as forces, exerting control over the lives of their populations. In Gilead, women are stripped of their rights and treated poorly, while in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Palestinians and Israelis are subjected to crimes against humanity.

In Chapter 6 of The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred and Ofglen are standing by the Wall, looking at the bodies of people whom Gilead has hung. At the end of the chapter, Aunt Lydia tells Offred that what may seem extraordinary now will eventually become ordinary. This highlights the theme of the ability of individuals to adjust to their circumstances, no matter how oppressive or unjust they may be.

Another significant quote from the novel is, “Better never means better for everyone…It always means worse, for some”. This quote emphasizes the inequality and injustice in Gilead’s society, where the privileges and benefits enjoyed by some come at the expense of others.

The Handmaid’s Tale also explores the concept of identity and the ways in which it can be manipulated and controlled. Offred reflects on the loss of her name, which has been replaced by her assigned role as a Handmaid. She realizes that her name holds more meaning than a simple telephone number, and its absence represents a loss of her individuality. The novel also goes into the theme of freedom, with Aunt Lydia stating, “There is more than one kind of freedom. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don’t underrate it”. This quote highlights the oppressive nature of Gilead’s regime, where individuals are stripped of their personal freedoms in the name of societal order and control.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the regime of Gilead uses religion to justify its oppressive policies and control over women’s bodies. Similarly, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has deep religious roots, with both sides claiming historical and religious connections to their origin. This use of religion to justify violence and oppression is common in both narratives, highlighting the dangers of religious extremism.

Despite the situations, both the characters in The Handmaid’s Tale and the people living in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict find ways to resist and maintain hope. In Gilead, Offred’s secret acts of rebellion and her determination to survive serve as a symbol of resistance. Similarly the people of Israel and Palestine, through movements, international solidarity, and the pursuit of peace, demonstrate their resilience and desire for a better future.

The Handmaid’s Tale offers an exploration of power, oppression, and the struggle for freedom. By connecting the novel to the conflict between Israel and Palestine, we can gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of these issues and the importance of empathy, understanding, and the fight for justice in our own world.

Choice in Our Lives

In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood speculates about what a world without choice would look like. Nobody within the world of Gilead has any choice for anything in their lives. The narrator states on page 24 that the reason for this control is that before Gilead, “Women were not protected.” In Offred’s flashbacks about what life was like before, there are many experiences that lots of women in The United States can relate to, like catcalling or someone’s appearance. The fact that Offred is still thinking about all of this shows that none of it is really gone. The main difference between Gilead and society now is that nobody has any choice. They don’t have a choice about their names, their clothes, their diet and other aspects of their day to day life.

The idea of choice is very prominent in The United States right now. Politicians have been debating about it. The media is reporting on it. Ever since states have been granted the power to decide the legality of abortion by The Supreme Court, everyone is hearing the word choice used in this context. It seems like everyone is being put into two categories, are you pro-choice or not? The case Roe V Wade was decided under the right to privacy and the reason given to overturn it was that there was an abuse to judicial authority. However, many are asking whether the government should take away the ability to choose to have an abortion. According to NPR and a poll from Gallup, the majority of adults in the country identify as pro choice, but that is not what policies reflect. The many conversations being had and arguments being thrown out does not change the fact that a major choice to take control of their own life has been taken away from so many people.

Amy Coney Barrett is one of the justices that was for the decision regarding abortion made by The Supreme Court, and because of this opinion, many have speculated about how religious ideals have incorporated themselves into American politics. There is a “tight-knit faith community” based in The United States called The People of Praise. Barrett has never publicly spoken about being part of this group, but some have come out to say she is a member. While according to The New York Times, they are falsely accused of inspiring The Handmaid’s Tale, there are still some connections that can be made about this religious group and Gilead. For example, they agree with traditional gender roles. In Atwood’s novel, women in the house are expected to split up the household jobs. While in The Handmaid’s Tale choice has been completely taken from everyone, members of The People of Praise have a choice to make. Whether they want to marry, or stay single and celibate. Single members often live in houses with other families and help with chores.

Another example of how religion has creeped into other aspects of daily life comes from Dr. Wang, who is a member of The People of Praise. He talked to one of the heads of the community about whether he should prescribe contraceptives to his patients even though it goes against religious teachings, and after this conversation, he decided to not prescribe them since they are against his own personal beliefs. Finally, The People of Praise do not support the LGBTQ+ community, like many others around the world. While it is not specifically said in the book, it is implied that this is also the view of leaders in Gilead. When the main character vividly describes the scene where people are hanged for their crime, she says that some were punished for “Gender Treachery,” on page 43. This term hints at open sexuality or gender identity, which is the opposite of their message.

While this religious group is not doing the same extreme work as the fictitious religious group in Atwood’s speculative fiction novel, they are one example of a publicly talked about topic, when it comes to the idea of choice in society and in American politics. Choice has not been absolutely taken away from all citizens in this country. Everyone can still decide what to do day to day. While some might not think so, small decisions matter, and that is displayed in The Handmaid’s Tale, through many examples, such as not being able to even use their real names. The Handmaid’s Tale shows what society could become if these decisions were taken too far. There is comfort in the fact that the world has not reached that level yet, and leaders in Gilead thought that too because as Offred says on page 25, “We were a society dying… of too much choice.”

Hypnosis

The painting depicts a woman who had just given birth to an egg, a baby. Her gown and expressions beneath represent her upholding and giving her baby away, fulfilling her purpose with the egg. She is unfounded, unplaced, and no longer depressed. By the purpose of the egg’s aura, numerous shrouds of color engulf the mother in a spiral of mind-warping, a mind control. Her mind is no longer as it had warped before creating that egg. Her eyes revolve as the yellow spirals take possession of her pupils, relinquishing her of all pain and observations. She’s become a used puppet.

I used an egg as a personification of mind-warping to comprehend the control of its glory within The Handmaid’s Tale. Offred explains a routine of cooking and respecting eggs. Later perceiving: “I think that this is what God must look like an egg. The moon’s life may not be on the surface, but inside. The egg is glowing now as if it had an energy of its own. To look at the egg gives me intense pleasure.”(C.19) She describes her egg as God. Not only can it be mesmerized for its glory, but it’s also praised, worshiped even — the perplexion of a genuine shift of beliefs. It can almost even be a forced shift of beliefs. She also persuades — “Women used to carry such eggs between their breasts, to incubate them. That would have felt good—the minimalist life. Pleasure is an egg. Blessings that can be counted, on the fingers of one hand. But possibly this is how I am expected to react. If I have an egg, what more can I want?” (19) This deludes as an emotional source to that of the egg’s power. The egg cannot be profound any less from Offred as joy, her everything poured into that one egg. I used that perplexion in my drawing to represent a spiral of yellow in her eyes – obscure blindness to everything else around them except that egg, their child, their savior. Of minimal test, I used that egg to describe her warmth in that drawing. In that painting, trapped around multiple colors–layers of government and unholy controls that have mentally destroyed her will to fight; the woman uses the egg as warmth even in her final sanity.

While that egg can be profound by its omnipotence, its effects cannot last long. The woman holding the egg while bleeding will soon have to let go of it, not knowing why as she can’t comprehend what is happening around her except that egg. Offred then envokes: ” If I have an egg, what more can I want? In reduced circumstances, the desire to live attaches itself to strange objects. I would like a pet: a bird, say, or a cat. A familiar. Anything at all familiar. A rat would do, in a pinch, but there’s no chance of that. This house is too clean. I slice the top off the egg with the spoon, and eat the contents.” (19) Empowering the means of shares.

I used Offred’s quote of action against the woman’s uncontested ownership: the egg will not sooner belong to her. Unwavering confusion, anger, sadness, pain: nerves she can’t feel as she stands forward with the egg. Slowly, the egg could be eaten or forgotten by its fruition. As the egg and even the women, they’ve fulfilled their “purpose”.

Lit Log Period (1)

Reader Response Lit Log

Reflecting on Female Body Image

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a complicated piece of literature. Atwood allows the plot of this story to flow nicely by narrating and using the perspective from Offred, the main character. Writing the novel through first person shows how much impact Offred has on the other women in Gilead. The Handmaid’s Tale focuses on the female gender. Offred has to obey the rules, do her duties, and continue to interact with other humans. There are activities like this I have to complete. I take my time in the shower washing my body, doing my laundry and folding my clothes, and participating in exercise to improve my body.

Throughout the novel, I noticed that Atwood often relies on short and choppy sentences that get right to the point. “ We are containers, it’s only the insides of our body that are important”(96). Ideas of feminism connect with me , as a young adult who identifies as a female. Young females struggle with healthy images of themselves. Often, girls pick on themselves affecting their emotional health. I have been meeting with a therapist. Though therapy is not a highlight of my life, I believe it should be more normalized to attend. I too have insecurities. I have struggled with being comfortable with my body.

smooth skin, delicate limbs, and curves around the body. the beauty standard that girls have been inspired from. Instagram models become popular followed by the public. This isn’t fair to people who are called fat, round, or thick. If the human body is healthy and functioning these variables should not matter.

Offred in Gilead often remembers things from the time before. In Gilead, the Handmaids’ purpose is to bear children: “I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation… I could use it to run, push buttons of one sort or another, make things happen. There were limits, but my body was nevertheless lithe, single, solid, one with me”(73). Actions of the handmaids should at all times be toward getting pregnant. Boobs are examined looking for tenderness, and they are questioned about appetite. I too have body parts that identify me as a woman. I have to go through the monthly process of having a menstruation cycle. I run for frisbee, I walk and take the bus to school, and type on my computer to complete assignments.

I have a sweet tooth. There is barely any candy I won’t eat quickly. I often give into the cravings, stuffing myself with fast food, ice cream, and chocolate. Calories travel to different parts of the body and make them look wider or enlarged—My thighs feel too thick, my chest bigger than others, and my arms dangle. My parents often remark, “Dinah, I’ve noticed you look skinnier recently. Have you been eating lunch?” There are times where school lunches aren’t good. I deny it, I eat outside of school, I look healthy. I want to feel proud , confident, and special in my body. It will come with time and support from my friends, family, and classmates.

Cost of Conversation

Here we can see the two stalls that Offred and Moira would hide in at a specific time so they could talk for a few minutes. This part of the book shows the lengths they must go to for basic interactions. Interactions that we take for granted every day. You can see the damp floors as the building is fairly run down and poorly cared for. This reflects the dystopian world that they live in where every aspect of their lives is a battle they are desperately trying to win. Covered up by cheap paint that has already begun to peel, the stalls have emerging graffiti that predates their arrival in the gymnasium. The singular window rests high up in the corner of the bathroom, bared off like one you would find in a prison, emphasizing the similarity between their situation and that of a prisoner. The bathroom is dimly lit by one small light hanging from the center of the ceiling. The yellow stained urinals not only show the lack of care shown to the restrooms but also the desperation of the situation they’re in. They have so many women in the gymnasium that they have to resort to using both restrooms. Offred and Moira condemn themselves to these rundown bathrooms for the sole goal of having a conversation. They bring their faces close to a hole in the cracking wooden stalls so they can hear each other’s whispers. Speaking softly so that no guard or aunt can hear their prohibited conversation.

A singular light hangs from the ceiling, trying desperately to light up the room while simultaneously symbolizing their conversation. Their life in the gymnasium is inhuman, the darkness in the restroom. Their simple exchange of words is the light they’re holding on to, trying to overpower the darkness that surrounds them. Speaking to each other for a few brief moments is all they have to look forward to. The only aspect of their lives they still have some control over. Every other human interaction is restricted and overseen by the aunts. Guards who strictly enforce the new rules law, which are vastly different from the lives they used to live. Lives that the handmaids are encouraged to forget. 

However, one’s past can never truly be forgotten. The blue paint that covers the previously graffitied stalls is already starting to peel. Revealing the neon pink art that was once the face of the stalls. No matter how hard the paint tries to cover up the graffiti, it will always be there and it will eventually reemerge. Like the laws that predate Giliad, they have not been forgotten. While the new ways of life have covered them up, they will reappear. To Offred her graffiti is Luke, who she believes will find his way back to her no matter the challenges he faces. The run down stalls show that the old ways of life can weather the storm and return despite a few cracks. No matter how strict Giliad is now, people will find their way back to the graffiti. 
Screenshot 2023-10-13 at 3.57.30 PM
Screenshot 2023-10-13 at 3.57.30 PM

Lit Log #1

The inspiration for this artwork comes from the various women on this planet, whether transgender or born female. In my opinion, everyone is important. I think that we all have a purpose other than reproduction. The many hues of the ladies in my artworks symbolize how varied we are yet so similar. We may appear to be similar on the exterior, but it is not who we are on the inside, and what frequently divides us may also bring us together. The holding hands symbolize our solidarity and the necessity to keep together and fight for our rights. They are within the uterus because some men depict us as nothing more than that, but in truth, we are powerful individuals who have worked hard to be where we are today. Only for today’s culture to dismiss us for being who we are and because of our gender.

History does not give any reassurance of what can be done for women; it constantly prioritizes males and children, with women always being the second priority. A good example is on page 46 of Chapter 8 when it says about the commander’s wife, “She doesn’t make speeches anymore. She has become speechless. She stays in her home.” The narrator notices how defeated the commander’s wife appears in comparison to how she appears on television, which leads the reader to wonder if the commander doesn’t care or if it’s a lack of attention. Over time, the notion of what a woman is has faded, and expectations have taken its place.

Woman, as she calls herself: “An adult female human being.” That is the Google definition of the word, but that is not what it genuinely implies. In recent years, the formerly proud title has become a derogatory slur. People expect women to fulfill these roles of the “ideal” women, the kind that cooks, cleans, stays at home to take care of the kids, does everything that a man says… the list can go on and on. In Gilead, it’s no better it’s worse In The Handmaid’s Tale it was ingrained into their head that they have no opinion, respect those above them, and would mean nothing if it were not your ability to have children. “Each month I watch for blood, fearfully, because when it comes, it means failure,” says one character in Chapter 13 on page 73. “I have yet again failed to meet the expectations of others.” I was disturbed after reading this since the narrator hopes she doesn’t have her period every month so she isn’t deemed a “failure.” These Gilead males give the idea to women that they have no authority and solely exist to serve them. Making the reader believe that women have no actual worth. This reminds me of a phrase I saw the other day in an article: “You are worth nothing in human terms.” This phrase was taken from one of the anti-pornography literature that connected with what I was saying. The author was pro-woman and believed that pornography was a tool for males to sexualize and abuse women.

The moral of this artwork is that we can be anything we want to be because we are no longer locked in the old way of thinking and are instead moving ahead to a brighter future in which men and women should be treated equally.

Photo

Aidan simas- The World In Which We Live

Aidan simas- The World In Which We Live

“There are three new bodies on the Wall. One is a priest, still wearing the black cassock. That’s been put on him, for the trial, even though they gave up wearing those years ago, when the sect wars first began; cassocks made them too conspicuous. The two others have purple placards hung around their necks: Gender treachery. Caught together, they must have been, but where? A barracks, a shower? It’s hard to say. The snowman with the red smile is gone.”

This section from the first page of chapter 8 (pg 43) gave me a lot to think about, on a personal level and about the book. The oppressive society in the handmaid’s tale is some sort of religious organization, heavily patriarchal, and very traditional in the way they want society to be. The brutality they put on display as examples of what happens to those who disobey the strict rules they have set is nothing short of what’s expected of a society like Gilead. As someone who values the humanity I see in those around me it seems like the most terrible thing to dehumanize everyone in a society in the name of order. In the way of oppressive societies this is a largely successful one. The goal of reproduction seems to have a clear path and the fact that they’ve become the dominant force seems like they got a lot done in less than 3 years. As a society it’s far from perfect however much “freedom from” they offer. They still need to convince others with brutality to follow them. This is the flaw of regimes. As soon as the people who follow are not fearful they refuse to be governed and end up crumbling. The sins of our current society don’t ever compare to how bad things could be. But how bad they really are is nothing to scoff at either. Gilead was a reaction to something, a harsh one but still valid. If we are to believe that our society is rampant with crime and run by satan worshiping pedophiles, Gilead would only be the natural reaction of those who wanted change.

As someone in this world who is a staunch believer in freedom to rather than freedom from and someone who enjoys every aspect of humanity observing Gilead as some sort of polar opposite to my own views is sort of eye opening. I relate certain aspects to my life though. Hiding things about myself is part of my life as is making mutually beneficial “alliances” with other people. My relationship needs to be hidden from certain people as it’s not a heterosexual relationship. I need to be sure to do favors for people and make others feel good around me so they might help me when I need favors in turn. I’d like to think there are no similarities between my life and the life of Offred but that would be wrong entirely. In fact there is little we don’t have in common. Specifically the wall.

The wall represents an example of those who violated the rules of society. I have this in the form of social media and in the form of the News channel. These mediums both display examples of those who violated the rules of my society and were ridiculed, imprisoned, or worse. The wall has bodies and hooks where social media has people who are “canceled” and those who have been killed or otherwise for their transgressions as well as a healthy dose of propaganda on the side. Another similarity to the Handmaid’s tale in my own life is how much the state spies on us. The government has access to any bit of information they need all they need to do is know it exists. This is less easy even for Gilead who is more controlling over its population. The only thing stopping the government from turning itself into a totalitarian regime is itself and the system of checks and balances. Not to mention international tensions being on the rise, the future uncertain. I don’t know if or when I will be able to be myself in my own society but I know I will defend my right to my individuality and my humanity to my dying breath. How Gilead gives me perspective on the world in which we live is this: We aren’t that far from being unrecognizable from what we are currently. That is all I have to say.