Lit Log #2

I drew a picture of the Polaroid of Offred’s daughter, that Serena Joy shows her. I chose to write this because I think when Offred saw this picture it was a turning point in the story. When Offred sees this picture she can tell her daughter has forgotten her, “A shadow of a shadow, as dead mothers become. You can see it in her eyes: I am not there.” (Pg. 228) Before this point Offred has often lived in her memories, of herself and her daughter, her mother, Luke, and Moira. She was given no closure, and has no idea what happened to her family so she is able to create different realities in her head and live inside of those memories. When Offred sees this photo of her daughter, and realizes that she has been forgotten, in her mind she has nothing more to live for. The tone of her narration changes after this moment. She seems like a shell of herself, and begins to take risks she wouldn’t have previously done. The way she tells her story is like she’s removed herself from it. Removed her emotions, memories, and care. Before this moment Offred had little bits of hope. She dreamed of the day when she might reunite with Luke and her daughter. Or lived in the past when they were still with her. When she loses this hope, like many people, she loses her sense of self. Within the drawing I used primarily red paint, and left Offred’s daughter’s face blank. Throughout the story a main theme I noticed the author using was the mention of the color red. In more obvious cases this is the color of the handmaid’s clothes. But the author includes smaller references to the color throughout. Like how Offred describes the summer heat as “red radiation.” I think the author includes this term to show how the color red signifies the discomfort and danger, ever so present around the handmaids. I used mostly the color red in my drawing to represent similar feelings, and to show how prevalent the color is throughout the book. I left Offred’s daughter’s face blank because although Offred often recounts memories of her daughter, she never describes what she looks like. I think this is because it would be too painful for Offred to really think about what she lost, so she keeps these feelings of mystery around her daughter to shield herself from pain. Serena Joy shows Offred this picture as a part of a bribe to get Offred to conceive a child with Nick instead of the Commander. As I was reading I wondered if Serena Joy knew that when Offred saw this picture she would be driven to take more risks, as the thing she was living for, her daughter, had moved on without her. I also wondered if Serena Joy knew the pain she caused Offred by showing her this picture. And by extension, if she did this on purpose because of the disdain she seemed to hold for handmaids throughout the entire story. I think that showing Offred the picture did more harm than good, and served as a major turning point in this story.