The Dark Room

In Margaret Atwood’s novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the term “Red Center” refers to a facility where women are trained and indoctrinated to become Handmaids in the Republic of Gilead. Gilead is a society in which a regime has overthrown the United States government. The regime is based on a strict interpretation of religious texts and enforces an overall rule where women have very limited rights and are assigned specific roles. We can see this in the first chapter of the book when the women are limited to talking to one another and will do anything to break the system. I drew this drawing since I wanted to capture the overall aspect of being trapped in a loop and the setting that I drew consists of the gym the reader gets introduced to and all the beds that take up the space. This space was once a gym for students and since the beds take up the space it no longer looks like a gym but more like a prison. The eye on the wall symbolizes the overall people in power that are above the handmaids that watch over them.The red dots leading away from the bed are footsteps of the main character trying to be different and leaving this so called loop. When I drew this I wanted to get the whole setting in the final aspect so i used shading by my hands and also other paper. This shading aspect makes the room look dark and sucludede which the reader can find out about early on in the book that the gym is dark and gloomy. When drawing the red dots I wanted to make the whole art piece black and white so that the eye and the red dots(footprints) stood out towards the people who saw it. The place in the book is a training facility for the Handmaids, women who are valued only for their fertility. Women are subjected to intense indoctrination, both physical and psychological. They are trained to accept their roles as Handmaids, stripped of their previous identities, names, and personal possessions. This ideal form the book is shown in my art since everyone has the same bed and is stuck in the same room that could be called a prison.This place symbolizes the systematic dehumanization and control of women in the society of Gilead. It illustrates the harsh methods the regime employs to suppress any form of dissent and maintain control over women’s bodies and reproductive capabilities. The experiences that these handmaids go through serve as a traumatic foundation for them, shaping their submission and compliance with the oppressive regime.