The Handmaid's Prayer

Offred while saying her prayers uses The Lord’s Prayer but has her own insights through the prayer. The Aunts would teach the girls a prayer of supplication requesting to be fertile and bear children. Even after all of their time at the Center, both Ofglen and Offred admitted to each other that they are not true believers. “She lets out her breath, in a long sigh of relief. We have crossed the invisible line together. ‘Neither do I,’ she says.” (168.) Even though they don’t think that God really hears their prayers and can save them from this society, Offred continues to pray as she was taught. She both asks things of God while giving the reader information about her emotions. “You might even provide a Heaven for them. We need You for that. Hell we can make for ourselves.” (195.) She humbly prays for the protection of those she knows. Possibly Luke, her daughter, her mother, and others she cares about that are suffering.

Offred prays as though it is simply a habit but elaborates on how these main ideas are affected and shown in her life. “Now we come to forgiveness…Temptation comes next…Then there’s Kingdom, power, and glory.” (195.) She seems to list them as though she does this very often but gives it a spin with her emotions. She is reminded of the lessons the Aunts taught them about being tempted in this new world where there are so many rules. The Aunts convinced them that the less they knew the better off they would be. Offred has learned so much through gossip and now her time with the Commander and states, “The Fall was a fall from innocence to knowledge.” (195.) When sin came into the world, it was Adam and Eve wanting to be in the same position as God in their power. Offred is learning more about the ongoings, gaining knowledge and with that comes power.

Offred’s suicidal thoughts and confusion about life are also introduced more in depth during her prayer. “All you’d have to do, after attaching yourself, would be to lean your weight forward and not fight.” (195.) She has thought about this and acknowledged it before believing that she would be better off dead than here knowing that suicide is something very frowned upon yet somewhat common for the handmaid’s. Offred does not seem to believe the words that are in the prayer and is countering them with the struggles she is faced with in this society. “Oh God. It’s no joke. Oh God oh God. How can I keep on living?” (195.) She specifies how the society is living in has brought her to believe death would be a better option.

Offred’s difficulty with faith is brought to light and the reader is faced with considering the two sides. “I feel very unreal, talking to You like this. I feel as if I’m talking to a wall. I wish You’d answer. I feel so alone.” (195.) Offred talks about the doubts and questions that follow being a believer of a certain faith. Especially when there are so many problems in the world she is in it makes it harder to believe in something you can not see. People today are continuously struggling with believing God is real due to so many things. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says “we walk by faith, not by sight.” This is always a hard thing to accept because it sounds easy but in reality learning to follow a religion where you are only able to rely on that faith is challenging.

Despite Offred’s challenges with her faith and the Aunts religious teachings, she seems to believe in some higher power and that there truly is a God. “I don’t believe for an instant that what’s going on out there is what You meant.” (194.) The reader is not given a background on Offred’s religious beliefs before changes to the society were made, but saying this implies she knows God is good and has a plan. “If I were You I’d be fed up. I’d really be sick of it. I guess that’s the difference between us.” (195.) She acknowledges God’s higher power and the difference between a sinner and God. Offred also prays, “You must feel pretty ripped off. I guess it’s not the first time.” (195.) The reader could relate this to a myriad of things that are going on in Gilead. She is being almost apathetic towards God about the conflicts found in Gilead. Romans 5:12 says “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Offred believes that the sinful actions have happened before because she knows that she is in a sinful world. Compiling so much into one prayer that was already incredibly intricate, Offred gives the reader more insight on her true beliefs.