Offred is a handmaid, in the novel The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood, who no longer desired to rebel against the government of Gilead after they separated her from her family. When Offred was taken away from her family the Government of Gilead placed her in an institution known as the Red Center where they trained her along with other women unwillingly to be handmaids. The handmaid’s task was to repopulate the society because of the dramatic decrease in population form lack of childbirth. Handmaids are women who are put into the homes of the commanders who were unable to have kids with their own wives. The Handmaids had very little freedom and were not allowed to do simple tasks by themselves or without supervision like taking baths or going to the store. There was an uprising against the government of Gilead and many people who lived in this society including some handmaids looked for a way to escape to get their freedom back which was taken away from them and to reunited with their families which they lost contact with. Offred was one of the handmaids who was against the government of Gilead before she was put in the Red Center, but she joined the uprising after she became a …show more content…
Serena Joy did this when told Offred that she wanted her to have sexual relation with Nick because she was questioning whether or not her husband could actually get Offred pregnant. After the first night she met up with Nick she continuously went back to his room without anyone knowing. Offred was able to feel the same way she had once felt with her husband Luke. She felt as if she were no longer alone in the life she did not ask for. Nick was able to allow Offred to get over Luke and be more appreciative of their relationship and it helped influence her new mindset about the society, “I no longer want to leave, escapee, cross the border to freedom. I want to be here, with Nick”.
Offred is one of the Handmaid’s in the Republic of Gilead. This used to be known as the United States of America but now it is Gilead, a theocratic state. Because of an issue that occurred, women lost all of their money and rights. Handmaid’s were then assigned to higher class couples that were unable to have children, that was the new job for the Handmaid’s. Offred was assigned to the Commander and Serena Joy, his wife. Offred was once married to a man named Luke and they had a baby girl together. When this issue started occurring and Offred lost her rights, her, Luke and their daughter tried to escape to Canada but were caught. Offred has not seen Luke or her daughter since that incident. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the most unorthodox characters are Offred, Serena Joy, and The Commander.
In The Handmaid 's Tale by Margaret Atwood, readers are introduced to Offred, who is a handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. As this novel is
The story The Handmaid’s Tale reveals the presence of manipulation of power the reason being is because the caste system holds a lot of power to control other minorities. The other thing is the story has a lot feminism. Mainly, the women were mistreated and put into different categories of the caste system. Women would teach each other what they had to do and be together through everything. For instance, Moria is the narrator in which she decides to run away with Luke. Luke which is Moria’s husband decided to take their daughter somewhere else to change her lifestyle. Overall trying to escape went horrible in which they were separated them from each other. In which sadly Moria was made into a handmaid who had to be emotionalist and have
In the The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood identifies Offred’s Mother as a secondary character who is to be pushed aside and mentioned very briefly throughout the novel. Atwood does not even give her a name, and therefore we must acknowledge her as “Offred’s Mother.” Offred is a rebellious character and she is unknowingly but actively using language to revolt against Gilead in the thing that she is writing. Offred’s mother was a protester in pre-Gilead times. We also learn the significance of Offred’s relationship with Offred’s mother. Offred did not get along with her mother, and since Offred’s mom was a feminist and actively protested for women's rights she had no time for Offred. Ironically enough, Gilead shows that women are important but in the wrong way. Gilead objectifies women as only having one purpose and one purpose only, to reproduce. Women are guarded and taken out of harms way but that is as far as Gilead goes. Men are of real importance in Gilead because they need to “fight the war.” Offred’s mother embodied everything that Gilead condemns. Women are “safe” but have no freedom. Gilead is a reaction to the Women's Movement. The significance of Offred’s mother as a secondary character is her distant relationship with Offred and the way we relate to Offred’s mother while looking through the lense of Gilead. A key piece to keep in mind is that Atwood, the author of the novel was an activist and feminist herself and Offred’s mother is a way for Atwood to assess the women’s movement in her time era and the possible outcomes.
For example, the section Birth Day introduces the Commander and Offred's start of a relationship, though "it's forbidden for us to be alone," said Offred (Atwood 136). This shows an important event that has changed Offred from an ordinary handmaid, into a women who could be sent to the Colonies for breaking the rules because her presence with the Commander is illegal. Another example is from the section Jezebel's, where Offred is talking about love to the Commander, where he believes "arranged marriages have always worked out just as well, if not better" (Atwood 220). She learns that the Commander has no real feelings for her, where is was just an act. She now knows there were no real feelings involved with the relations they had. The sections show important events which changed Offred's perception of
Feminism as we know it began in the mid 1960's as the Women's Liberation Movement. Among its chief tenants is the idea of women's empowerment, the idea that women are capable of doing and should be allowed to do anything men can do. Feminists believe that neither sex is naturally superior. They stand behind the idea that women are inherently just as strong and intelligent as the so-called stronger sex. Many writers have taken up the cause of feminism in their work. One of the most well known writers to deal with feminist themes is Margaret Atwood. Her work is clearly influenced by the movement and many literary critics, as well as Atwood herself, have identified her as a feminist writer. However, one of Atwood's most successful books, The Handmaid's Tale, stands in stark contrast to the ideas of feminism. In fact, the female characters in the novel are portrayed in such a way that they directly conflict with the idea of women's empowerment.
In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, social turmoil after a staged terrorist attack has led to a totalitarian Christian regime. In this dystopian future, the roles of men and women are much different than in today’s society. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women are unequal because they have no choice about their bodies, their dress, or their relationships.
The Handmaids Tale is a story that sets in the near future of the Republic of Gilead---a
Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaids Tale belongs to the genre of anti-utopian (dystopian) science fiction where we read about a woman's fictive autobiography of a nightmarish United States at the end of the twentieth century when democratic institutions have been violently overthrown and replaced by the new fundamentalist republic of Gilead. In the novel the majority of the population are suppressed by using a "Bible-based" religion as an excuse for the suppression. How does this work and why can the girls, the so called Handmaids, be considered the victims of society? Also, in what way does Gilead use biblical allusions? That is some of the questions this essay will give answers for.
Abraham Maslow was a psychologist who created a pyramid that outlined a hierarchy of human needs. According to him, people will become more motivated when one of their deficiency needs is unmet. Therefore, the longer someone goes without meeting one of these needs, the stronger their desire will be to get the need fulfilled. A few of these basic needs are individuality, love, and expression. When a person is deprived of one or more of these needs, he or she will not be able to reach the top of the pyramid, which means being aware of one’s fullest potential. In The Handmaid’s Tale, the human need for individuality is shown when Offred refuses to share her real name in order to protect her old identity, for love when Offred continuously sneaks
In The Handmaids Tale, Gilead the dystopian state is the reason for all of misery and misuse of power. In the book, the narrator Offred explains how Gilead came to be. Gilead was created because of low birth rates, the mass killing of the congress and the president, and pollution from radioactivity and toxic waste. From there, social classes were created to determine each role of people in the society. The Handmaids are used to make babies of the Commanders, while the Wives are underneath the Handmaid, and the action of sexual intercourse takes place. The Commanders are the men that are high in ranking of Gilead, and their Wives are considered to be sterile, and this is where the use of Handmaids come in. The narrator Offred is a Handmaid and she explains how she feels “erased” and how she is powerless and becomes suicidal. During pre-Gilead, the rights of women were abolished, and given to the closest family male member. This is where Offred feels powerless because her husband Luke wanted to make love that night the law was passed for women, but she refu...
Before entering the homes of those they would work for, the Handmaids were trained to be inferior to others. The Aunts taught the Handmaids what to and not to do. Along with those power-draining lessons, the Handmaids were taught to be inferior to men. For example, one of the Handmaids recalls a story from her past about being raped by several men at once. The Aunts tell the Handmaid and her fellow associates that she is at fault because she led the guys on. The Aunts want the Handmaids to believe that they deserve the pain they have experienced and will experience in life (Atwood 72). In a way, they were making the Handmaids accustomed to ridicule and preparing them for the possible harsh conditions that they were soon going to enter. By leading the Handmaids to believe that they are always at fault, the Aunts are stripping them of their dignity and
this story the reader gets insight to what it was like for women during this time period. women only had two choices in this time of history women could only marry men that the family would choice for them or they could be nun most of the time the men that were picked out for them were not ideal choice in the eyes of the girl. the men that were often picked were of welth or high status also when these girls were getting married they would be extremly young.this can be compared to some parts of the world current day in most parts of the world we are able to marry who he fall in love with not who are parnets want us to be in love with because of there status. the second option is women were allowed to become nuns and live there life serving for
Offred from The Handmaid's Tale uses different tactics to cope with her situation. She is trapped within a distopian society comprised of a community riddled by despair. Though she is not physically tortured, the overwhelming and ridiculously powerful government mentally enslaves her. Offred lives in a horrific society, which prevents her from being freed. Essentially, the government enslaves her because she is a female and she is fertile. Offred memories about the way life used to be with her husband, Luke, her daughter, and her best friend Moira provides her with temporary relief from her binding situation. Also, Offred befriends the Commander's aide, Nick. Offred longs to be with her husband and she feels that she can find his love by being with Nick. She risks her life several times just to be with Nick. Feeling loved by Nick gives her a window of hope in her otherwise miserable life.
Offred is one of the main characters in The Handmaid's Tale. She was the faithful wife of Luke, mother of an eleven month old child and a working woman, before she entered the Republic of Gilead. She was given the name "Offred", when she entered Gilead. This was to make it known that she was a handmaid. Offred becomes psychologically programmed in Gilead as a handmaid, and the mistress of the commander who is in power of all things. She was used for her ovaries to reproduce a child, because they are living in an age where birth rates are declining. Offred was ordered by Serena Joy, the handmaid's barren wife who develops some jealousy and envy towards her to become the lover of Nick. Nick is the family chauffeur, and Offred becomes deeply in love with him. At the end of all the confusion, mixed emotions, jealousy, envy and chaos towards her, she escapes the Republic of Gilead. Offred is given treatment and advantages by the commander that none of the there handmaids are given. During the times the commander and Offred were seeing each other secretly, he began to develop some feelings for her that he tried to hide. Somewhere along the times when Offred and the commander began having secret meetings with each other, Offred too began to develop some feelings for the commander. Offred is also a special handmaid, because she has actually experienced love, the satisfaction of having a child years before. She knows what it is to feel loved, to be in love and to have someone love you. That is all when she has knowledge, a job, a family and money of her own. That is when her life was complete. Because all of that has been taken away from...