Examples Of Individuality In The Handmaid's Tale

Damon Climer
Ms. Milliner
EES21QH03
10/18/16
Handmaid’s Tale and Individuality

Language, the way we speak and in what situations, is what gives us individuality, even if we’re from the same country. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, we’re presented with a character who’s supposed to be stripped of her individuality in order to serve her purpose with her only way of coping with the world her being the way she uses language to keep herself composed. This is highlighted by the world Atwood crafts around our main character Offred, a world devoid of any actual human interaction and and communication and actively frowns upon and punishes its people for ever thinking they could.
It has been made clear time and time again throughout the narrative

that any form of intimacy, protest, and the like will be punished by the powers that be if spotted. The verbal aspect of language has been stripped away from the women in Gilead except for pleasantries such as, “Yes ma’am,” or, “No ma’am.” However, Atwood hints that this is not the only form that language can take on when words will not work. On many occasions body language will be a substitute for any verbal responses the characters may have, and are often subtle enough to go unnoticed by the system. One such example is when Offred teases a pair of guardians on page twenty two after leaving the Commander’s Compound. She knows full well that the Guardians are tasked with being professional during their posts and that any physical action made towards their fellow man (or woman) is against the law, which is why she sways her hips ever so slightly as she makes her exit. “I enjoy the power; power of a dog bone, passive but there.” Offred knows that these men aren’t robots and will not simply ignore their urges, even if they have to take care of said urges in private. Another example is Offred’s interaction with Serena joy during the Ceremony, where the rings on Serena’s hands are said to cut into Offred’s fingers. This grip can communicate anything from discomfort to downright anger, and yet it remains as subtle as a sway of the hips. It is in this way, through the subtleties of body language, that language itself can continue to exist and thrive in a world where self expression and individuality are a sin.
But in a system that oppresses any sort of free thought or action, how does one use language, any at all, to keep themselves grounded and free?

They retreat to the safety of their minds. Throughout the book, Atwood portrays Offred as a cerebral woman who expresses herself more often than not in her head, the one place nobody can put a restriction on. It doesn’t matter what order she is given. Man cannot speak their mind when or wherever they please at all times, such as the workplace, school, or in this case, anywhere at all. But for somebody to speak their mind, they have to have their own understanding of the world around them, even if they can’t say it out loud. And in nearly every case imaginable, Offred is only allowed the freedom to speak her mind to herself. That’s just how she lives. That’s just how she

copes.
Free thought and her use of language in general is what keeps Offred going throughout the entire novel.

Constantly, Offred has been telling herself that one day maybe her husband Luke will turn up and she can go back to the way things were before the war. Constantly, Offred has been reminded herself of what it’s like to want something for herself and her own sake like stealing butter as a replacement for lotion, or taking something as petty as a flower. Most important of all, Offred has repeated a phrase in entirely different language time and time again, “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.” It wasn’t until the Commander translated into “Don’t let the bastards grind you down,” that she actually understood what it meant. Yet up until that point and well after, Offred has repeated it word for word in latin as if it were some sort of prayer or a ray of hope that she could cling onto. Her grasp of language and using it to describe everything around her isn’t just a way to make her seem individual or special from those around her, if it was she’d be long gone. Telling her story, repeating that phrase over and over again, describing what she sees and experiences, those things are all she has left to get her through the her time as a Handmaid. When her family has been stripped away from her and contact with other people is limited, language is all Offred really has left to keep herself busy, to keep herself occupied between the long stretches of silence. Language is the only thing

keeping her from being broken by the system.
Language isn’t as simple as what a person says or what country they’re from, it defines who they, what they’ve experienced, and what they’ve learned. Even when erased by some higher power, it’s what keeps us grounded and true to ourselves. Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a reminder that no matter what you’ve gone through or what you have yet to face that if you can speak or only do so much as wiggle your hips, then you can keep a small piece of what makes you your own person.