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Handmaid's tale colour symbolism
The dystopian tradition in the handmaids tale
The dystopian tradition in the handmaids tale
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Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale paints a picture of the United States’ future. The nation has shifted into a religiously focused patriarchy with a low birth rate. The pressure to reproduce creates a harsh, rule-bound environment. The clothing, in particular, becomes very symbolic to the people in the Republic of Gilead. In modern day America, hospitals use colors to symbolize gender of newborns but Atwood’s future takes it a step further to say that the color of women’s dresses and men’s uniforms differentiate their designated roles. Although clothes have had meanings connected to class and occupation, this form of gendered clothing assignment creates the most difficulties. In 1986, Atwood tapped into the reality that when humans are restricted by their clothes, they become ashamed of …show more content…
Young girls are being taught at that other people the final say in clothing choices and that clothing transform them into sexual beings. In The Handmaid’s Tale, the leaders of Gilead assign simplified, color-coded uniforms for women to prevent any hypersexualization like in the time before. Offred describes the various specific outfits of each kind of woman. For the handmaids, “Everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood, which defines us. The skirt is ankle-length, full, gathered to a flat yoke that extends over the breasts, the sleeves are full. The white wings too are prescribed issue; they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen” (Atwood 8). Her impression of her garb shows how rigid the rules around wardrobe are. It is an interesting paradox that the wings frame her face but she is not to be seen so in addition, she wears a veil over her face. This makes her lose her
Margaret Atwood is famous for many things. She is a poet, novelist, story writer, essayist, and an environmental activist. Her books are usually bestsellers and have received high praises in the United States, Europe, and her native country, Canada. She has also received many Literary awards, like the Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the two Governor General’s Awards (“Margaret Atwood” Poetry). Through her books, she has written about what she sees in society towards women. She discusses how gender equality was corrupted in the past, but still is far from being reached, and women’s roles in society (“Spotty-handed”). Atwood also takes events in her life; like the Great Depression, Communism, and World War II; and applies it to her works. Margaret Atwood's works, including her novel The Handmaid's Tale, reflects women’s fight in equality, how society determines
The women are divided into functions and are identified by the colour of their dress. In chapter 5, Offred is walking down the streets of Gilead, reminiscing about the days she used to walk down the street wearing what she wanted to wear before she got taken away, and also thought about simple things such as how she was able to freely walk to the laundromat to wash her own clothes with her own soap. She informs the reader of her analysis of the different types of women in the Republic of Gilead: “There are other women with baskets, some in red, some in the dull green of the Martha's, some in the striped dresses, red and blue and green and cheap and skimp, that mark the women of the poorer men. Econowives, they're called. These women are not divided into functions. They have to do everything; if they can.” (Atwood, 5.5) The Handmaid’s— the bearer of children— wear red, the Martha’s, who are the housekeepers wear green, and the wives wear blue. Econ Wives are the only women who aren’t defined by the colour of their dress because they must do every function. Atwood is showing that the individuality and identities of these women have been completely taken away and are labelled by the clothing they are forced to
Red is worn only by the handmaids; the color red indicates sexuality, fertility and childbirth, accordingly outlining their function as a sexual object; their sole purpose being to bear children for their Commanders. One of the most reoccurring symbols throughout the novel, red is interrelated with all things female (the Handmaids.) Inversely, red is furthermore a symbol of death, violence and blood, which Offred portrays as a color which “defines us.” The reoccurring appearance of the color red creates a thought-provoking parallel between femininity and power, as it signifies the religious “sinfulness” of promiscuous sex between the handmaid’s and their “married” commander.
Offred, among other women depicted in this novel, tries to overcome this dominion. In her own way, she attempts to do this by ensuring the Commander’s expectations of her behavior which could result in her freedom. Thus, there is a present power struggle between the Commander and Offred throughout The Handmaid’s
The Handmaids are controlled by their large red dresses and eye blinders on their hat. The Daughters wear white to show their purity, the Wives with their home restrictions. The Commanders are controlled by their obligations. Every person working, and living in Gilead has some sort of restriction placed on them. Offred is a Handmaid, who is thought of as the most and least important people in the caste system; "they rank among the most powerful female agents of the patriarchal order."
Imagine if you can, living in a world that tells you what you are to wear, where to live, as well as your position and value to society. In Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale, she shows us the Republic of Gilead does just that. Offred, the main character, is a Handmaid, whose usefulness is her ovaries. Handmaids are ordered to live in a house with a Commander, his wife, and once a month attempt to become pregnant by the Commander. Throughout Atwood's novel, you will notice she uses different colors for her characters clothing that correspond to their position and place in the Republic of Gilead. They become aware of people's statuses by the color of their garments. The colors of dress that have been used are red, blue, green, white, black, and khaki. Going into detail, I will show the social rank that each color represents in the novel, and my interpretation of them. The Handmaids are the only ones wearing red dresses, and several references are made towards the comparison of blood. "When Offred is in the room, which she refuses to call her own, she hears the bell to signal her time to go to the market. Getting up she puts on her red shoes and her red gloves, all the while thinking, everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood, which defines us. The dress she wears is also red, being ankle-length as well as long sleeve. The only item she wears that isn't red is the white wings around her face to keep her from seeing, as well as from being seen. Leaving the room, she walks down the hall, and heads for the stairs. She knows there is a mirror on the hall wall. If she turns her head so that the white wings framing her face direc...
In Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaids Tale’, we hear a transcribed account of one womans posting ‘Offred’ in the Republic of Gilead. A society based around Biblical philosophies as a way to validate inhumane state practises. In a society of declining birth rates, fertile women are chosen to become Handmaids, walking incubators, whose role in life is to reproduce for barren wives of commanders. Older women, gay men, and barren Handmaids are sent to the colonies to clean toxic waste.
... pre-Gilead, and is miserable within the society; this unhappiness is due to the fact that she is oppressed, does not have freedom, and cannot feel real love. The phrase wrapping is also symbolic, since it affiliates with the idea of a wrapped present; describing her organ like a red wrapped present establishes how Offred’s only goal is to become pregnant, avoid miscarriage, and carry on her job as a Handmaid. Plus, describing her body part within wrapping connotes the nastiness of men; Offred and other women believe men only desire sexual satisfaction. With hierarchical figures in Gilead forcing Handmaids to wear concealing red dresses, this expresses how these women are isolated by higher class citizens who reinforce that a Handmaid’s job is only to procreate, and exaggerate the importance of pleasure-less reproduction.
In the novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, The main character of the story are classified by the title of “Handmaids”. A “Handmaid” is a fertile female who bares the right to reproduce for a wife. They are separated away from the rest and dressed differently so they can be identified. A “Handmaid” must wear all red, dress and gloves, with the exception of their white wigs. The Handmaid breaks the rule of freedom and women rights. In this text the women have no say so to what they want or need they have to go by life according to their title.
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.
Another way the women in The Handmaid’s Tale are unequal to men is in dress. In modern society it is normal to think of clothing as a way to express our personality and individuality. What you wear helps others know who you are. In the novel, the main character Offred grew up in a westernized world –freedoms like self expression and speech- but it was taken away from her when she became a handmaid.
The Handmaid's Tale presents an extreme example of sexism and misogyny by featuring the complete objectification of women in the society of Gilead. Yet by also highlighting the mistreatment of women in the cultures that precede and follow the Gileadean era, Margaret Atwood is suggesting that sexism and misogyny are deeply embedded in any society and that serious and deliberate attention must be given to these forms of discrimination in order to eliminate them.
Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, the author Margaret Atwood gives the reader an understanding of what life would be like in a theocratic society that controls women’s lives. The narrator, Offred gives the reader her perspective on the many injustices she faces as a handmaid. Offred is a woman who lived before this society was established and when she undergoes the transition to her new status she has a hard time coping with the new laws she must follow. There are many laws in this government that degrade women and give men the authority of each household. All women are placed in each household for a reason and if they do not follow their duties they are sent away or killed. Atwood bases the irrational laws in the Gilead republic on the many
As The Handmaid’s Tale is considered an allegory of the social injustice women face against traditional expectations of their role in society, the symbolism of the Handmaids and other women as a whole for repressed feminine liberty and sexuality allows Atwood to connect her work to the theme between gender and expectations in her society. As Handmaids in the Republic of Gilead, females are stripped of their previous identity and are defined as a tool of reproduction for the men who is assigned them. At its core, these females are forced against their will to be mere tools, experiencing unwanted sex at least once a month, which Gilead names “The Ceremony”, hiding its true nature as a form of rape. Offred
The Handmaid’s Tale shows a dystopian society in which men have a certain role in society. Those at the top of the hierarchy, like the Commander, support the current order of society, while Nick, a common man, questions his role. The Handmaid’s Tale portrays masculinity as a dominant and hyper-sexualized trait.