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Conformity is something we are all very familiar with. We all conform to the world around us even if it may not be the most pleasant thing for us. Offred in the Handmaids Tale is no exception. Margaret Atwood Uses Offred conforming outwardly while questioning inwardly to highlight the theme of oppression and secrecy in the handmaid's tale. Offred must conform to the society she lives in, the men around her and her duties as a handmaid. All three of these of these topics highlight the theme of oppression and
Throughout the book Offred and Ofglen appear to be conforming outwardly while questioning the world around them in secrecy. Both Offred and Ofglen are used by Atwood to highlight the oppression of the world they are in. In chapter
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twenty-seven Ofglen commits treason by asking Offred "Do you think god really listens?" In Gilead it is direct treason for anyone to question the government and world around them. Atwood uses their inability to speak freely in their society to build the readers perception of how oppressed they are. In the Handmaids Tale Offred and Ofglen are often exchange illegal information in plain sight to avoid any suspicion that they are not conforming to the world around them. Ofglen is aware that they are the safest when they appear to be conforming to their world, while they are in the shop that prints prayers, she says, "You're always safest out of doors, no mikes, and why would they put one here?" This quote demonstrates that they must hide their secrecy in plain sight. The fact that they can't risk appearing to question Gilead shows how fearful they are of the forces that keep them oppressed in their society. Even when Offred and Ofglen are alone they can't risk the possibility of someone hearing their illegal conversations. In chapter 27 when they both are completely alone Offred tells the reader "There's no one near, we can speak more freely, but out of habit we keep our voices low." This tells the reader that they both have a fear of speaking freely in any circumstance because if they appear like they are not conforming, the consequences can be extreme and even deadly. Offred and Ofglen's extreme fear of getting caught highlights not only how oppressed they are that they feel that they must conform even when nobody's around, but it always alludes to the extreme forces that keep the handmaids conforming to the misogynistic and oppressive society that is Gilead. Although Offred must conform to the rules of the society around her she must also conform to the rules and whims of the high-ranking men around her.
Throughout the book she sees the commander in his office which is forbidden to women. However, Offred is aware that she cannot say know to the commander because he is a high-ranking man is Gilead's society. She tells the reader that "to refuse to see him could be worse. There's no doubt about who holds the real power." This quote shows how she must conform to the commander even though it would be in her best interest to refuse to see him. During her visits to the Commanders office, he will sometimes request that Offred play scrabble with him. Offred knows she shouldn’t play scrabble with him, she tells the reader, "Now it's forbidden, for us. Now its dangerous. Now its indecent." She also portrays scrabble as sort of a forbidden fruit saying, "It's as if he offered me drugs." This portrayal of the game scrabble really highlights how oppressed Offred is. She cannot enjoy simple games or have any sort of pressure. Offred is not allowed to refuse the commander so she must conform to him even if he's asking her to do something illegal because she has next to no rights. These meeting also greatly contribute to the theme of secrecy. Before Offred can enter the office, she must check to see what Nick is doing and how he is wearing his hat to see if she has the signal to go ahead. This also allows the reader to have a dire sense of …show more content…
just how crucial it is that she appears to be conforming to the outside world even though she can't because the commander wants her to conform to him. Even through the way the scenes are described it is very clear that the commander holds tremendous power over Offred, "I'm sitting in the commander's office, across from him at his next, in the client position, as if I'm a bank customer negotiating a hefty loan." This description of how the office is arranged is a very subtle way of reinforcing the fact that the commander is in control and she must conform to his whims. The way she describes herself in a client in a bank office negotiating a hefty loan displays how little control she has over the situation she's gotten herself into. It is very clear she must conform to the commander which reinforces how oppressed Offred is in her world and how secretive she must be. In the Handmaid's Tale, Offred must conform not only to men but she also must conform her duties as a handmaid. Handmaids are the most oppressed group in Gilead's society. They are required to conform to the strict rules that are set for them. One of best examples of how heavily the handmaids are oppressed is how they are blamed for men's actions even if they are the victim in that situation. When they are training the Handmaids, they are required to confess a tragedy to the group, When Janine goes up to confess they blame her for her rape, "But whose fault was it? Aunt Helena says, holding up one plump finger. Her fault her fault her fault, we chant in unison. Who led them on? Aunt Helena beams, pleased with us. She did. She did. She did. Why did god allow such a terrible thing to happen?
Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson."
This text blatantly makes it clear to the reader that handmaids are expected to conform to the society in the sense that women are responsible for all of men's faults regardless of how the men treat them. Janine eventually ends up conforming to the rules of Gilead, "it was my fault she, she says. I led them on. I deserved the pain." This quote of her conforming just shows how the handmaids are so heavily oppressed that they feel that they must take responsibility for the faults of others even when it harms them. The handmaids accusing the rape of being her fault know it's wrong to blame Janine, however they know that they need to harass her to survive in the world they are in. Offred tells us, "We meant it. Which is the bad part. I used to think well of myself. I didn’t then." This idea that the handmaids must tear each other down to conform to the world they are in really develops the fact that they are in a society where they are so oppressed that they can't express how they really feel even if it is harmful to someone else. This also contributes to the theme of secrecy because handmaids must keep their true thoughts and feelings hidden. Handmaids are also required to engage in mating rituals with their commanders and their wives regardless if they consent or not. Offred describes this ritual as neither rape or making love, it is just something she must bear.
However, she makes it perfectly transparent that it is an unpleasant experience for her and even describes to commander as smelling like mothballs. It is very clear that she is desensitized to the state statutory rape she must endure. The fact that she is not utterly repulsed by the ritual is perhaps more unsettling than if she was loathing every second of the experience. It paints a picture of how oppressed Offred is that she has become almost indifferent to the horrific acts she must endure to survive. This type of conformity the handmaids must display puts the theme of oppression and secrecy on center stage in the Handmaids Tale. In conclusion, the Handmaids tale uses Offred conforming outwardly while questioning inwardly to highlight the theme of oppression and secrecy. Offred must appear to conform to the world around her to the point where she cannot freely interact with her peers, Offred must conform to men despite it being against her best interest to do so, and cannot say anything about it, and Offred must conform to her duties as a handmaid while keeping her true thoughts and feelings hidden.
In the novel offred and others in that time was going through hardships, struggles and challenges.
The threat of physical abuse is huge. Being woman is enough of a crime, but “any crime can result in an execution and a public hanging on ‘The Wall’” (Cameron 3). A woman can be hung for just about anything. If they defy the people in charge they can get hurt. The women are constantly abused. The Gilead government is in charge of what goes on in this society. If a woman has an affair with a different man they are taken and possibly tortured or hung. The Red Center, which is where they were taught how to be Handmaid’s, the women were constantly tortured. They had Aunts that looked over them. These aunts were not nice and, “they had electric cattle prods slung on thongs from their leather belts” (Thomas 91). The aunt’s view was all that was needed was the Handmaid’s baby making parts. The women did not need their feet, hands, or any part other than the torso. When the woman did something wrong or tried to run away th...
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.
She shows us that there are possibilities for Offred. The reason why Margaret Atwood chooses to continuously show the positive and subdued attitude of Offred, is to show the reader that in Gilead there are ways out and ways of breaking the laws however, there are also ways in which Gilead represses you and its up to the individual in this society to choose whether not to take the risks. The Jezebel sequence on the whole is highly significant to the novel. We many different insights into Gilead in jezebels in contrast to the rest of the novel, which makes it one of the most important sections in the novel of “The Handmaids Tale”.
There are two possible events that can occur with Offred's arrest and readers have the ability to open the book to new possibilities. If Offred is arrested, she will likely be tried for treason and killed. However, if she escapes into freedom, she will have a new lifestyle away from Gilead. She is different from Winston as she only wants to survive and survives because of her memories of her past Conclusion:
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 Handmaid’s tale is a story in which throughout the text, the readers witness the events that occurred in Offred’s life in the past or the present. However, for this reason, there is uncertainty that the narrator is telling the truth. “If it 's a story I 'm telling, then I have control over the ending...But if it 's a story, even in my head, I must be telling it to someone. You don 't tell a story only to yourself. There 's always someone else. Even when there is no one.” (Atwood 39-40) This quotation is significant because the readers know that the irony of her telling that this is a story is evident that she has control because the reader is limited to the knowledge of the narrator. Overall, The Handmaid’s tale focuses on many topics, but the main idea of the story is that the actions of what society does, foreshadows their future. When there is no one to lean on after the physically present superior model is gone, people will learn to turn to and have faith in an unseen
Before the war handmaids had their own lives, families, and jobs but that’s all gone now; They have all been separated from their families and assigned to A Commander and his wife to have their child. Handmaids did not choose this life but it was forced upon them. The society which Offred is forced to live in shaped her in many ways. In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood uses cultural and geographical surroundings to shape Offred's psychological and moral traits as she tries to survive the society that she is forced to live, in hopes that she can rebel and make
Fear is power. Fear is ever-present in Gilead; it is implemented through violence and force. It is through fear that the regime controls the Gileadian society. There is no way Offred, or the other Handmaids can avoid it. The dead bodies hanging on the wall are a relentless reminder of what rebellion and conflict result in. The abuse of power is also present in chapter fifteen after Moira attempts to escape, she is taken to the old science lab and has her feet beaten with steel frayed wires and is then left on her bed, ‘’Moira lay on her bed as an example.’’ (pg. 102 ) She is an example of what rebellion results in. Therefore, creating fear in the other Handmaids to prevent them from rebelling.
Women were purely defined by the men who had complete control over them. In the novel Offred had some control, by keeping her name to herself which maintained a little bit of her independence. As soon as people saw her they knew she was a handmaid, but as soon as people heard her name they knew exactly who her commander was, and from there on only thought of her as belonging to Frederick. Their name affects how themselves and others viewed them which Offred seems to notice when she says this, “I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former name, remind myself of what I could once do, how other saw me” (Atwood 111). She states here that when she had her other name she was a completely different person, her other name gave her the power to be herself, but as soon as her name changed so did she. She also says
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.
This is the way Atwood gets across her feelings about the future world that Offred lives in. She forms a close relationship with the reader and the character, and then shows the reader Offred’s feelings about different aspects of the world. This is not to say that everyone reading the book will get the exact same thing from it.
Similarly to Montag, reading provides Offred with a sense of rebellion and acts as a way to fight against conformity, as women are not allowed to read. The Latin phrase which is carved into her closet symbolises inner resistance to Gilead, allowing her to feel as though she can communicate with the woman who engraved the message; even more so does it make Offred rebellious, when the meaning of the phrase is revealed to be “Don’t
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