How Does Offred Use Imagery In The Handmaid's Tale

In The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred’s account and detailed descriptions of a mélange of settings within the Commander’s house and the different events that occur there highlight her struggle between succumbing to Gilead’s forceful system and upholding her identity. Throughout her recollection, Offred uses symbolism and yonic imagery throughout the Commander’s abode to highlight the subtle, yet oppressive standards— an addition to the harsh rules and brutal punishments already publicly displayed in Gileadean society. Furthermore, she utilizes rhetorical devices, such as diction and sexual imagery, to identify her relationship between her own power and Serena Joy’s.
Offred first refers to Serena Joy’s garden as “the domain of the Commander’s Wife,”

a rare place where a female has power in Gilead (12). However, gardening— typically considered a feminine activity— actually constrain women despite giving them control as they “direct and point” within their yard (12). Though the gardens give the women something “to order and maintain and care for,” its true purpose is to instead reinforce gender stereotypes (12). Serena Joy is forced to accept her traditional female role, as she tends to her garden in a submissive position: kneeling her “knees on a cushion” (12). Serena Joy accepts her role begrudgingly and utilizes it as an outlet for her resentment of a Handmaid’s presence in her household. She also uses gardening to remind Offred of the ultimate control she has over the Handmaid’s fertility. The red “tulips” from the Garden mirror the “red” Handmaids directly (12). To further emphasize the parallel between the tulips and Handmaids, Offred describes the the tulips as a “darker crimson towards the stem,” a reference to a Handmaid’s fertility; a woman on her menstrual cycle, which is associated with blood, has the capability to become pregnant (12). Additionally, the “damp” and “humid” environment of the garden and the worms that appear as “flexible and pink...lips” is clearly associated with yonic and sexual imagery (17). Specifically, these descriptions relate to vaginal lubrication and its significant increase during ovulation and sexual arousal, two extremes in Gileadean society. The symbolism acts as a reminder to uphold her role and to not succumb to other distractions. Additionally, Serena’s disdain for the Handmaid’s fertility is seen when Offred finds her “snipping off the seed pods” and “cutting” the tulips in a “convulsive,” violent manner (153). The animosity against the “red” tulips is further seen when Offred compares to “blitzkrieg” and “kamikaze” on the “swelling genitalia of the flower,” not only quotes reproduction-related diction, but also emphasizes her hatred for the Handmaid’s fertility (153). Though Serena Joy is forced into accepting her role, her garden allows her to exercise her limited power and control Offred’s fertility through symbolism; Offred, on the other hand, is abused and reminded of her impotence.
The sitting room is a unique location within the Commander’s house as it acts as a battleground for power between Offred and Serena Joy. The sitting room is “supposed to be Serena Joy’s territory” and from the moment they met, the sitting room has greatly defined the power dynamics between them (86). Offred describes the room with a vast amount of “money” and splendor acquired throughout the years (79). From the “dusk-rose velvet of the drawn drapes” to the “Chinese rug on the floor, with it’s peaches pink peonies,” there is obvious power mixed with forced feminine imagery in the sitting room (79-80). Offred notes Serena Joy’s taste as a “strange blend” mixed with “hard lust for quality” and “soft sentimental cravings” (80). Though Serena attempts to uphold the feminine archetype she had promoted with yonic imagery consisting of “fading daffodils” and her flower-based “perfume: Lily of the Valley,” she craves to exercise her power and does so in the sitting room (80). In their first interaction, Serena smokes “decisively” to prove her power despite being a female; cigarettes are “forbidden” and she dangles the illegal substance in front of Offred to reinforce her authority (16, 14). However, despite her apparent superiority, she feels threatened by Offred. This notion is first seen when Serena Joy is exercising her power and ordering Offred to sit down, she briefly allows “her face” to be on the same “level” as Offred’s (15). As the novel progresses, their power dynamics fluctuate. For example, prior to the ceremony, Offred is pressured to “kneel” and gives herself up as “a piece of furniture” while others sit, or even stand (79). However, Offred challenges her submissive position when later entering the sitting room without permission. She desires to “steal something” and decides to take “a magic flower,” specifically “a withered daffodil” (98). By choosing to steal a “withered” flower, Offred not only disobeys Serena Joy, but also regains control through taking flower that is no longer fertile— a symbol of Serena (98). Offred finds the flower by “grop[ing]” and “feel[ing]” (98). Her diction has a sexual connotation and suggests a physical intrusion on Serena Joy. The events that occur in the sitting room, most directly shows the impact of Offred on Serena and visa versa. Even though the sitting room is supposedly Serena Joy’s territory, she and Offred struggle for power as they each feed off of the other’s weakness.
Throughout the novel, Offred’s room reveals her most intimate thoughts and allows us to see her inner identity progress as she balances her past and the present she lives in.

The descriptions within Offred’s room often parallel with herself and her beliefs. Of the various settings in the Commander’s house, Offred first introduces her room by naming various furniture in the room with simple nouns: “a chair, a table, a lamp” (7). Her emphasis on a singular noun reflects on her role in the Commander’s household; she is a Handmaid, a role that is looked down upon and viewed equal to a “container” (96). To further implement an repressive environment, her room is surrounded with archetypal feminine imagery such as “a print of flower, blue irises, [and] watercolor” (7). These “allowed” “flowers” use yonic imagery to suggest the “traditional values” and roles a Handmaid should believe and take on (7). Furthermore, these flowers constantly surround Offred as they encourage fertility since a crucial part of the Handmaid’s role is to conceive a healthy infant. Offred’s room also acts as a battlefield for her internal thoughts as she balances her own past mirrored within the room with her current suffocating surroundings. Offred’s possession of her room or the lack of often fluctuates, mirroring her oscillating power in Gilead. For example, near the beginning of the novel, Offred acknowledges her bedroom as “the room— not my room,” but later transitions to calling it “my room,” a space

that she “claim[s] as [hers]” (8, 50). This variation is mirrored in her own internal thoughts and physical actions. Internally, she transitions between keeping her “thought[s]… rationed” to claiming her thoughts through using possessive words such as “mine,” “own,” and “will” (8, 37). She also develops some agency over her own body when she chooses to “lie,” not lay, since “lay is always passive” (37). Another instance when Offred has more control is when she steals a bit of butter and “rub[s] the butter over [her] face, work[ing] it into the skin” (96). Not only does her small theft have a rebellious streak to it, she desires to “look attractive,” a quality highly frowned upon in Gileadean society to the point where the Wives declared an “absence of hand lotion” for all Handmaids (96). To contrast Offred’s rebellious nature, there are various examples that highlight Offred’s submission to Gilead’s standards. In one specific moment, her room acts as a connection to the past and Offred uncovers the layers “under the wallpaper” and “top coat of paint” and finds “stains on the mattress,” the leftover remnants of “old love” (51-52). When Offred refers to them as “dried flower petals,” she demonstrates the impact Gilead can have on a person’s beliefs. By describing the flowers as “dried” and correlating them with “old love,” Offred herself suggests that romance is perishable and sex should be used solely for procreation— a belief that drives the role of Handmaids in Gilead (52). Overall, Offred’s room emphasizes the two opposing sides in her internal struggle to find her identity and values in an oppressive environment.
Though Offred’s bathroom makes very few appearances throughout the novel, the setting has a significant impact on our understanding of Offred’s struggle with Gilead.

The bathroom originally acts as a place for Offred to cleanse herself physically and mentally, but gradually reveals how Gilead has gradually integrated itself into her values. Offred considers the bath to be a “luxury” as she “feel[s]” herself “again, with [her] hands” (62). This description, along with calling the bathwater “soft as hands,” implies sexual imagery through self pleasure. Prurient behavior is highly frowned upon and by suggesting these self imposed actions, Offred is deliberately violating the standards of Handmaids in society. However, Offred’s self indulgence stops shortly as her “nakedness” becomes “strange to [her]” (63). She recalls placing her body “on display” in the past and now views her past self as “shameful, immodest” (63). This acknowledgment clearly shows the presence of Gilead’s ideals within her. Furthermore, the bathroom encourages infiltration of Gilead through decorating the wall in “small blue flowers, forget-me-nots,” “blue bath mat, [and] a blue fake-fur cover on the toilet seat” (62). There is a deliberate choice to surround the Offred’s bathroom in blue, the signature color of Serena Joy, so that Offred constantly feels as if she is being watched. This also mirrors the function of the “Eyes” who act as spies and implement fear throughout Gileadean society. This

overwhelming presence does not allow complete privacy and though Offred decides “to pull the plug” in the bathtub and return to her “red” attire herself, she feels pressured into that decision (65). Also, “pull[ing] the plug” refers to turning off someone's life-support system and ultimately results in death (65). When Offred decides to remove herself from the bathtub and redress herself in her Handmaid uniform, she is terminating her past self and becomes more accepting of her current role.
Throughout The Handmaid’s Tale, the events that occur within different settings in Commander’s house highlight Offred’s struggle with succumbing to Gilead and Serena Joy’s superiority over her. Gilead uses the tensions between the different female roles to ensure stability and implementation of their values. The “red” tulip and the “blue iris” battle one other for the “fertility of the soil,” which blinds them to ignore Gilead’s true intention— control over everyone, disregardless of the color.