Offred's Synthesis Essay

In Stillman and Johnson's article, they refer heavily to the fact that maintaining a sense of self in the troubling times of Gilead is the best way to resist. Many of the characters achieve this but Offred does not as she is lost in her selfish world of neutrality and inaction. In part one of the article, they discuss Offred's character. The authors write that she is "savvy about how to live under the constraints of Gilead. She recognizes the social and power relations and conflicts that impinge upon her life" (72). Offred is like this because she is very analytical when she observes everything around her and she has to be in a society like the one of Gilead. In part two, they talk about repression and identity. Gilead is a place where primarily

women were deprived of their rights to converse, to write, to learn, to read, and to form meaningful relationships. They were stripped down to only their reproductive organs. A few women chose to resist this and formed a rebel faction while others chose to embrace it.

Offred was different because she chose neither so she remained neutral. Offred internalized the rules of Gilead and in doing so she began to lose herself and she tried to preserve it by hanging on to her past identity. She says that "the expectations of other have become [her] own" (Atwood 95). In part three, they talk about resistance and complicity. Offred doesn't clearly or actively resist to the system. She instead does minor things like making eye contact with the guardsmen or swaying her hips. It's something so subtle and further supports the fact that Offred only defines herself by her body and not her identity because she no longer has it. In the article they use the example of another handmaid, Moira. She attempts an escape but is unfortunately caught and is brought to a Jezebel, which is another term for whorehouse. Even in such a disheartening situation where hope is taken from her she keeps her humor, her identity. "Anyway, look at it this way: it's not so bad, there's lots of women around. Butch paradise, you might call it" (Atwood 249). Offred, on the other hand, slowly lost her identity as she never garnered enough interest to

resist. She says "I don't want her to be like me. Give in, go along, save her skin" (Atwood 249). This quote also supports the authors topic of part four, which is about the complicity of ignoring. In this part, Offred's neutrality is more touched upon by Stillman and Johnson. They picked up on how Offred is actually quite selfish and only interested in her own survival. Before the forming of Gilead and during the vents that lead up to it, Offred refused to partake in any of the violent protests and believed that the problem was a personal one. The authors of the article state that "she [lacked] a consciousness of the constraints imposed upon her by society" and that she "mocked such awareness in both her mother and her best friend, Moira" (78). Offred has a repeated behavior of not acting and just accepting whatever happens to her. This is a very self-absorbed and passive behavior which further distinguishes her neutrality.