More handpicked essays just for you.
The handmaid's tale symbolism
Symbolism essay on the handmaid tale
Symbolism of words and books in the handmaids tale
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The dominate and central symbol within the story of “The Handmaid’s Tale” is the color red. It is used widely throughout the entire story and develops the main ideas located around the topic of pregnancy, the handmaid’s, and life and death. One example of this color red is found in the beginning of the story, where it states that “Everything except the wings around my face is read the color blood, which defines us.” (Atwood 8). In this novel, the handmaids always where uniforms that are only the color of a deep red. The interesting part of this color choice, is that the color reed normally stands out but these women are meant to stand out but fade into the background. The red in the case of the handmaid’s uniform is thought to symbolize many
things, but it most likely symbolizes property and pregnancy. A second example of the color red is found while looking at the hung bodies in the town, the cloth over their heads seems to be died red from dried blood and Offred describes the following “I look at the one red smile. The red of the smile is the same as the red of the tulips in Serena Joy’s garden, towards the base of the flowers where they are beginning to heal” (p.33). This red is literally blood, but the comparison of the blood to the flowers In the garden is very interesting. Offred seems to be comparing something as gruesome as death to the lightness of nature and healing in the tulips. In this moment Offred seems to be symbolizing this red with healing in order to ignore the death and despair that it actually stand for within this novel. Overall, throughout the entirety of “The Handmaid’s Tale” red is used a symbol for surprisingly many things, but in the end it ends up symbolizing despair and death.
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
In The Handmaid’s Tale, much use is made of imagery; to enable the reader to create a more detailed mental picture of the novel’s action and also to intensify the emotive language used. In particular, Atwood uses many images involving flowers and plants.
The color red serves as a warning or reminder of the handmaids’ purpose. Red symbolizes blood from birth. Red also serves as warning for bloodbath-death. The handmaids are reminded their duty is to give birth. If they don’t compromise, they will be punished through torture: female mutilation or even death.
In the dystopian novel, "The Handmaid's Tale" written by Margaret Atwood, the color red is a reoccurring, significant symbol throughout the book. The dominant color of the novel, the color red is paired with the Handmaids. The Handmaids are always seen in their red uniform, even down to their red shoes and red gloves. From the opening pages of the novel we are informed that they are trained at the “Red Centre,” and we are introduced to the importance of the red imagery as Offred, the narrator and protagonist of the novel, describes herself getting dressed: “The red gloves are lying on the bed. Everything except the wings around my face is red.” Which reveals to us how the handmaid’s are required to wear all red, representative of the way they are visually defined, and therefore confined within their role in the caste system as sexual servants to their Commanders.
Offred is a handmaid, in the novel The Handmaid’s Tale written by Margaret Atwood, who no longer desired to rebel against the government of Gilead after they separated her from her family. When Offred was taken away from her family the Government of Gilead placed her in an institution known as the Red Center where they trained her along with other women unwillingly to be handmaids. The handmaid’s task was to repopulate the society because of the dramatic decrease in population form lack of childbirth. Handmaids are women who are put into the homes of the commanders who were unable to have kids with their own wives. The Handmaids had very little freedom and were not allowed to do simple tasks by themselves or without supervision like taking baths or going to the store. There was an uprising against the government of Gilead and many people who lived in this society including some handmaids looked for a way to escape to get their freedom back which was taken away from them and to reunited with their families which they lost contact with. Offred was one of the handmaids who was against the government of Gilead before she was put in the Red Center, but she joined the uprising after she became a
As you read through the handmaid’s tale you see the relationships of the characters develop and the fight for power, however small that glimpse of power may be. The images of power can be seen through out the novel, but there are major parts that stand out to the reader from the aunt’s in the training centre to the secret meetings between the Commander and Offred.
The Gilead Society has segregated women into different caste systems. There are six main categories in the caste system. The first are the Wives, who wear blue dresses and are at the top of the female hierarchy. Their main purpose is reproduce with their husbands, if they are unable then Handmaids are used. Then there are Daughters, either the natural or adopted children of the ruling class. They tend to wear white until marriage. The next are the Handmaids, fertile women whose sole purpose is to reproduce children for the wives. Handmaids wear a full red dress outfit with red gloves, red shoes, and...
The ability to create life is an amazing thing but being forced to have children for strangers is not so amazing. Offred is a handmaid, handmaid's have children for government officials, such as Commander Waterford. Offred used to be married to Luke and together they had a daughter but then everything changed; Offred was separated from her family and assigned to a family as their handmaid. 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 change.
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...
Cora’s unpleasant reaction towards Offred, when she arrives at their home, represents how other classes automatically feel superior over Handmaids. When Offred walks in, she instantly is judged after she sees Cora “frowning...[Cora] tears out three tokens and hands them to [Offred]. [Cora’s] face might be kindly if she would smile. But, the frown isn’t personal: it’s the red dress she disapproves of, and what it stands for” (Atwood, 10). The tokens given to Offred symbolize the oppression of Handmaids throughout Gilead, since these women are handed money with no value. Granted, that the tokens have no worth outside of the imperialized area, this shows how women like Offred are looked at worthlessly. Handing out tokens instead of real money demonstrates how the government does not trust Handmaids; they believe these women will use legitimate money to escape Gilead, or rebel by accessing black market goods. With Handmaids associated with reproductive organs, and thought of as vessels for this process, the women wear red to exploit their societal intentions. Being that the color red symbolizes impregnation, it displays the advantage Handmaid’s attain over resentful women in society; this advantage is ironic due to the fact that higher classes in Gilead look down on Handmaids even though...
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.
Aunt Lydia illustrates the white wings (head covering) as a privilege instead of imprisonment. If all handmaids, wives, and marthas wear the exact same modest clothing, gives an idea of group identity and self identity is not needed. Handmaids wear the color red. Red is commonly known for being the color of passion, something handmaids must never know. Modesty also plays a major role in fashion. Modest does not allow temptation, and
In the Society of Gilead, people within a common distinction or group dress the same. The clothing that is worn by this particular group of people represents a status. Once you have been assigned a role, it is near impossible to change it. The role includes your position and your duties in the society. With this being set in stone the freedom has been taken away, essentially, forever. The roles of women are primarily based upon their ability to conceive. Women can be categorized as Handmaid’s Marthas, Wives, Aunts, and Econowives. The categorization of these women determines their social status, therefore determining their colour classifications. The colours chosen for women throughout the novel vary from red, light green, light blue, stripes of the three, and light brown. The similarity between these colours is that fact that they are all light. The light colours group women as one, but the individual colours completely separate them. Outfits of the women are light in colour to be interpreted as a lacking sign of power and stripping of rights. Everything for the women i...
In the book The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood presents the idea of altering old documents and presenting it with new text to enforce the idea of a past society, a change; palimpsests. This shows the current society Offred lives in was not to far from the past. Offred often compares the past to the present and the fact the timespan between the two was only a couple years yet are so different presents the idea of a new start, a second chance. This current society shows the intermission between two different lifestyles. The current lifestyle Offred lives is impacted by the transition from a free society to a patriarchal society. This is shown by using old buildings and locations and altering them so they fit the new society. One example is the building the Offred first lived; her high school. In the first line of the first page of the book, the reader is given a glimpse of the past, “We slept in what had once been the gymnasium [...] I thought I could smell, faintly like an afterimage, the pungent scent of sweat, shot through with the sweet taint of chewing gum and perfume from the watching girls” (Atwood 3). Here, this
The narrator is a handmaid, so she had to wear red. Red can represent love and passion, even power. In this case, the color red for the handmaids is merely represented as fertility. The main character didn’t quite like the idea of the dress code. Powerless and without a say in the way she should dress, she thought red was not as bad for her skin color.