Survival & Language

Test yourself

Themes - Survival

"By telling you anything at all I'm at least believing in you, I believe you're there, I believe you into being."

Storytelling for survival

Offred uses storytelling as an act of survival. She records her memories, feelings, observations and transgressions on the audiotapes in the hope that someone, someday, will hear them and know about her struggle.

Resistance and reconstruction

The reader is told in Chapter 1 that it is forbidden for the Handmaids to speak.
This means Offred's tale is an act of resistance against the regime.
The Historical Notes indicate that Offred recorded her story after her escape, which makes the content and recollections a reconstruction. These recollections have then been reconstructed by the Academics for the Symposium in 2195.

Oppressed woman

Offred's voice is symbolic of defiance and resistance to a totalitarian regime.
Her narrative gives insight into the public and private life of a woman who was physically oppressed by a patriarchal theocratic government.

Offred's self-consciousness

Offred is conscious that her narrative is 'reconstructed'.
- Atwood may be encouraging us to question what a 'true' account of history really is, and encourage us to not just accept as true what we're told.
In her questioning, Offred stays hopeful that there is an alternative version of events which she will find if she keeps on searching.

Quotation about survival

"I would like to believe this is a story I'm telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance. If it's a story I'm telling, then I have control over the ending. Then there will be an ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off."

Themes - Language

The theme of language is key to The Handmaid's Tale. Language helps Offred stay sane in a regime that tries to silence every thought.

Language as power

Language is power, especially for those who can manipulate language to reflect their ideological beliefs.
This means language becomes a tool in the novel to oppress and to liberate people.

Oppression of the Handmaids

The Handmaids can only speak to each other in accepted Biblical phrases ("Blessed be the Fruit"; "Under his eye").
These phrases remind them of their reproductive role and the threat of surveillance/punishment.
They have to listen to Biblical passages read by the Commander/Aunts which reinforce their oppression under the name of God.
They have to listen to the government-owned news channels' propaganda about how successful the Gileadean forces have been in the wars in the former USA.

Offred's satirical use of words

Offred uses language in a very creative and satirical way when recalling moments from her past.
She subverts the patriarchal ideology that influences most language in Gilead.
- "The difference between lie and lay. Lay is always passive. Even men used to say, I'd like to get laid. Though sometimes they said, I'd like to lay her. All this is pure speculation. I don't really know what men used to say. I had only their words for it."

Offred "making" words

When Offred plays Scrabble with the Commander, the reader sees the joy and delight she feels when she is given access to "making" her own words. She is usually completely deprived of any reading material, apart from FAITH embroidered on the cushion in her room.
Atwood uses gustatory (taste) imagery to show how starved of language and intellectual stimulation Offred is:
- "I would like to put them in my mouth...The letter C. Crisp, slightly acid on the tongue, delicious"

Symbolism of Scrabble

Offred makes high scoring symbolic words:
- She spells LARYNX, which refers to the voice box which makes noise in the human throat. Offred may be suggesting that she, as a Handmaid, is voiceless and is limited to what she can say.
- A ZYGOTE is when a sperm and an egg fertilise in the first stages of conception - ironically, the only time Offred and the Commander create a Zygote is on a Scrabble board.

1Author Background

1.1Margaret Atwood

1.1.1Margaret Atwood

2Chapter Summaries

2.1Chapter 1: Night I

2.1.1Chapter 1

2.2Chapters 2-6: Shopping II

2.2.1Chapter 2

2.2.2Chapter 3

2.2.3Chapter 4

2.2.4Chapter 5

2.2.5Chapter 6

2.3Chapter 7: Night II

2.3.1Chapter 7

2.4Chapters 8-12: Waiting Room IV

2.4.1Chapter 8

2.4.2Chapter 9

2.4.3Chapter 10

2.4.4Chapter 11

2.4.5Chapter 12

2.5Chapter 13: Nap V

2.5.1Chapter 13

2.6Chapters 14-17: Household VI

2.6.1Chapter 14

2.6.2Chapter 15

2.6.3Chapter 16

2.6.4Chapter 17

2.7Chapter 18: Night VII

2.7.1Chapter 18

2.8Chapters 19-23: Birth Day VIII

2.8.1Chapter 19

2.8.2Chapter 20

2.8.3Chapter 21

2.8.4Chapter 22

2.8.5Chapter 23

2.9Chapter 24: Night IX

2.9.1Chapter 24

2.10Chapters 25-29: Soul Scrolls X

2.10.1Chapter 25

2.10.2Chapter 26

2.10.3Chapter 27

2.10.4Chapter 28

2.10.5Chapter 29

2.11Chapter 30: Night XI

2.11.1Chapter 30

2.12Chapters 31-39: Jezebel's XII

2.12.1Chapter 31

2.12.2Chapter 32

2.12.3Chapter 33

2.12.4Chapter 34

2.12.5Chapter 35

2.12.6Chapter 36

2.12.7Chapter 37

2.12.8Chapter 38

2.12.9Chapter 39

2.13Chapter 40: Night XIII

2.13.1Chapter 40

2.14Chapters 41-45: Salvaging XIV

2.14.1Chapter 41

2.14.2Chapter 42

2.14.3Chapter 43

2.14.4Chapter 44

2.14.5Chapter 45

2.15Chapter 46: Night XV

2.15.1Chapter 46

2.16Historical Notes

2.16.1Historical Notes

3Dedications & Epigraph

3.1Dedications & Epigraph

3.1.1Dedications

3.1.2Epigraph

4Context

4.1Setting

4.1.1Setting

4.2Literary Context & Genre

4.2.1The Canterbury Tales & The Scarlet Letter

4.2.2Links to Dystopian Fiction

4.3Political Context

4.3.1Berlin & Iran

4.3.2The New Right in America

4.4Historical Context

4.4.1Puritan New England

4.5Parallels: Read World & Gilead

4.5.1The Underground Femaleroad

4.5.2Children of Ham & Soul Scrolls

4.5.3Offred's Tattoo, Salvaging & Illegal Abortions

4.5.4Unwomen, Colonies & Giving Away Offred's Daughter

4.6Religious Context

4.6.1Religious Context

5Narrative Structure & Literary Techniques

5.1Narrative Structure

5.1.1Narrative Structure

5.2Literary Techniques

5.2.1Literary Techniques

5.2.2Colour Symbolism

6Themes & Imagery

6.1Themes

6.1.1Survival & Language

6.1.2The Female Body

6.2Imagery

6.2.1The Garden & Doubles

7Characters

7.1Female Characters

7.1.1Offred & Moira

7.1.2Offred's Mother, Ofglen & Ofwarren

7.1.3Serena Joy & Aunt Lydia

7.2Male Characters

7.2.1The Commander

7.2.2Nick & Luke

8Readings

8.1Readings of The Handmaid's Tale

8.1.1Eco-Criticism

8.1.2Complacency

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