The Handmaid's Tale

Analysis

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale drags the reader through hell with Offred and then doesn’t even have the decency to tell us the ending? That may be the reaction of some people, but the ending is clear. Throughout the whole book, a common theme is death being the only way out for these women, which makes the fact that suicide is so diligently prevented all the more dramatic. If suicide is the only escape and they can’t even do that, then they are literally prisoners of the society.

From the very beginning, it is made clear that killing oneself is not easy to do in Gilead. “They’ve removed anything you could tie a rope to” (Atwood 7). People are so unhappy and desperate in the society that the desire to commit suicide is prevalent. The struggle to discover a possible way to kill oneself makes the success of this feat a triumph for the handmaids. The other women see the death as liberation, and most of them are envious of the woman. Death is seen as a positive accomplishment for a lucky handmaid. This point is extremely emphasized in the book. The last sentence of The Handmaid’s Tale reveals what happens to Offred. “And so I step up, into the darkness within; or else the light” (295). Death is often symbolized by and associated with a bright light. It is evident that Offred steps into the literal darkness of the van, and is brought to her death, which is shown through the diction in the sentence. She is finally going to be free and will finally be happy.

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“But this is wrong, nobody dies from lack of sex. It’s lack of love we die from. There’s nobody here I can love, all the people I could love are dead or elsewhere. Who knows where they are or what their names are now? They might as well be nowhere, as I am for them. I too am a missing person.

From time to time I can see their faces, against the dark, flickering like the images of saints, in old foreign cathedrals, in the light of the drafty candles you would light to pray by, kneeling your forehead against the wooden railing, hoping for an answer. I can conjure them but they are mirages only, they don’t last. Can I be blamed for wanting a real body, to put my arms around?” (103-104)

This except is one of my favorites out of novel. When I started reading The Handmaid’s Tale, I really wasn’t a fan. Once I read the most graphic scene in the book, the ceremony scene of course, I was disgusted and really didn’t want to read on. I strongly disliked the crudeness and raunchy way sex was discussed; for example the “f” word being used to describe what was happening in the scene. I hate whenever anyone uses that word to describe something sexual, because it immediately takes something that can be a beautiful, intimate experience and portrays a vulgar, dirty act, which I now understand is exactly why Margaret Atwood uses the word. In The Handmaid’s Tale, that is exactly what occurring; there certainly is no love or intimacy between Offred and the Commander.

The passage I pulled out is the polar opposite of the ceremony scene, and more accurately explains sex as I feel it should be seen. Here, sex is described as an expression of love between two people. Offred flat out states, “nobody dies from lack of sex.” It is not shallow sex that Offred misses, but the passionate and magnificent love that is present when people have sex for the right reasons. I find this excerpt very refreshing, because it stands as an emotional, pure perception of sex among warped, empty portrayals throughout the book.

            The second paragraph of this passage discusses religion, another theme in The Handmaid’s Tale. Atwood compares Offred’s long lost loved ones to the images of saints flickering in the darkness of an old cathedral. The underlying meaning of this is Offred’s struggle (again) with faith. The mirages that she can conjure, but that never stay are symbolic of her unanswered prayers. She feels alone and yearns for the mirages to stay with her. This yearning is not only for her actual loved ones, but also for the feeling of faith she once knew.

            The last line of the passage, “Can I be blamed for wanting a real body, to put my arms around?” particularly struck me because, firstly, it is so incredibly sad, and second, so true to all people. The rhetorical question could swiftly be answered with a yes, because everyone can understand the desire to be with another person. Offred solemnly proposes this sweet question because she does not have anyone and doesn’t understand why the society cannot seem to understand the craving to deeply connect with a loved one.

“A man is just a woman’s strategy for making other women” (121).

I marked this quote while reading the book. I still laugh to myself when I read it. It’s so clever. No offense boys, but this is just incredibly amusing.

Review

I have gotten over the graphic nature of what we are reading and I actually like the book as a whole. It kept me interested and makes a powerful point through the extremist society. I really enjoyed the way the ending was done, because I preferred that to Atwood simply stating, “Offred died.” The irony of Offred cheating with Luke while he was married before she is forced to be the “other woman” with the Commander is a nice touch to the book. The Handmaid’s Tale is overall an unforgettable book because of the unique content, and an enjoyable book because it is thought provoking.