The Thoughts of Offred in the Passage in The Handmaids Tale, a Novel by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale Commentary
In The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood depicts a dystopian society where the government not only exerts its power over people's actions, but also attempts to regulate people's thoughts. In Gilead, any form of defiance is putting one's life at risk. In this passage, Offred expresses her own thoughts under the disguise of explaining the significance of the dead bodies hanging on the Wall. The passage starts with Offred describing one of her daily shopping trips with her partner Ofglen. The bodies are of doctors who have performed abortions in the pre-Gilead society. They "are like war criminals," men who "have committed atrocities and must be made into examples, for the rest" (1-3).
Although Offred seems to be objectively stating these 'facts', Atwood subtly weaves Offred's true thoughts into the sentences. This is seen as she comments on how the government's method of warning people against abortion is "hardly needed" (3). Children are rare in the current society and are treated as precious treasures. No woman would even think of having an abortion because being pregnant is a blessing and is viewed as an honor by the whole of society. By logical sense, it is pointless to execute, or 'salvage,' doctors during a time when abortions were legal, but according to Offred, "it's no excuse" and that "their crimes are retroactive" (1-2). This sentence now seems mocking as Offred implies that the government is just acting mindlessly.
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Executing the ex-doctors would not bring the aborted fetuses back to life. Viewed from a different perspective, Offred's words can be interpreted as defiant and even mocking. In the next section of the passage, Offred's own thoughts are more prominent than before. It is implied that she is slowly starting to become less cautious and restrictive of the amount of information she is revealing to the reader. She says that she is "supposed to feel... hatred and scorn," but she doesn't (6). She also contradicts herself when she tells the reader that what she feels is "blankness" and that she "must not feel," yet at the same time what she feels is "partly relief" (9-10). At this point, Offred is in conflict with what she should say and what she wants to say. The reason for this is that in the Gileadean society, having personal thoughts is considered a crime. Offred is 'not allowed to long for the past, but she does just that when she uses a metaphor to compare the ex-doctors with "time travelers, anachronisms" who have "come here from the past" and when she thinks of her missing husband, Luke (7-8).
Offred commits another 'crime' by being selfish when she expresses relief thar Luke is not a doctor and is safe. Selfishness is an innate trait of human beings, but yet Gilead is all about being selfless and sacrificing oneself for the benefit of the country. In the last paragraph of the extract, Atwood finally lets Offred's speak her unfiltered thoughts in her own voice. In stark contrast to the previous sections, this section has more refined language as Atwood uses a variety of imagery, metaphors, and especially irony. Offred compares the blood stain on one of the white bags covering the heads of the hanged to a red smile. This is ironic because death is not something to be smiling about. Smiles represent happiness and innocence, unlike the dead bodies that are constant reminders of what the government can do to people who disobey the law. Offred then goes on to draw similarities between the red smile and the red tulips that grow in Serena Joy's garden, but later she negates it all. Even though "the red is the same... there is no connection" (13). This presents the idea that in order for Offred to survive in this backwards society, she must be able to make distinctions in what she sees because if she starts to draw comparisons, everything will be muddled together and she will eventually lose her sanity. "The tulips are not tulips of blood, the red smiles are not flowers" (14). Each thing is separate just like how "the tulip is not a reason for disbelief in the hanged man, or vice versa" (15).
As the passage develops. Offred's thoughts become more and more entwined with her independent emotions as the Wall reveals an underlying inseparability between the two. Throughout this extract, Atwood slowly exposes more of Offred's own thoughts and feelings and less of what she has "been told" by the government (1). This is a monumental decision because by putting her thoughts into permanently recorded words, Offred is putting herself in danger in case this book (or cassette tapes, as it is later revealed) were to ever get into the hands of the government. This passage shows hope and perseverance in retaining one's identity even in difficult times.
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The Thoughts of Offred in the Passage in The Handmaids Tale, a Novel by Margaret Atwood. (2023, Apr 16). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/the-thoughts-of-offred-in-the-passage-in-the-handmaids-tale-a-novel-by-margaret-atwood/
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