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One thing that resonates with me a lot from The Handmaid’s Tale is the societal treatment of women. It resembles my mom’s culture a lot and reminds me of my family’s experience that has become normalized to them. My mom is from a republic of Russia that’s called Chechnya, which is entirely muslim. The way the entire culture works is that men work, while women: stay home, have a bunch of children, and cook and clean all day. Chechen women’s value is based on being a servant; an object. It’s also very common for Chechens to have arranged marriages, and more crudely, men can ‘claim’ a woman on the street just by touching them.

Chapter 34 really hit home with me because of the Prayvaganza’s similarities to my culture’s idea of marriage. Chechen culture isn’t quite as extreme as a mass marriage ceremony but there are still arranged marriages for practically children. Offred refers to Gilead’s philosophy on marrying off 14 year olds “Start them soon is the policy, there’s not a moment to be lost” (pg. 219). Most of my relatives were married by age 16-19, including my mom in her first marriage. ‘There is not a moment to be lost’ because they want them to be the most physically viable for pregnancy; their worth is based on how useful they are to their husbands. Just like how Offred describes the Prayvaganza’s matches, it’s also extremely common for young girls to get married off to grown men in Chechnya. It’s the same in both Gilead and Chechnya. This chapter especially resonated with me because I witnessed how this affected my cousin, whose father married her off when she was 18 to a man she’d never met before. This was a really hard time for her and everyone else in my family. Even though it was her life, my cousin had no say in the matter, and no one else in my family could do anything because that’s how the patriarchy in Chechnya works. “they’ll always have been silent” (219) Those girls getting married in the Prayvaganza knew they were powerless in that situation, resulting in their silence, similarly to my cousin. Women in both societies often don’t get a choice in their future.

My cousin thankfully was able to get divorced after a few months of being trapped in a loveless marriage, which angered her father. My cousin’s punishment for her decision to get divorced was her father never speaking to her again, which was 6 years ago now. Which reminds me of page 220 “Love, said Aunt Lydia with distaste. Don’t let me catch you at it. No mooning and June-ing around here, girls. Wagging her finger at us. Love is not the point.” I guess that was my uncle’s mentality - ‘love’ just doesn’t matter. But just like in Gilead where people are trapped in loveless marriages, the same thing happens to many women in my culture.

Another thing about Gilead’s objectification of women that reminds me of Chechen culture is their requirements about women’s clothing. Just like the different roles for women in Gilead, all Chechen women are forced to not only cover up, but they can only wear skirts/dresses. Only in the past few years when I have gone to visit my mom’s side of the family for the summer I’ve been subjected to this rule. It feels really dehumanizing, having to dress and act a certain way just to not get judged by my own family. Six weeks out of the year I live how a Chechen woman does, which means most of the days I’m taking care of children, constantly cleaning, and rarely get a chance to just sit down. Frankly, I love my family, but it’s incredibly exhausting. And having to wear a skirt through a full day of non-stop physical labor I really relate to how Offred feels having to wear a warm dress in hot weather. Honestly it has ruined skirts/dresses for me. Often I feel like I physically cannot dress similarly to how I would during the summer, I just get a reminder of being treated like a servant. Chechens are taught that women who wear pants draw more unwanted attention to their body from men. Essentially, taught the same as how Offred and other girls in the Red Center are taught about dressing modestly. “The spectacles women used to make of themselves. Oiling themselves like roast meat on a spit, and bare backs and shoulders, on the street, in public, and legs, not even stockings on them, no wonder those things used to happen.”(pg. 55) When one of my cousins first explained to me how pants were forbidden because they drew attention from men, I heard all the same things. Two cultures that believe in victim blaming. Just like the Red Center brainwashing Handmaids, it really feels like my relatives are completely brainwashed.

To many Americans, The Handmaid’s Tale is just a dystopian novel. However, in my experience with my own culture, there are women all around the world who can relate to a lot of how Gilead treats women.

I get intrigued when the author speaks about intimacy and sex. I think there is a lot to say about how our society deals with sex and intimacy versus the Republic of Gilead.

The Republic of Gilead tends to denounce sex and intimacy. “That was a part of it, the sex was too easy. Anyone could just buy it. There was nothing to work for. Nothing to fight for” [page 210]. I somewhat agree with this. I wonder if sex is meant to be sacred. I think this idea could be influenced by religious belief that once ruled the US. Personally, I think sex is whatever you make of it. I don’t like to say it is easy to have sex, I think sex is more accessible because more people are willing to talk about it now. It is less taboo now due to our generation. The age of sex seems to go lower and lower because of media influence. It used to be upwards of 20 and now it can be ranging from 15+. I don’t have a problem with it though, it is just interesting to notice what caused the age of interest. As long as it is consensual and legal, I am indifferent about age or age gap during sex.

Throughout the whole book, there is a bad connotation about sex. There are no feelings involved but in a bad way. People agree with friends with benefits and that is a destructive relationship people choose to put themselves in. In Gilead, it is not an agreement. There is no choice. There are no feelings attached to your decision on sex. “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”[page103]. Love is a connection. I think love can be interpreted in different ways since there are many ways to show someone you love them. I think connection is something humans crave so I can understand why Offred is going insane. Especially since she was torn from her relationship with Luke. She definitely longs for feeling. The feeling to be needed and being something to someone. I would probably go insane as well. As an introvert, I need a lot of validation from myself and people I really care about. The reassurance aspect of a relationship knowing someone is present in your life gives your stability. Offred does not have stability in her life. I believe that is why she thinks about Moria and Luke often. She is holding on to the stability she used to have.

I was gasping while reading this section. In. Literal. Shock. It was so casual before and then boom. “Women kneeling, sucking penises or guns, women tied up or chained or with dog collars around their necks, women hanging from trees, or upside-down, naked, with their legs held apart, women being raped, beaten up, killed.”[page 118]. How is this even allowed?! I think porn is unrealistic and especially the example Aunt Lydia gives. The extremities of certain topics instill fear. It is true but unrealistic on a general scale. I do understand how porn creates unrealistic standards for couples. Porn makes sex more difficult with fake scenes and noises. It is overly dramatized and if you don’t fit a certain way of doing sex, then you’re bad at sex. I also think hookup culture could be one of the reasons why Gilead exists. People frown upon sex workers and easy sex. The way how sex can be for many things such as imitancy, fun, and reproduction. Gilead only views sex for reproduction purposes. There should be no pleasure in sex as it is a human duty to reproduce. I do not agree with this idea. Sex should feel comfortable and pleasurable. Breeding is a human duty but it should be consensual for both parties. The Republic of Gilead wants to strip the connection built in sex and have breeding done in its most natural form. It is not enjoyable for all parties as shown during the Ceremony. It feels like a simulation of life. It may be simple to follow but it is unethical in ways. It reminds me of forceful dog breeders. People should be able to build connections and be intimate with each other in ways they may not do with others. Sex is sacred in a sense that individuals share it by their own decision. Choice is what they need. Sex is a choice. Intimate sex is what humans deserve.

The core structure of Gilead’s corruption comes from the government’s absurd obsession with religion, and even though I haven’t dealt with the same severity, this is something I can relate to. In Gilead, everything the citizens live by is following the bible, even though the majority of people aren’t even allowed to read it. From the constant prayers they have to do, to the gender roles being mostly divided to give a male preference. When I was younger, my household was mostly religious so it’s easier to find connections between my life, Gilead, and Gilead’s connection to the bible. Even though it was implied from the beginning, the part that jumped out at me the most was when Offred sees 2 guardians hung on the wall, “The two others have purple placards hung around their necks: Gender Treachery. Their bodies still wear the Guardian uniforms. Caught together, they must have been, but where? A barracks, a shower? It’s hard to say.” (Page 43) Firstly because up to this point we’ve seen a lot of power from the Guardians, this was before we ever met the Commander so other than a few other roles that we were less certain of at the time, the Guardians seemed more safe than the others. And the other reason is they died because they were caught in love, which aligns with traditional religious values that a man can only love a woman but it also resonates with me in particular because my mother is with another woman.

Around 2018, my mother and father divorced and then not long after a year later, my mom went into another relationship with my step-mom. The problem with that is we went to a Christian church at the time and no matter how much my mothers wanted to get married there, they were forbidden from doing so. This is definitely a lot less extreme than being hung and strung up over a wall but it was still a stupid religious belief that hindered my mothers freedom and happiness. After a while we decided we were going to leave the church, even though it is where my brother, sister and I got baptized, to move to a more accepting church that would also wed them. This was a church that we’ve been going to before I was even born so this was a life changing decision to make, but in the end we decided to prioritize our love over a traditional belief. The new church which was accepting of all people, no matter their religion, gender, race or sexuality and sort of is the real life parallel of the world outside of Gilead in the book.

Another part of the book that relates to the story between my mothers and religion is when we first find out about Moiras’ escape. Although this is also a more loose connection, when I was reading it it also made me think of my family and where we would be if we were in the world of Gilead. Moira was oppressed by the Gilead government as she is lesbian, and her solution was to escape from the red center and arrive somewhere where she is more free. Even though she was less successful than we were, the ideas were similar and overlapped in several ways. Although it wasn’t a direct connection to my family, her escape I think does its job in showing the reader that there still is hope if the characters are careful enough. It made me think of me or one of my mothers in her position and how we would try to escape. Moiras’ character as a whole reminds me of my stepmother with her attitude being more carefree and almost feeling younger at times. So not knowing whether she was able to escape or was caught at the end of her story almost made me sick to my stomach.

This is what makes The Handmaid’s Tale so impactful to the reader, it’s easy to put yourself into the characters shoes. Especially Offred with the entire book just being her thought process instead of her story, it makes you feel like you are there with her. But when I read The Handmaid’s Tale, I see my stepmother in Moira and my mother in Offred. Since they were friends back in the before times it is also easier to relate them, but their attitudes also align. I previously discussed Moira’s connection to my stepmother but Offred and my mom are very alike as they’re both calm and metaphorically powerful, Even if it is out of my control, doing this makes me root for the characters and feel their emotions more than characters not as well made as Atwoods.

My artwork is about the scene with Offred and her doctor in chapter 11. This drawing is from the perspective of Offred when she is lying down on the examining table. The title “Pressed” is referring to how Offred is being physically pressured, with him literally pressing her body with his hand, and the eyes mentally putting pressure onto Offred. I used three references for my drawing. The first reference is for the first person perspective. It was from a photo of a patient point of view lying on a medical bed. The patient in the picture was wearing pants with stripes and I had originally drawn the picture with the stripes on Offred’s pants. I later on removed the stripes and pants because Offred was completely naked in this scene. The bottom of the artwork is black because she is naked and I can’t draw anything. I also had to remove the sleeve the patient had in the photo. The second reference I used was of a doctor with a mask. The picture worked really well as a reference because of how similar the characteristics of the doctor in the photo and the doctor in “The Handmaid’s Tale” were. The doctors both had a white mask on and had brown hair. Although I didn’t use color in my drawing, it was still easier for me to draw because of this. I didn’t use color in my drawing for any particular reason. The third reference I used was a frame from a scene of “Demon Slayer”. The hand was of a demon and it was the shot I felt was what would come across as creepy. The hand of a demon was also supposed to have it represent how the doctor’s actions are inhumane. The doctor is pretending to come across as friendly but is also doing this purely for his own pleasure. The demon from the show is narcissistic in the same way as the doctor. I wasn’t able to have the hand turn out exactly as I wanted but I still think it comes across as a creepy grasp. I didn’t draw anything past a small part of the doctor’s chest because I didn’t have any more room but I still think that the floating hand of the doctor comes across as intended. The eyes all around are representing Offred’s feeling of worry. Offred worries about if someone can see them. On page 61, Offred says “What are the odds, is the room bugged, who’s waiting just outside the door?” The fear of being caught by people who are eyes is also meant to be shown through the eyes around the room. Offred in this scene is the one who is being violated and yet she is in a situation in which she would be punished if someone saw. She is the victim but there is no help. A person with higher power is taking advantage of her situation for his own personal pleasure. The feeling of being pressured and helpless. The feeling of no one being on your side. The feeling of wrongfully being in the wrong as the victim. These feelings that Offred had to endure are what I wanted to express through this drawing. The terrifying perspective of a woman in Gilead and to remember how people feel this way in our world today.

Song #1: Keep Moving: Jungle

In chapter 18 of The Handmaid’s Tale Offred, the main character begins describing a series of events that she believes happened to her former husband, Luke. She specifically explains, “The message will say that I must have patience: sooner or later he will get me out…It’s this message, that may never arrive, that keeps me alive. I believe in this message”(Atwood 106). Offred describes this message as her own form of hope and motivation. Which almost directly connects with the song, “Keep Moving” by Jungle. In “Keep Moving” Jungle talks about their motivation to continue on as well, “I’ll be running with you, If I can’t understand it, I’ll find another way, Keep moving, keep moving… thanks for making me stronger” (Jungle). Both pieces mention what it means to have an outsider motivator, someone giving you that boost to “Keep Moving” in even those most difficult situations. Offred uses Luke as a motivator until she is able to escape this totalitarian regime.

Song #2: Free room: Ravyn Lenae(Appleby)

In chapter 9, of Margaret Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, readers are given flashbacks to the main character, Offred’s past life. Atwood tells us about her former family and what it was like growing up for Offred in the past world. “My name isn’t Offred, I have another name… I tell myself it doesn’t matter, your name is like your telephone number, useful only to others; but what I tell myself is wrong, it does matter”(Atwood 84). Similarly, the song “Free Room” by Ravyn Lenae and Appleby talks about not knowing someone you once knew very well. Her chorus being, “You don’t know me anymore, the eyes, you’d think you’d shake your thighs, In a room full of fallen hope and tainted skies…The things in me you thought you knew, I don’t know you, There’s zero judgment, There’s a free room”(Ravyn Lenae & Appleby). As the text switches between the present day and Offred’s past readers realize how much Offred has changed and been conditioned to think, behave, and act a specific way. So much so that she doesn’t even recongnize herself after being indoctrinated into this society, so she holds onto the small memories she has like her real name and memories of her mother and daughter.

Song #3: Broken: Little Simz

In chapter 22 of The Handmaid’s Tale, it is revealed to readers the truth of Moira’s disappearance. Moira stopped one of the Aunts and used her clothing to escape from the center they were all being held in. Moira became a sense of hope for Offred and all the other girls, even if it was one they were terrified of. “Moira had power now, she’d been set loose, she’d set herself loose. She was now a loose woman. I think we found this frightening” (Atwood 133). Moira was someone who had escaped, she was meant to be freed from this unjust, horrible society. In the song “Broken” by Little Simz she talks about what it means to feel broken without any way to fix yourself and her healing journey. She says, “You exist, you alive you are deservin’ of life, you are a beacon of light, you are determined to fly, you have a journal inside, you have the power to write…” (Little Simz). The impact of her escape on the other girls in the center is definitely downplayed throughout this chapter. Moira put that idea of freedom, true escape, and reminded the other girls what could be if they all stood up against this imprisonment disguised as a better way of life.

Song #4: I want you: Marvin Gaye

In Chapter 23, readers see an awkward, illegal interaction between the commander and Offred. They meet secretly in his office for a game of Scrabble. After exchanging words with one another the commander says, “I want you [Offred] to kiss me” (Atwood 139). After kissing the Commander he says to Offred, “Not like that… As if you meant it” (Atwood 140). The commander is showing his vulnerability to Offred. He wants something intimate, something real. In Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You” he says, “I want you… the right way… I want you to want me… just like I want you…”(Marvin Gaye). Both Marvin and the Commander are expressing their need for true intimacy, for a real moment between two people. In this dystopian society as well as in the current Times, the want for a genuine connection with someone.

Song #5: Little Things: Jorja Smith

In chapter 17 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” Margret Atwood describes a vital moment that Offred has with her truth and desires. Offred after contemplating what power she holds in her own life, explains that she wants to steal something, a way of gaining that control back. While Offred leaves her room to steal she ends up sharing an extremely intimate moment with Nick, the commander’s driver. In the song, “Little Things” by Jorja Smith she says, “Can I get close, Even for one second, It’s the little things that get me high, won’t you come with me and spend the night”(Jorja Smith). Both Atwood and Smith explain the need and want for small points of power. The feeling of being “High” from spending time with someone, in Offred’s case, Nick. These small moments give Offred a greater sense of control in her uncontrollable life.

Dirty Hairy - ”Demon Days”, Gorillaz
In “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a reflection on how a group or person can be affected by large changing norms. Offred the main character is subject to these and typically has conflict with her cognition which makes her see. One major part is her relationship with the Commander of the Handmaid’s. A song that can relate to this is called Dirty Hairy which is about war and the effects of it. The reason I’m connecting it to a part is when the feature of Bootie Brown which he says “Maybe to him, I’m just a pawn, So he can advance, All I want to do is dance.” This is one of the easier parallels. Offred feels like a pawn in a big chess game being a force Handmaid to the Commander. I think this can also be seen as something a little bigger. Maybe we can say that the commander is also a chess piece in this game.

All Alone - “Demon Days”, Gorillaz
We all have the feeling of being by ourselves, in “The Handmaid’s Tale” this is more apparent. For example, Offred describes to the reader how in this “new world” that there is no one she can really turn to. A job with no emotion or an environment with no feeling. In this “All Alone” This is brought up to the listener with the repeated saying of “All Alone” and the end when Martina Topley-Bird says “Close your eyes and see, When there ain’t no light, All you’ll ever be, Come on save the night, Because I don’t believe, When the morning comes, It doesn’t seem to say, An awful lot to me”. I think this can be related to Offred because both pieces tell the individual on how a character doesn’t change for the next day. They instead reflect on how the world views them as the same without help or change.

November Has Come - “Demon Days”, Gorillaz
“November Has Come” is a track that is talking about not losing your train of thought because you will forget if you’re not focused. Many Moments of Offred journey’s depict the chores which Damon Albern sings “Something Has started Today, Where did it go, Want you want it to be, Well you know November has come, When its gone away”. From other moments of the story we don’t get to see Offred experience the joy of speaking her thoughts to others in the book but only to the readers. Most of the connection we get can be confusing but, when we see stuff that caters to her past then we get deep moments. Sadly, like the lyrics in “NHC” see loses them or tends to not reflect on that same event as it never is mentioned to another character or thing in the book but us. Then she forgets and makes the reader wonder “Where did it go?”

Don’t Get Lost In Heaven - “Demon Days”, Gorillaz
I feel like for this song its name is more fitting to the Christian vibe that is set in Gilead. The song is the telling of someone ascending to the Gates of heaven and there is a choir that repeats the chat “Don’t get lost in heaven” and “You’ll make a big mistake if you fall over the edge of the clouds. It reminded me of the part when Offred in “The Handmaid’s Tale” explains to the reader how the systems of Gilead are. To a test of this Offred even says that “Where I am is not a prison, but a privilege. (pg 8)” which, in the contexts from the state of the book to the middle , see that her “privileged life” is really not what it seems. Similar to how Offred is feeling “Heaven” can be seen as something that is relatable. Paradise is a prison when you can not leave.

Demon Days - “Demon Days”, Gorillaz
“Demon Days” is the last song on the album with the same name and is the aftermath of the previous song “Don’t Get Lost In Heaven”. The opening of the song is darker with static from an electric guitar which Alburn (Playing the character in the band 2D) singing about the dark days of his life but also how you should love yourself instead of changing for others. After this at the two-minute mark the song switches slowly into a clam and tropical rhythm with singing chores. The chores, talk about the Demon Days but how you should walk away from everything and start a new day. I think this really models how the Handmaids feel and everyone else who had to change their personalities to fit Gilead. This makes you reflect on the mental strain on the minds of everyone in the story. Most of the people are subject to this in some way shape or form. For example, Offred says “Like other things now thought must be rationed” (pg 8) and “Sanity is valuable possession” (pg 109).

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Authoritarianism and Totalitarianism:

One of the central themes of “The Handmaid’s Tale” is the omnipresent authoritarianism within the Republic of Gilead, a theocratic regime that governs every aspect of the characters’ lives. In Gilead, individual freedoms are sacrificed at the altar of state control, and citizens are subjected to surveillance, propaganda, and strict social hierarchies. The following quote from the book illustrates the extent of state control:

“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.”

This Latin phrase, meaning “Don’t let the bastards grind you down,” becomes a powerful mantra for the protagonist, Offred. It encapsulates the spirit of resistance against the oppressive regime’s attempts to break the will of its citizens.

In the 20th century, during the time when the novel was written, the world was experiencing the Cold War, a period marked by the ideological struggle between democracy and authoritarianism. The Soviet Union, with its centralized control, suppression of dissent, and state-controlled media, epitomized the authoritarian model. Similarly, the Gileadean regime in Atwood’s novel mirrors the totalitarian tendencies of such governments. This parallel serves as a reminder of the dangers of unchecked power, even in societies built on the promise of liberty and democracy.

In the contemporary political context, numerous nations grapple with the consequences of authoritarianism. Leaders in various countries have employed tactics such as censorship, disinformation, and restrictions on individual liberties to consolidate power and suppress opposition.

Gender Oppression:

Another central theme in the novel is gender oppression. In Gilead, women are systematically stripped of their rights, autonomy, and agency. They are segregated into distinct roles, and their worth is primarily determined by their reproductive capabilities. The following quote from the book underscores the dehumanizing nature of this regime:

“Better never means better for everyone… It always means worse, for some.”

This quote, delivered by the protagonist Offred, captures the essence of how the oppressive regime exploits and discriminates against women, demonstrating how the promise of a “better” society is often a guise for further subjugation.

In the modern political landscape, gender discrimination and violence against women persist in many societies. The #MeToo movement and global efforts to combat gender-based violence highlight ongoing challenges in achieving gender equality. “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a stark reminder of the importance of continuing to advocate for women’s rights and challenging oppressive gender norms that still endure.

Religious Extremism:

Religious extremism is another significant theme in the novel. Gilead is a theocracy where religious ideology is used to justify oppressive policies and totalitarian control of the state. The following quote exemplifies the role of religious rhetoric in the regime:

“A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.”

This quote, delivered in the context of religious indoctrination, symbolizes how the regime constrains its citizens within the confines of its ideology, restricting freedom in the name of faith.

In the real world, extremist groups and political leaders have employed religious rhetoric to justify acts of violence, discrimination, and the curtailment of individual freedoms. In the early 21st century, the rise of religious extremism, particularly in the Middle East, brought religious ideology to the forefront of global politics. “The Handmaid’s Tale” stands as a cautionary tale, underscoring the dangers of religious extremism when it becomes intertwined with political power, leading to repression and authoritarianism.

Erosion of Privacy and Surveillance:

Beyond these themes, Atwood’s novel delves into the erosion of individual freedoms and privacy under a surveillance state. In Gilead, citizens are subjected to constant monitoring, both by the state and their fellow citizens. While the degree of surveillance depicted in the book is extreme, it draws attention to the contemporary debates surrounding government surveillance, data privacy, and the balance between security and individual liberty.

In recent years, discussions about mass surveillance, data breaches, and the collection of personal information by both governments and private corporations have taken center stage. The novel forces readers to confront the potential consequences of sacrificing personal freedoms in the name of security, a debate that continues to shape contemporary politics.

Contemporary Political Parallels:

“The Handmaid’s Tale” remains remarkably relevant because of the rise of extremist ideologies and the erosion of democratic norms in contemporary politics. The novel serves as a stark reminder that the gradual erosion of democratic institutions and the rise of authoritarianism can occur in any society, even those with long-established democratic traditions. This is evident in the political developments in various countries where leaders have sought to consolidate power, undermine democratic checks and balances, and manipulate public opinion.

One of the most pressing concerns is the spread of disinformation and the undermining of public trust in institutions and the media. The novel’s portrayal of state-controlled propaganda and censorship serves as a cautionary tale in the age of fake news and information warfare. In this context, “The Handmaid’s Tale” encourages us to remain vigilant, discerning consumers of information, and engaged citizens committed to the defense of our rights and the preservation of democratic principles.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, “The Handmaid’s Tale” is more than a work of fiction; it is a reflection of larger political realities. Through its exploration of authoritarianism, gender oppression, religious extremism, and erosion of privacy, it serves as a cautionary tale and a call to action. As we confront contemporary political challenges and witness the erosion of democratic norms and the rise of extremist ideologies, “The Handmaid’s Tale” reminds us that vigilance, advocacy, and a commitment to democratic principles are essential in safeguarding our freedoms and building a just and equitable society. Atwood’s narrative, though dystopian, serves as a guidepost for our path forward, prompting us to confront the dangers of complacency and to work tirelessly for a more inclusive, democratic, and equitable world.

Authoritarianism and Totalitarianism:

One of the central themes in “The Handmaid’s Tale” is the omnipresent authoritarianism of the Republic of Gilead, a theocratic regime that governs every facet of the characters’ lives. In Gilead, individual freedoms are sacrificed at the altar of state control, and citizens are subjected to surveillance, propaganda, and strict social hierarchies. While Gilead is an extreme fictional example, it is not far removed from the authoritarian regimes that have existed throughout history and still persist in various parts of the world.

In the 20th century, for example, the Cold War era was marked by the ideological struggle between democracy and authoritarianism. The Soviet Union, with its centralized control, suppression of dissent, and state-controlled media, epitomized the authoritarian model. Similarly, the Gileadean regime in Atwood’s novel mirrors the totalitarian tendencies of such governments. This parallel serves as a reminder of the dangers of unchecked power, even in societies that are built on the promise of liberty and democracy.

In the contemporary political context, numerous nations grapple with the consequences of authoritarianism. Leaders in various countries have employed tactics such as censorship, disinformation, and restrictions on individual liberties to consolidate power and suppress opposition. “The Handmaid’s Tale” serves as a stark warning that authoritarianism can emerge even in democratic societies when citizens become complacent or indifferent to the erosion of their rights.

Gender Oppression:

A prominent theme in the novel is gender oppression. In Gilead, women are systematically stripped of their rights, autonomy, and agency. They are segregated into distinct roles, and their worth is primarily determined by their reproductive capabilities. Although the circumstances in “The Handmaid’s Tale” are extreme, the broader context of gender discrimination is an unfortunate reality in many parts of the world.

During the 1980s when the novel was written, women’s rights movements were gaining momentum, advocating for gender equality in various domains, including the workplace and reproductive rights. Atwood’s narrative served as a cautionary tale, reminding readers of the dire consequences of subjugating women and denying them control over their own bodies.

In the modern political landscape, gender discrimination and violence against women persist in many societies. The #MeToo movement and global efforts to combat gender-based violence highlight ongoing challenges in achieving gender equality. “The Handmaid’s Tale” is a stark reminder of the importance of continuing to advocate for women’s rights and challenging oppressive gender norms that still endure.

Religious Extremism:

Religious extremism is another central theme of the novel. Gilead is a theocracy where religious ideology is used to justify the oppressive policies and totalitarian control of the state. This concept is not confined to the realm of fiction; it finds resonance in historical and contemporary contexts where religious fervor is manipulated to justify oppressive agendas.

For instance, extremist groups and political leaders have employed religious rhetoric to justify acts of violence, discrimination, and the curtailment of individual freedoms. In the early 21st century, the rise of religious extremism, particularly in the Middle East, brought religious ideology to the forefront of global politics. “The Handmaid’s Tale” stands as a cautionary tale, underscoring the dangers of religious extremism when it becomes intertwined with political power, leading to repression and authoritarianism.

Erosion of Privacy and Surveillance:

Beyond these themes, Atwood’s novel delves into the erosion of individual freedoms and privacy under a surveillance state. In Gilead, citizens are subjected to constant monitoring, both by the state and their fellow citizens. While the degree of surveillance depicted in the book is extreme, it draws attention to the contemporary debates surrounding government surveillance, data privacy, and the balance between security and individual liberty.

In recent years, discussions about mass surveillance, data breaches, and the collection of personal information by both governments and private corporations have taken center stage. The novel forces readers to confront the potential consequences of sacrificing personal freedoms in the name of security, a debate that continues to shape contemporary politics.

Contemporary Political Parallels:

“The Handmaid’s Tale” remains remarkably relevant because of the rise of extremist ideologies and the erosion of democratic norms in contemporary politics. The novel serves as a stark reminder that the gradual erosion of democratic institutions and the rise of authoritarianism can occur in any society, even those with long-established democratic traditions. This is evident in the political developments in various countries where leaders have sought to consolidate power, undermine democratic checks and balances, and manipulate public opinion.

One of the most pressing concerns is the spread of disinformation and the undermining of public trust in institutions and the media. The novel’s portrayal of state-controlled propaganda and censorship serves as a cautionary tale in the age of fake news and information warfare. In this context, “The Handmaid’s Tale” encourages us to remain vigilant, discerning consumers of information, and engaged citizens committed to the defense of our rights and the preservation of democratic principles.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, “The Handmaid’s Tale” is more than a work of fiction; it is a reflection of larger political realities. Through its exploration of authoritarianism, gender oppression, religious extremism, and erosion of privacy, it serves as a cautionary tale and a call to action. As we confront contemporary political challenges and witness the erosion of democratic norms and the rise of extremist ideologies, “The Handmaid’s Tale” reminds us that vigilance, advocacy, and a commitment to democratic principles are essential in safeguarding our freedoms and building a just and equitable society. Atwood’s narrative, though dystopian, serves as a guidepost for our path forward, prompting us to confront the dangers of complacency and to work tirelessly for a more inclusive, democratic, and equitable world.

“The word colonization, it has the same root as the word colon; it means to digest. Colonization is the process of digestion of one culture by another.” -Winona LaDuke

When it comes to the world of religion, Christianity stands out as a problem child, and a child with a loaded gun at that. It is a religion that holds more power and influence than any other religion by a great deal, and with exceptionalistic views and controversial ideologies, it has had an undeniable impact on the course of history. However, there is not a history it roots itself more deeply in than the history of America. America has danced upon the line between a free democracy and a theocracy since its birth. And while the Founding Fathers implied through the constitution that a distinct separation between the church and state was necessary for their envisioned nation to function properly, America has always been a very Christian nation, through the people and the government. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood is a testament to the effects of the mixture between Church and State, and what better inspiration to base such a book on than America herself. Of the countless literary elements Atwood has perfected and seamlessly woven together into this story, what often stands out the most is the level of worldbuilding. It is so cruel and despicable that Atwood was forced to remind her audience that “I wasn’t putting anything into it that humans had not already done somewhere at some time.” And while there are a great number of historical instances that serve as her muses, none are more prominent than the ties between early American history and Christianity. As the French and British colonized the land that would one day be taken and transformed into America, they encountered the peoples indigenous to the region. And instead of possessing no religion at all, the natives had many religions that were integral to their very way of life. Now this posed a problem to the missionary colonists whose belief was that their purpose was to show the native peoples the way of Christianity in order to “save their souls” and surely, having seen the path to God, they would convert. Once they saw the light, their meaningless lives would be filled with purpose, they thought. This was not the case. The European colonists and their western traditions wreaked havoc on the relationship between Native Americans and Christian missionaries. Between the genocide, mistreatment of the land, and general usurping, indigenous people developed a reasonably severe distrust towards Europeans. The missionaries saw only one option, and that was taking advantage of the single group of targets most mentally and physically vulnerable: the children. The boarding schools were established, commissioned by a government that was, against the Founding Fathers wishes, completely composed of Christians and run through Christian ideologies at the time. Here, the connections between history and Atwood’s writing begin to make themselves obvious. The first step the boarding school project took was the forceful separation of families. Indoctrination does not work if your subject has a voice to tell them anything else. Both Gilead and America utilized government agents to abduct children and split families, seen in Handmaid’s Tale as the separation between Offred and her daughter. Both of them become victims to indoctrination and while Offred is only mildly affected and resists it to some degree, the same cannot be confirmed for her young daughter who she is shown pictures of holding hands with another woman, presumably her new mother. In real life however, the parents of the children were not given the reassurance that they were safe. Even if the early American government told them such a thing, it would have been a terrible lie for that certainly was not the case. Once the individual is isolated, the next step is to erase their culture and identity. “My name isn’t Offred,” the Offred notes, “I have another name which nobody uses now because it is forbidden.” Like the non-Gileadean civilians during the upheaval of America, the Native American children were given English names, often religious names, and were forbidden from using their old ones, as well as any other words from their native languages. Gilead is not too dissimilar to the Native American Boarding Schools; they’re both based on negative reinforcement training. The Aunts carry cattle prods in the book but not to defend against intruders. Aunt Lydia confidently states they are free from such threats, there’s no reason to fear them, especially not in the presence of the Angels and Guardians. It is clear that they are the Handmaids. The children of the boarding schools were hit, abused, isolated, starved, and even sexually assaulted. They were given such punishments whenever they even showed a fraction of their original cultural identity. Some converted to Christianity, many simply hid their true selves, none believed. “I thought you were a true believer,” Ofglen says to Offred, surprised, “I thought you were.” Both women still cling to their past lives but bury them deep, not out of newfound faith, but fear. The life they lived was proof enough to them that the God Gilead worshiped was not real, not for them. Religion is different for each person. A lantern for dark times, a deep scar from a bitter lie, a fundamental set of truths to live by, or a path to salvation and promise for tomorrow. What you believe is and should be up to you. But Atwood warns us that religion is a dangerous thing and that such beliefs should not be a source of leadership, lest others be smothered by your ignorance for their own beliefs. The word colonization means for one culture to consume another. But the days of conquering are over. It’s time to start building instead.

GNARLS BARKLEY- WHOS GONNA SAVE MY SOUL

Listening to this song reminded me of how Offred thinks about Moira and her blind faith that she is alive. Who’s Gonna Save My Soul, was originally written as an expression of Gnarls Barkley’s reaction to James Brown dying months after he invited them to perform with him. CeeLo Green and Danger Mouse (the band’s two members) had put so much hope in James Brown that they were distraught and lost after he died. Offred and the other handmaids used Moira as an object of their fantasy and wonder to keep them going. On page 133, Offred explains, “Nevertheless Moira was our fantasy. We hugged her to us, she was with us in secret, a giggle;” Offred and her fellow handmaids blindly putting their hope into Moira makes me fear what will happen if she is revealed to have died. The line “I may be just a little selfish, All I have is the memory, Yet I never start to wonder, Was it possible you were hurting worse than me, Still my hunger turns to greed, ‘Cause what about what I need, An’ oh who’s gonna save my soul now.” reveals the song’s narrator using this person to fill their void of hope, no matter what situation they might be in. Offred describes this feeling too by saying that she and the handmaids were just starting to feel comfortable with no hope and nowhere to go but latching on to Moira’s story filled that emptiness.

WISH YOU WERE HERE - LEE FIELDS & THE EXPRESSIONS

When listening to Wish You Were Here, I immediately found a correlation between the emotions shown in The Handmaid’s Tale and this song. Lee Fields sings this song to convey a feeling of longing for someone who is no longer with him, especially playing on the theme of not taking something for granted. Offred’s storytelling relates to this heavily. An obvious connection between the two is the chorus and title of the song, Wish You Were Here. Offred frequently dreams about Luke, the before times, and when they were happy together and raising a child and wishing he was with her and holding her again. This goes so far for her to imagine Luke and her daughter as if they were with her. “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 drafty candles…I can conjure them but they are mirages only, they don’t last.” (103-104). This feeling of deep longing and emptiness is also explained through the lyrics, “Miss you again, over again, Love will not die, Walkin’ the road, I see you at night, I know you’re right by my side.” These lyrics describe the exact feeling I think Offred is portraying through the quote I picked, missing someone so much everything you see reminds you of them and holding them with you in your heart.

RETTE MICH - NENA

The song Rette Mich by Nena is about the loneliness of being alone at night and the longing you have for someone to come “save you.” The song title itself translates to “Save Me.” On page 96, Offred is bored in her room and longs for the before times. “I want Luke here so badly. I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not;” Offred’s longing for Luke increases when she is lonely and bored. Similar to this, Nena sings, “Es wird Nacht, Und die Einsamkeit erwacht, Ruf mich an, komm her, sei bei mir, Rette mich.” This all roughly translates to “Night is coming, And loneliness awakens, Call me, Come here be with me, Save me.” This illustrates how Offred is feeling at the moment, even describing her need for Luke to hold her and comfort her.

IT’S A MAN’S WORLD - JAMES BROWN

It’s a Man’s World by James Brown is filled with themes and lines about men being the main providers for a family. There are also many mentions of women being important and essential to the family, however their importance seems to be only to support the man in his endeavors. This idea is reciprocated in The Handmaid’s Tale by the structure of Gilead, a male-dominated society that is religion based, specifically enforcing the idea that a woman’s only role is to bear children and help in the kitchen (be a “traditional wife”). One person who personifies this idea of women only being there to support men is Serena Joy. On page 45, referring to her, it says, “Her speeches were about the sanctity of the home, about the how women should stay home.” Similar to this James Brown sings, “You know that man makes money, to buy from other men, This is a man’s world, But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing, not one little thing, without a woman or a girl.” His lyrics explain a similar thing to Serena Joy’s speeches, women should stay home and men should essentially rule society.

BEDS ARE BURNING - MIDNIGHT OIL

This song, Beds Are Burning, by Midnight Oil is about the indigenous Australian people and liberating them from being treated as if they were worse. This song connects directly to The Handmaid’s Tale because of the oppression women are facing in Gilead. The chorus of the song is “How can we dance while the beds are burning, How can we sleep while the world is turning.” I imagine this is exactly how Offred feels about the wives and how they agree with the oppression of women. “The Commander’s Wife looks down at the baby as if it’s a bouquet of flowers: something she’s won, a tribute.” (126). This quote describes how Offred perceives the Wives as perpetrators of the system of Gilead.

The Handmaid’s Tale is a story about a human’s experience in life. Margaret Atwood wrote this story through the point of view of Offred, a woman living in a dystopian society. A dystopian society is not something that any reader would have lived through, because it’s dystopian, it’s futuristic, it’s what could happen, right? Well, Atwood takes that definition and flips it, saying that she can only include things that happened in our own world history. So when Offred encounters something horrifying or crazy in her day-to-day life, it makes the encounter even more scary because most likely the reader knows people it has happened to, and how it very well could happen to them. This kind of writing keeps readers on their toes, keeps them curious, because at times, the reader can find themselves reading something of a memory.

Writing that appeals to the senses can also keep a reader interested. Using descriptive words that go above and beyond to describe even the littlest things, like a dresser or a flower entices the reader. Atwood’s use of this writing style is extremely effective at drawing the reader in and pretty much forcing them into situations that they aren’t really in. This can be an enjoyable experience, but it can also be uncomfortable, even off putting. Sometimes it almost makes the reader want to put the book down and take a cold shower, maybe take a walk in the city, enjoy the life they live instead of the one they’re being sucked into. It can also be confusing, the words at times are nothing normal and are structured in run on sentences that lead on and on into a vague answer.

The section that is most descriptive and resonating is the laughing scene. Here’s the context: Offred has just been to her first meeting with the Commander, and she’s reminiscing about what went on. She’s confused, flustered, relieved, and so much more. She feels like there could be an ulterior motive for the Commander to invite her into his room. She thinks, “Is this really just to play scrabble and give a quick kiss?” Nevertheless, she’s back in her room, safe and sound, with no harm done. She starts to remember a documentary that she saw as a little girl on the TV. It was about a woman who was with this Natzi and fourty years later is being interviewed about it. Her appearance is notable in its description: “She was carefully made up, heavy in the mascara on her eyelashes, rouge on the bones of her cheeks, over which the skin was stretched like a rubber glove pulled tight.” She goes on to explain how this woman defends her Natzi husband to this day, but days after the interview commits suicide. Offred then says the most she remembers of this is the makeup.

Perhaps this memory is what triggers the following scene, which is nothing like the one before, and isn’t like any other scene in the book so far. “Then I hear something, inside my body. I’ve broken, something has cracked, that must be it. Noise is coming up, coming out of the broken place, in my face.” Hold on. This sounds very similar to one of my experiences. Let’s continue: “Without warning: I wasn’t thinking about here or there or anything. If I let the noise get out into the air it will be laughter, too loud, too much of it, someone is bound to hear, and then there will be hurrying footsteps and commands and who knows? Judgment.” These few sentences described down to a tee one of my experiences from my past. When I was smaller I used to get panic attacks, and the first time I had one, it pretty much went down just like this. This scene was so descriptive that it brought me back to that moment, I remembered it clearly as day. It was freaky. It was uncomfortable. I remember the fear of other people finding out about it, the judgment. The judgment that Offred faces is far more dangerous than mine would’ve been, but to a ten year old’s brain, it isn’t much different. The only thing is that I would replace the word laughter with crying. In that lies an irony that really brings to life the mental anguish that Offred is put through. Atwood wraps up the chapter as well as the scene with, “All I can hear now is the sound of my own heart, opening and closing, opening and closing, opening–”. It ends with just a blank space, no more punctuation, just the rest of the page blank. I imagine Offred lying there, listening to her heartbeat, hoping it doesn’t rise again, and ultimately succumbing to sleep, just as I have done many times before.

I included the paragraph about the Natzi woman not just because it has good descriptions (although it does), but also because I believe that this is directly correlated to this freak-out. See, when I had a freak out, it was usually due to some sort of trigger, like a memory or a setting. But like Offred’s memory of the documentary, these triggers didn’t seem connected at first glance. However If you look deeper you can find connections that make sense. I think her freak out is due to guilt, being with the Commander even though there are terrible things going on, and women that can’t do half of what she does. See the connection between her and the Natzi women? They’re both playing the same role as the mistress who feigns ignorance and keeps living a more enjoyable life. 

Throughout “The Handmaid’s Tale,” we’re told the story from a first-person point of view and as we read on we recognize that the narrator, Offred, isn’t a reliable narrator. This is a literary technique used to describe Offred’s character without using descriptive words. We can also describe Offred’s character with songs.

“Like A Virgin” by Madonna.

The song “Like a Virgin” talks about being intimate with someone you have such big feelings for, the experience feels new when it isn’t. In the story, Offred is in love with Luke; who we know has a wife. There are multiple times when Offred has expressed hopeless devotion to Luke regardless of his beliefs and her situation with Nick. In the scene when Offred kisses Nick in the closet, it’s implied she still thinks of him. “It’s so good, to be touched by someone, to be felt so greedily, to feel so greedy. Luke, you’d know, you’d understand. It’s you here, in another body.” (pg 99)

“Riot Grrrl” by Bikini Kill

A song about SA and rape culture, “Riot Grrrl” is the perfect protest song to the societal norms within Gilead. The construct of Gilead is very oppressive towards women. From the what they wear to how they must communicate their problems, the women of Gilead must operate in a conservative manor. That is why I think “Riot Grrrl” is a good representation of what most women are possibly feeling. The song is hard punk with sensitive lyrics and given the harsh circumstances the women must oblige to, it wouldn’t be far off to assume they have unconscious anger.

“Misery Business” by Paramore

As said before, Offred is been in a relationship with a married man, Luke. “Misery Business” is about getting back at a homewrecker. Although in this situation, Offred is the homewrecker, the narrator of the song has expressed the joy she gets in being with the guy she wants and the joy of seeing said homewrecker upset about it. “Two weeks and we had caught on fire/She’s got it out for me but I wear the biggest smile/ Whoa, I never meant to brag; But I got him where I want him now.” (Misery Business) I think Offred would like this song because of her mischievous personality.

“Just a Girl” by No Doubt

Although I am basing this song selection off of the title, it does connect to what Offred had to go through when Gilead was becoming what it is. In the beginning of the story, we’re in the gymnasium as Offred is connecting her surroundings to things she has experienced and has not experienced. Remembering how school dances take place in gymnasiums and her longing for a sexual experience, we as readers gather that she is as the song chorus puts it “Just a Girl.” “…as I knew from pictures, later in miniskirts, then pants, then in one earring, spiky green-streaked hair. […] There was old sex in the room and loneliness, and expectation, of something without a shape or name. I remember that yearning…” (pg 3)

“Lovefool” by The Cardigans

To be a “Lovefool” means to be in love with someone who does not feel the same. In the book, Offred gets attached to Luke through their affair. She becomes desperate for his love and attention even when he’s not around. However, we are not sure that Luke feels the same. Given that he doesn’t want to divorce his wife, we can assume that he doesn’t feel as strongly about her.

The Handmaid’s Tale is a book that unfortunately by parts relates to how society was before the 21st century. The Handmaid’s Tale takes place in the near future in New England. Specifically in a Partichal, white supremacist, dictatorial theonomic state, which is known as the Republic of Gilead. Throughout the book, there have been uncomfortable scenes that symbolize women’s worth in Gilead. Chapters 16 through 25, reveal horrific moments.

In chapter 16 Olfred talks about the uncomfortable moment she is forced to face. Both the commander and his wive; Serena Joy, want to have a child of their own but chose Olfred’s womb to be the one to carry their child. On pg. 94 Olfred says “Therefore I lie on my canopy over my head. I remember Queen Victoria’s advice to her daughter: Close your eyes and think of England. But this is not England. I wish he would hurry up.” This quote just shows that Gilead looks at women, specifically the handmaids as “baby making machines”. That phrase is pretty harsh but is the best phrase I could use to describe this quote in chapter 16. Due to the role Offred has been given, there is no way of escaping this rule. In Gilead, Men have the primary dominicance and privilege over women. Which means, no matter how uncomfortable Offred may be feeling, there is nothing she could do to avoid it or put an end to. This relates to Former Emperor of The french, Napoleon Bonaparte.

Napoleon Bonaparte subordinated women to their father and hubands. He did not approve of women being ones to own their personal property or belongings. Throughout Napoleon’s rules women were forbidden to enter into legal contrats, participate in lawsuits or testify in court. A quote Napolean even said was “Women are nothing but machines for producing children.” While Napolean Bonaparte had been ruling France, It had affected almost every women that lived in france but than women in France decided to take a stand. But even though women had later on took a stand, the emotional damage these women had gone through can never be replaced. Napoleaon had been one of the worst French emperors throughout history due to how he expressed himself about women, and not having equality amongst each other. Always selecting a certain role for a certain group of people.

In Chapter 19, pg. 112 it says; “We didn’t know exactly what would happen to the babies that didn’t get passed, that were declared Unbabies. But we knew they were put somewhere, quickly, away.

I had to re-read this quote multiple of times, because there is clearly something off about it. There is no section in the book that mentions where the “unbabies” are to be sent to or done with. Which just shows even though Gilead isn’t perfect, the rules that have been implemented are to be shape and change how society is in Gilead for the “better”. Gilead does not accept a child that is born with complications or doesn’t fit the standards. This portion of the book specifically resonates with a non-fictional book called the Giver. It’s a dystopian society. Everyone that lives in this society have to follow the rules and if not, one would receive some kind of punishment.

In the book, it talks about how, if twins were born, one immediately has to be dealt with and send to “elsewhere”. Also if the child is born with birth defects or complications, the same procedures will be made. The point I’m trying to make is that these dystopian societies say they want the better for everyone, but it’s the other way around. These dystopian societies are just controlling and allowing fear to build up in certain individuals. Such as women. There was a moment in the book where the aunts spoke about how they were grateful to have gotten their tubes tied. In order to not go through any mishaps. In the book, the Giver, it mentions how each person is assigned to a job, and one has to complete their assessments on time which flows with the Handmaid’s tale, since everyone has a specific role they must meet up to. If not some kind of punishment will be sent to one’s attention.

Overall, the Handmaid’s Tale connects to many different aspects of history, books, and media. One just has to re-read certain phrases in order to understand what the scene is really about because in multiple scenes one can misunderstand a phrase or the overall meaning.

Out of all the techniques Margaret Atwood used in The Handmaid’s Tale, the one that stuck out the most to me was how and when she uses quotation marks. Before reading it is necessary to understand that some parts are told from the main character’s , Offred, memory which she also established she could be making the stories up as she tells them. Other parts are told from Offred’s live point of view.. A technique that Atwoord used to distinguish when the story was being told in present or past tense was through quotation marks. Chapter 7 starts off with, “The night is mine, my own time, to do with as I will, as long as I am quiet. As long as I don’t move. As long as I lie still… But the night is my time out. Where should I go? Somewhere good.” (pg. 37) Then Offred starts telling a memory of her and Moira during a time they went to the same school. “You’re getting ashes in my bed, I said. If you’d make it you wouldn’t have this problem, said Moira.” (pg. 37) This memory is told in past tense however it was noted that even when characters said something there were no quotation marks around what they said. This is significant because scenes like this Atwood wants the reader to create an image in their heads contrary to the significance of scenes told in present tense. On page 137 it says, “The Commander is standing in front of the fireless fireplace, back to it, one elbow on the carved wooden overmantel, other hand in pocket.” Offred is telling this story in present tense. When Offred tells a story in present tense she will go into explicit detail about it. The quote from page 137 she makes note of the “fireless fireplace” and how the Commander was standing. The purpose of this is to get the reader engaged, create an image, and also feel what Offred may be feeling in that exact moment. This technique allows the reader to better understand Offred. In the artwork I created I tried to showcase the two different parts. On the top half is Offred going to bed however before she actually goes to sleep she basically scrolls through her memories. I drew her laying in bed with clouds above her head to represent her telling her memories. I chose to add the quote, “Where should I go?” because it is significant to understanding that the next events Offred tells are her memories. She will start telling a good memory she had and then switch to another and another one. The bottom half of the artwork is when Offred was called by the Commander to his office. I specifically chose to not include Offred in this part because when this event occurred Offred told it in present tense from her perspective. I tried to draw this scene as if we were Offred, standing in the room, and seeing it through her eyes.

In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood introduces the reader to Offred’s life through the aesthetics that have been imposed on her. The present of the text starts in the second chapter, with Offred’s description of the room that she wakes up to each day. Offred’s room is almost entirely plain and she glances over the appearance of each item without a second thought until she reaches the rug. The rug is made from braided rags and Offred describes it as “the kind of touch [believers] like: folk art, archaic, made by women, in their spare time, from things that have no further use. A return to traditional values.” (page 7)
“Folk art” as a category diverges greatly from any other form of art in the way it survives. Art that exists outside of the label of “folk” does so by at some point becoming contemporary, part of a specific moment or movement. Genres of art tend to burst into the zeitgeist with frenetic, cultural energy and largely fade within a century, stymied by competition with other genres. For art to be a part of the “zeitgeist” (time ghost in English) is to be mortal in a strange way. That art can still be an inspiration for others, so it isn’t lost to the future entirely, but an undeniable part of its spirit is trapped in a specific time. Folk art can exist outside of the zeitgeist and thereby last because it keeps a steady and simple ambition: tradition. To be traditional means to plow forward through time, adapting to the changing world, while still maintaining a strong identity.
The inertia of tradition succeeds in keeping folk art alive because it becomes embedded within the values of the people creating the art. Outside of its role as an informer of culture, art is self expression. As a form of expression art can be a way for people to proudly display the things that they believe in. Traditional art declares allegiance to the past, inheriting values from the past and perpetuating a stagnation of cultural development. American folk art is by no means restricted to any one group of people or inherently conservative, but it is certainly a useful tool for some who seek to foster a conservative culture. Within American culture, the values that are prioritized for conservation are mostly centered on patriarchy.

Delia’s Gone - Johnny Cash

This song is exemplary of the type of song known as a murder ballad. This type of song focuses on a murder, often the murder of a woman by her significant other who perceives her as having some sort of immoral behavior that warrants her death. In “Delia’s Gone” Cash sings that he shot Delia because she was “low down and triflin’”.

Beer For My Horses - Willie Nelson, Toby Keith

This song displays the way that much art focused on tradition has an idyllic view of the past even if it is extremely violent. The song contains the lyrics “back in my day, son A man had to answer for the wicked that he done … Find a tall oak tree, round up all of them bad boys Hang them high in the street for all the people to see that”, referring to lynchings.

The society of Gilead uses folk art as a tool for maintaining gender hierarchy. In Gilead, having a patriarchy is a struggle for power that is reliant on the belief that men were created by God to be more responsible and therefore superior to women. The illusion that power is held ultimately by God, and not men is reinforced by placing some limitations on men as well as women. But, God’s only action comes after death, so in the dynamics of Gilead control is actually exerted by men. Aesthetics are an important part of the mythology that upholds patriarchy, so any art is limited to fit the value of subservience in women.

You’re Going to Miss This - Trace Adkins

Adkins’ song gives an example of the type of restrictive gender roles that have been put on women in North American history. The song is centered around the life a woman wants to have and the full course of her life from turning 18 is focused on raising children and serving her husband.

Red Solo Cup - Toby Keith

Keith’s dong also exemplifies the harmful gender roles of country music, but this time it focuses on the limitations put on men to avoid any sense of femininity. “And you, sir, do not have a pair of testicles If you prefer drinking from glass”

As a piece of folk art, Offred’s rug represents the “traditional values” that strip Offred of her autonomy and grant power over her life to men. These values are placed in her room without her having any say in it. Art is used here to underpin the ways that the patriarchy in Gilead has removed control from Offred’s life. On page 139 the commander refers to Offred’s room as her house and that is essentially how it functions. In America a house serves as a person’s domain, ownership of a space allows a person to exercise their freedom to express themselves as they please. That freedom has been taken from Offred because even in the space where she has some semblance of privacy, she is not allowed to express herself, all expression is taken care of for her by a rug in a blank room she describes as “government issue” (page 7).

Follow Your Arrow - Kacey Musgraves

This song is a commentary on the gender roles that appear in country music, particularly the limitations put on women that clearly are only meant to control them. “If you save yourself for marriage, you’re a bore If you don’t save yourself for marriage, you’re a horrible person If you won’t have a drink, then you’re a prude But they’ll call you a drunk as soon as you down the first one”.

Rogers, A. (n.d.). Sexism In Unexpected Places: An Analysis of Country Music Lyrics. University of South Carolina. https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/research/news_and_pubs/caravel/archive/2013/2013-caravel-sexism-in-unexpected-places.php

Literary Hub November. (2018, November 14). On the Complicated Legacy of American Country Music. Literary Hub. https://lithub.com/on-the-complicated-legacy-of-american-country-music/

Smith, C. E. (2021, July 21). The Real History of Murder Ballads in American Music. Esquire. https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a37078255/history-of-murder-ballads-stagger-lee-true-story/

Jacobs, T. (2019, May 7). Country Hits Increasingly Objectify Women and Glorify Whiteness. Pacific Standard. https://psmag.com/news/country-hits-are-getting-more-misogynistic-according-to-new-research

In The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, there is a theme that pregnancy holds great significance throughout the story. The scene above is describing the moment when the main character Offred and another handmaid Ofglen went to a store named Milk and Honey with coupons for certain items. They encounter Ofwarren, also known as Janine; her real name. Both Offred and Ofwarren are outlined in red, to highlight whose point of view the readers are looking through, and the main focus. Atwood states, “As we wait in our double line, the door opens and two more women come in, both in red dresses and white wings of the Handmaids. One is vastly pregnant; her belly, under her loose garment, swells triumphantly. There is a shifting in the room, a murmur, an escape of breath; despite ourselves we turn our heads, blatantly, to see better; our fingers itch to touch her. She’s a magic presence to us, an object of envy and desire, we covet her.” (p. 26)

This quote strongly explains the importance and significance of pregnancy. The general thought the women were having as they waited in line is expressed by the thought bubble above their head. It was an uncommon thing for pregnant women to leave the house to go shopping. These duties are handed off to others when the handmaids get pregnant. The hands reaching out towards the pregnant belly represented certain key phrases such as ‘our fingers itch to touch her’ and ‘an object of envy and desire’. When reading about pregnancy the first time, the women seemed to have yearned for it. This is very important in the story because pregnancy is a representation for survival. In an interaction between the doctor and Offred, readers can begin to understand how serious it is. Atwood writes, “There are only women who are fruitful and women who are barren, that’s the law. ‘Lots of women do it,’ he goes on. ‘You want a baby, don’t you?’ ‘Yes,’ I say. It’s true, and I don’t ask why, because I know. Give me children, or else I die.” (p.61)

Throughout the reading it is clear that the majority of women in Gilead are seen as objects. In order to survive, to be ‘useful’, they must be able to produce a healthy child in this corrupted system. It is important to include that the women in Gilead have adjusted to an entirely new lifestyle, norm, and purpose in life after society changed. The freedom of choice has been eradicated in Gilead, and the community is seemingly based on fertility. Women have been portrayed like objects and reproduction machines. In the Milk and Honey store, Offred along with the other women around her, couldn’t keep their attention off of Janine. The bubble is a collective thought between them, and I wanted to express that heavily in the art piece. It became a common vision they shared. The leaves by the closing door they came through represents a recent entry into the store when everyone’s focus shifted to Janine. As the readers learn more about the system throughout the story, the true value of becoming pregnant is revealed.

Violent Crimes -Kanye West In this beautiful song, Kanye reflects on his (learned) attitude toward women throughout his life. He admits with disgust to his past life of misogyny and objectification toward females and refuses to allow his daughter to experience the same. He raps about the birth of his daughter bringing him to the realization of his wrong doings, and how becoming a father taught him to value women as complete people who can think and make decisions for themselves; not objects for him and other men to use for their misogynistic pleasure. He wants to protect her from this male dominated world. His remorse is expressed specifically in this line, ‘Father forgive me, I’m scared of the karma. ‘Cause now I see women as somethin’ to nurture Not somethin’ to conquer.’ Also, I think Kanye realizes that women’s rights are volatile, and are currently being stripped away bit by bit by our government and judicial system. This song demonstrates his willingness to fight for the deserved rights of his daughter and all females.

I think Margaret Atwood has told a story that’s parallel to Kanye’s journey.

In the society of Gilead, women were very much controlled to meet the needs of men. Unwomen are the lowest class, they are women who cannot have children and therefore have no value. Females could easily be classified as Unwomen at the whim of any man. The text states, “He could fake the tests, report me for cancer, for infertility, have me shipped off to the Colonies, with the Unwomen.” Because women in Gilead are only valued for their ability to have children, those who cannot are not even considered women.

There’s something deeper Atwood is trying to say that Kanye is as well.

Throughout the story we learn that Gilead hasn’t existed for very long. Offred leads a full life in regular day America and can clearly remember times before Gilead. A time where women fought for rights that they thought they deserved. That means society made this shift into handmaids and Gilead only a few years before, at most. It’s hard to believe that centuries of suffragette work could be undone in only a few years; but that is exactly Atwoods point. She’s reminding us just how quickly society can regress, reminding us how volatile and in danger our present day civil rights are.

Kanye is doing the same. He’s telling us how quickly his entire world view changed just because of one event. The birth of his child. Handmaids in Gilead exist because of how rare fertility is. While the birth of Kanye’s Daughter made him see women as complete people, the lack of childbirth in America turned society’s view of women into only objects for birthing children, and so Gilead was born. The stories are two sides of the same coin.

You must Love me - Jay Z In this song, Jay Z raps about his real life experiences of being a kid, shooting his brother over jewelry. He raps, “But the adrenaline and my ego hurt combined Drove me berserk, saw the devil in your eyes High off more than weed Confused, I just closed my young eyes and squeezed What a sound, opened my eyes just in time To see you stumbling to the ground Damn what the fuck I done now? Runnin’ around in a circle thinking I’m assed out Hot gun burnin’ my waist, ran straight to Jaz’ house” Jay Z then raps about his brother immediately forgiving him and specifically asking to see him in the hospital just a day later. He raps, “Left the scene how could I go out that way Still you asked to see me in the hospital the next day You must love me”

This reminds me of the theme of sorority in the Handmaid’s tale. Specifically, Offfred’s interactions with Janine. During the testifying ceremony, Janine shares her experience of being gang raped as a child with the other handmaids. In response they shame her and claim that she brought it upon herself. On page 72, the text states, “It’s Janine, telling about how she was gang-raped at fourteen and had an abortion… But whose fault was it? Aunt Helena says, holding up one finger. Her fault, her fault, her fault, we all chant in unison. Who led them on? Aunt Helena beams, pleased with us. She did. She did. She did.”

Offfred and the other handmaidens in this scene represent Jay Z, attacking, wounding and betraying their sister. But just like Jay Z’s brother, Janine forgives them and they unify in the hospital while helping with the birth of Janine’s child. One page 127, the text states, “We stand between Janine and the bed, so she won’t have to see this. Someone gives her a drink of grape juice. I hope there’s wine in it, she’s still having the pains, for the afterbirth, she’s crying helplessly, burnt out miserable tears. Nevertheless we are jubilant, it’s a victory for all of us. We’ve done it. In both stories, the parties wrong doings are forgiven , because it’s brotherhood/sisterhood that keeps them together.

The Revolution will not be Televised - Gil Scott Heron When I think of Moira, I think of this song. Well, it’s less of a song and more of a call to action, Gil Scott Heron uses his platform to persuade those standing on the sideline to join the civil rights movement and fight against oppression.

Before Gilead, Moira was a vocal feminist, fighting for the downfall of American society’s misogyny. After Moira escapes the camps, Offered reflects on her feelings toward her. On page 133, the text states, “Moira was like an elevator with open sides. She made us dizzy. Already we were losing the taste for freedom, already we were finding these walls secure. In the upper reaches of the atmosphere you’d come apart, you’d vaporize, there would be no pressure holding you together. Nevertheless Moira was our fantasy.” Just like Heron, Moira is a symbol proving you can fight against your oppressors, and just like Heron, Moira makes the HandMaids content with their position feel uncomfortable.

Feel it in the Air - Beanie Sigel Beanie Sigel raps about his paranoia and the guard he keeps up while moving in the street. He describes it as a kind of spidey sense that keeps him out of danger. He raps,”Somethin’ going on, I feel funny Can’t tell me nothin’ different, my nose twitchin’ intuition setting in like Steve vision I still close my eyes, I still see visions Still hear that voice in the back of my mind So what I do? I still take heed, I still listen…I read between the lines of the eyes and your brows Your handshake ain’t matching your smile, aha, you niggas foul (I can feel it in the air)” This song reminds me of Offred’s mistrust. Throughout her narration she talks about seeing through people’s true intentions. For example on page 136 the text states, “ But there must be something he wants, from me. To want is to have a weakness. It’s this weakness, whatever it is, that entices me. It’s like a small crack in a wall, before now impenetrable. If I press my eye to it, this weakness of his, I may be able to see my way clear. I want to know what he wants.” Just like Beanie Sigel, Offfred knows that people usually aren’t what they seem.

Fake Love - Drake Drake sings about the fake love people show him because of his fame and power. This reminds me of the way Offred acts toward the commander, on page 140, the text states”I go to him and play my lips close, against his… He draws away and looks down at me. There’s the smile again, the sheepish one. Such candor. Not like that, he says. As if you meant it.” The Commander recognizes that Offfred doen’t truly care about him, and only kisses him because of the power he holds over her.

The Handmaid’s Tale is packed with real-world connections; the most obvious is the politics around controlling women’s bodies. Gilead uses abortion and clothing as some of the ways of oppressing the women of its society, which can be reflected in our own.

This ongoing theme of controlling women’s bodies in The Handmaid’s Tale is so relevant considering all that’s happened in the past year with Roe v Wade getting overturned. In the book, it depicts ex-doctors that had performed abortions in the time before that have been hanged/killed for it. A real-life comparison that immediately comes to mind is southern states since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Some southern states have not only outlawed abortion but have created laws so strongly against it that anyone that got an abortion/performed one would get a life sentence in prison. In Gilead, people have been taught the propaganda around the concept of abortion. As stated on page 33, “These men, we’ve been told, are like war criminals. It’s no excuse that what they did was legal at the time: their crimes are retroactive. They have committed atrocities and must be made into examples, for the rest.” This has become so sensitive in some states that recent laws to prosecute doctors not only for abortion, but for discussing abortion, or discussing ‘family planning.’ While the consequences for breaking these laws aren’t as bad as what happens in Gilead, real life doctors are made examples of in our society for other doctors as a warning. Just as the people of Gilead understand what happened when they pass a salvaging and see exactly why a man was executed - “Each has a placard hung around his neck to show why he has been executed: a drawing of a human fetus.”(pg 32) - doctors in our society are made an example of through news sources, so people understand the gravity of performing/undergoing an abortion and what the consequences are. That is just recent legal development. Abortion doctors have been killed/assaulted in the USA since the 1980s. Not only that, there have been cases of clinics getting vandalized and even bombed. It’s a very slippery slope between the legal and illegal situations surrounding abortion that could lead to how anti-abortion culture in Gilead works.

The real-world comparisons don’t stop at abortion laws, but other ways of controlling women’s bodies. There may be large differences between Gilead and our democracy, but it is comparable in other parts of the world. Gilead has very strict laws on how women are supposed to live in their society. Every woman has a specific dress code they must follow, and dire consequences if they fail to follow them. This reminds me of other theocracies in the world such as Iran and other countries with Islamic extremes. Mahsa Amini was a woman who was arrested and beaten to death just a year ago for not wearing a hijab correctly. While we are not exactly sure what would happen in Gilead if Offred didn’t follow her Handmaid’s uniform, there have been mentions of being ‘shipped off’ or other extremes for what feels like small reasons. Just like Gilead, our world looks for ways to control women in any possible way, which happens to emphasize on clothing a lot. This method of oppression is often blamed on women. As Aunt Lydia says about men, which is just an echo of our society´s rape culture, “They can’t help it. God made them that way but he did not make you that way.” (pg. 45) Women are treated as objects in our society and Gilead´s. Victim blaming is such a common thing to happen when a woman is assaulted, the first thing that comes up is ¨what were you wearing¨. This idea is especially emphasized on page 55, ¨The spectacles women used to make of themselves. Oiling themselves like roast meat on a spit, and bare backs and shoulders, on the street, in public, and legs, not even stockings on them, no wonder these things used to happen.¨ Completely blaming something like assault on clothing is used in such an oppressive way; reinforcing the idea that ¨It’s not in men’s control.¨ “Modesty is invisibility, said Aunt Lydia. Never forget it. To be seen-to be seen-is to be-her voice trembled-penetrated. What you must be, girls, is impenetrable.” - pg. 28

There are countless other real-world comparisons to be found in The Handmaid's Tale, but the themes on controlling women's bodies are the most significant.  

¨Now and again we vary the route; there’s nothing against it, as long as we stay within the barriers. A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere, as long as it stays inside the maze.¨ - pg. 174

This image outlines the use of fear in government and society. This scene takes place while the handmaid and Olglen are walking back from collecting groceries. They decided to take the long way back at home just to peer upon the wall. It is almost as if they are drawn to the scene. The handmaid thinks “I know as well as she does what she’s really after” (30) in response to Olglen wanting to see the church which is next to where the bodies hang from the wall. Why would someone want to see an image they fear? Perhaps to remind herself of her adherence to her role as a handmaid in the new society.

I wanted to have the only color in the piece be the red in the handmaid’s attire. The way they are described in the book gives the feeling of everything around them being dull and less interesting compared to the handmaids so I wanted to convey that in my piece. The red also draws the spectators eye first before the bodies hanging on the wall. My intent was for the viewer to look at the handmaid’s first and follow their gaze to the people up on the walll.

This scene is significant to me because it shows how people, especially governments use and or abuse fear. In the context of the book, fear is used to control people. If you act out of line, you will be strung up on the wall. America is very similar and only less extreme. If you act out of line, you can go to jail or you will pay a fine. Some of the world still follows the handmaid’s tales methods. It’s fear that is the backbone to any governments control over their people. This made me think about whether fear is essential for a country to function. The unfortunate truth is that it is. Without the fear of consequence there would be no societal order. The majority if not all humans possess some extent of greed. The fact of the matter is, we all want something, whether it be an item, a comfortable life, or even a comfortable life for our children. If someone such as a loved one is hurt and needs help, needs something, an item or a cure people break the law today to help them. In today’s world we see people despite possibilities of jail or a fine breaking the law to help or provide for someone they love. The love they feel outweighs the consequences for their actions. This was a driving factor for Luke, the handmaid, and their baby girl. They forged documents, disregarding the fear and tried to flee the country because of love for their freedom and child. Now think if everyone acted like this, society would be chaos. With no fear of breaking the law people would no longer need to weigh the risks and rewards of taking what they want. people would no longer need something as powerful as love to justify breaking the law. With no government, no fear of the consequences for breaking law, what is stopping people from taking what they want? Morality? Sure this could be enough for a small handful of people, but not the masses.

This brings up the question of if humans are inherently evil or not. This can be traced to experiments now outlawed such as The stanford prison experiment and Milgram experiment. The Milgram experiment demonstrated that regular humans would knowingly administer lethal doses of electricity to another person when instructed to do so by an authority figure. If people were inherently good, they would take matters into their own hands and stop delivering lethal shocks of electricity to the screaming recipient. If people were inherently good then the use of fear in government would be needed. How much fear is too much? In the handmaid’s tale, there is the very direct and extensive abuse of fear by the government. You see people disregarding their old life and conforming to a drastically different regime and lifestyle purely because of fear. In America there is the debate of if the death penalty should still be allowed, which ultimately boils down to if the government should be allowed to threaten with that level of fear. Unfortunately the world we live in isn’t so different from the handmaids, its governed all by fear.

The start of the ceremony, is the day where a child is being brought into the world, the world of Gilead. Ofred wakes ready for the special event and hears the sirens of the birthmobile which sounds like the sirens of something tragic happening like a crime and the police turning their sirens on to alert everyone on the road or the siren of a fire truck; it none of those but a siren of life where a van turns those sirens on to alert everyone that someone is giving birth. As soon as the van gets there, there are guardians standing in front of the van covered in a red carpet with other pregnant women in there waiting. The women there were crying and praying for unknown reasons. But soon enough Ofred finds out it’s because they are hoping their child comes out normal without any problems, such as coming out with missing limbs, having a hole in their organs, etc. Looking at this art piece you get to see the reader’s imagination of how the ceremony went. The first thing that would catch your attention is the van, which in this case is the Birthmobile and the three random women inside of the van. If you look deeply into this photo you can see details described early in the text such as the sirens that sound like one that you would hear during death, for ambulances, or a fire, also you can see the curtains on the windows that were mentioned on the page. 111. Once you look at the Birthmobile the second thing you may notice is Offered in a red cloak like seen in the cover of the book, being led by a guardian. She is getting in the Birthmobile in the driveway outside her home as you can see the tall apartment buildings in the background. The last detail you will see in this art piece is that the women in the Birthmobile don’t look too happy and they look like they are crying, hoping their child will come out normal and that they don’t fall in the 1 ⁄ 4 chance of their child coming out as an unbaby. Also, I made sure to make the background feel cloudy and dark because whenever the story takes place in a dystopia the first thing you think of for its setting is a dark place so I colored the background gray. This scene is Important to the story because this is the next step into Offred’s life and it changes the direction of where the story is going. At first, it was about the society they lived in and how life there is different from the lives we the reader are in. Now it is about Offred and these ceremonies that she is getting into and the relationships they are having with other characters such as the commanders and others: Serena Joy, Moria, Jannie, Aunt Lydia, and more. Even when you go on to the latter pages Offred strengthens her relationship with one of the Commanders, and he even lets her do things that aren’t allowed such as read and look at things like magazines.

Lit Log #1 For my Lit Log, I will be doing prompt #1, and comparing a part of The Handmaid’s Tale to a historical context. Specifically, I will be analyzing the later half of Chapter 22, where Moira, having had as much as she could take from The Aunts, frees herself from the re-education camp. I call the reader’s attention to page 133, where the other residents of the camp realize that “…Moira had power now, she’d been set loose, she’d set herself loose. She was now a loose woman.” The way that Moira not only escapes from the terrible fate set out for her, but also makes herself a hero in the eyes of the other handmaids-in-training reminds me very much of the 15th Century Maid of Orleans herself, Joan of Arc. The way they both radiate power, allowing themselves to become the one of the last symbols of hope in their people’s eyes, is too much of a coincidence for me to not notice.

However, there are, I believe, two small differences between Moira and Mdmsl. of Arc, that being their receival among their fellow women, and their beginnings. When Joan was fighting for the Dauphin, she did so out of loyalty to France, but also, sources say, due to the guidance of the Archangel Michael, a prominent figure in Heaven, most well known for dealing the final blow to his equally infamous brother, Lucifer Morningstar, when the latter led a revolution that, if successful, would have displaced God as the ruler of everything. Lucifer’s defeat, and subsequent(not to mention immensely publicized) banishment from Heaven, led to him becoming the being we know and loathe today as The Devil.

Moira, on the other hand, fights only for herself, and against power and religion, as the latter is what got her(as well as the whole country)into this whole handmaid situation in the first place. From that point of view, one might see her as a sort of Anti-Hero Joan of Arc. Not only that, but her reasons for fighting are extremely similar to Lucifer’s as well, both parties wanting more than the fates that those in power had arranged for them. However, for the sake of Moira’s image in the eyes of the readers, I’m going to continue with the Joan of Arc comparison.

However, the difference in their receival among their fellow women is much more, shall we say, hard to distinguish, but can be detected by a keen literary eye. Both Joan and Moira are despised by the men of their era, and admired by the women, of their generation as well as ours, though it is in public opinion where the difference can be found. Where Joan today is lauded with terms of heroism among females and males alike, Moira’s reception is more akin to that of Joan when she was alive, only loved by women, in secret, lest they too be accused of uprising. My point is illustrated best by Offred on Page 133, where she writes: “We hugged her to us, she was with us in secret, a giggle; she was lava beneath the crust of daily life. In the light of Moira, the Aunts were less fearsome and more absurd. Their power had a flaw to it.” The terms upon which Offred is writing this are what I will be discussing next: her escape from the training camp.

Another great author, Roald Dahl, once wrote that most people, when faced with challenges of the highest degree, surrender and hope that things turn out for the best, while others choose to push as hard as they can, with every ounce of strength they have, to overcome said challenges. Moira, as is plainly obvious to anyone who reads Chapter 22 of The Handmaid’s Tale, is one of the latter. The sheer bravery she showed in threatening Aunt Elizabeth like that, followed by stripping her to her skivvies and impersonating her to escape, is reminiscent, like many other things in THT, of the Jews who were forced to employ all manners of deception to escape the Holocaust, in that only those with an unshakeable nerve would have been able to pull it off. After that, though, Moira’s fate is completely up in the air. She seems to have completely vanished from the face of the Earth after escaping the camp. Of course, one can only imagine what sort of effects this has on Offred’s already scarred mind. All I hope is that Moira doesn’t meet the same fate as Joan of Arc, burned at the stake like a marshmallow.