Clever Lit Log Title here

The Dullness Of Gilead

In the book, The Handmaid's Tail, there are a lot of moments that show the true intentions of gilead, but chapter 13 specifically shows a lot of things readers might not have noticed. The first thing that I noticed when reading chapter 13 was how quiet and boring Offred’s life really was. Outside of the birthings, ceremonies, and all other stuff she’s had to go through, she still ends up doing nothing by herself. Her room is almost empty, and her entire day is planned around scheduled events that, most of the time, just mean more sitting and waiting for something to happen. This pattern made me realize that the leaders of Gilead set everything up on purpose, as a way to mentally mess up their people and keep them trapped in a mindset that change is impossible. And this pattern is shown in all of the people in gilead, but this chapter really shows how much Offred is affected.

This method of controlling people with boredom has a big effect on Offred because the silence and hours of doing nothing, as shown in chapter 13, only make her think more about the past, which breaks her down more. There ends up being no way to distract herself from her memories, and her lost loved ones, and the time alone forces her to face her pain, including the image of her daughter being taken away. Instead of being able to plan an escape or even fully think about the present she's living in, the boredom and complete silence create an environment where she can only sit in despair and think back on terrible memories. This planning by the leaders of Gilead kept her mind from working properly and seeing what was really going on with Gilead, or getting enough energy and courage to start what could be a rebellion. A quote from the story that shows this is, “I try not to think too much. Like other things now, thought must be rationed.” This quote shows how this mindset has been built that she shouldn't think, and shouldn't put her mind into any sort of rebellious ideas. The simple fact that she does nothing all day dulls her mind down, which is exactly what Gilead is hoping for.

Looking more into chapter 13, I notice that all of the shopping walks, and interaction with the outside world seems slow and dull, almost like they're constantly trying to make everything boring and offer little to no joy in anything. This constant feeling of being tired and slow movement throughout the day causes them to have so little energy and to feel so tired to the point where they wouldn't be able to plan a revolt, or even have enough energy to think more about the constant situation. Another moment supporting this is, “The mirrors have been replaced here too by oblongs of dull gray metal, but the urinals are still there, on one wall, white enamel with yellow stains. They look oddly like babies coffins.” This quote shows really well that gilead tries to make everything as sad and upsetting as possible, with the no mirrors to reflect, and dull rooms, it makes an environment where people have no self confidence, and feel like nothing at all could get better.

In contrast though, this constant theme of boredom and dullness brings a light to why Offred's small actions show her resisting, and why they're so important to look into. Offred's fight against Gilead has usually not been physical, but mental battles to escape the silence and feelings of sorrow thinking about her past. For example, the time she secretly played scrabble with the commander, which got into his mind, and got her mind thinking strategically, or the fact that whenever she could, she snuck time to remember what her daughter's face looked like, which helped her keep herself together. These moments of her almost escaping the mental cage that Gilead has her in shows that throughout the book she is subconsciously trying to push her mind for memories and other things, which Gilead is trying to limit. Overall, Gilead is making an environment where their people don't believe they can escape, and they're to the point where they can't remember their past loved ones, which continues to be shown in the story, but especially in chapter 13.