Colors and Style and the Message Behind Them

College English Lit Log # 1 The Handmaid’s Tale Rae Alexander October 12, 2023

Color and Style has been used to make statements and convey meanings between people for a long time. It’s all part of the 70% of communication that is non-verbal. In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the characters are given uniforms with certain colors and style that communicate their status just like some of our own politicians do in our modern day. In the beginning we meet Offred, a woman with a blurry memory of her life from the time before and who is a handmaid. The handmaids have an interesting uniform. Offred says, “ Everything except the wings around my face is red: the color of blood which defines us. The skirt is ankle length, full, gathered…”(8).Offred is swathed in a red cloak with “white wings” surrounding the face. Red is often recognized as the color of passion, or fierceness or blood. White is often associated with purity. Even without it being clearly stated we can see that there is a message being told to the reader about Offred and her role. In the world of Gilead, the Handmaids are respected by most of the public and carry a decent amount of status. Later on we learn that this is because their role is to “bear fruit” or carry the children of the commanders. They’re surrogates. Their role and the colors associated with their role tell not just the reader but the characters handmaid’s interact with in the story a great deal. Reflecting on how the characters of Gilead perceive the handmaids and their status and what it means within the society, is not completely a work of fiction. There are instances where women use colors and style to send a message to the public. For example, in 2019, congress women wore white as a call back to the suffragette white. It was said to be a “beacon of rebellion”, and was meant to emphasize the female presence on the house floor. Another instance was when Vice President Kamala Harris wore a purple inauguration coat. The mix of Democrat blue and Republican red, was a way to show unification between the two parties. To reference the quote cited earlier, Offred has to wear a long and flowing red cloak. It hides her figure for the most part, and covers a lot of skin, save for her face. There is a tone of modesty in the clothes she wears. Despite her role as a surrogate for the commander and his wife, Offred is shown to dress modestly and the white surrounding her face suggests a certain level of purity. “The white wings too are a prescribed issue; they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen.”(8). The handmaids are supposed to be modest and are forced to not be seen and to not see. They are hidden and made to hide. The reader may come to think that modesty is an oppressive kind meant to keep the citizens ignorant. Something akin to this-albeit to a lesser extent-is how dress codes are somewhat gender targeted. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor had worn red nails and it became her signature. But when she was oathed, the dress code banned any ‘flamboyant’ nail polish colors and so her red nails were no more. There we again have that almost oppressive modesty. The color red is referenced again in real life and The Handmaid’s Tale. Justice Sotomayor’s signature red nail is banned because of its flamboyant nature. Red, once again, is a color of controversy, especially when women wear it. A lot of the time, in the real world, there is a push to stay away from red as a young girl or as a wedding guest because it draws attention. Red draws attention. Many people debate whether said attention is good or not but what people can agree on is that it certainly has all eyes on the person who wears it. Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is known for wearing a red lip a lot of the time. She says it’s a shout out to her Puerto Rican roots and it gives her a boost of confidence. It draws attention and boosts her confidence. But for red to be known as a traditionally bright and beacon of a color for the handmaids to have it as their color yet be said to not be seen is ironic. They’re bodies and status are to be seen but not talked about or acknowledged and their faces are surrounded in white. This could be a hint at perhaps their faces and individually not mattering anymore because of their status as surrogates to the commanders.