Flowers and their Garden

In The Handmaid’s tale, flowers hold an important role in the telling of the story about women and their offspring. Offred, who is a handmaid, mentions tulips multiple times throughout the book. Tulips represent the handmaids and their fertility, as well as their pain. “The tulips are red, a darker crimson towards the stem, as if they have been cut and are beginning to heal there.” (pg.12) This is the first time Offred mentions tulips and the reader’s introduction to the tulips are these beautiful flowers that are wounded in Serena Joy’s garden. We also make the connection between the handmaid’s red dresses and the red tulips, so for this art piece, the handmaid’s dress is the tulip itself. Tulips are alluring and desired, yet their color signifies blood and wounds. “The tulips along the border are redder than ever, opening, no longer wine cups but chalices; thrusting themselves up, to what end? They are, after all, empty. When they are old they turn themselves inside out, then explode slowly, the petals thrown out like shards.” (pg.45) Tulips in full bloom represent their fertility. It’s the only reason Gilead society values her body. She knows that even though the tulips look beautiful and appealing once fully bloomed, they are going to grow old and be thrown out once they aren’t in bloom anymore. Her body is disposable once she is infertile.

Unlike the handmaids, the Commander’s Wives in Gilead are infertile, yet protected. Dried flowers represent the Commander’s Wives who are infertile. In this art piece, Serena Joy’s blue dress is a dried up flower. Dried flowers are displayed and still valued. “The tastes of Serena Joy are a strange blend: hard lust for quality, soft sentimental cravings. There’s a dried flower arrangement on either end of the mantelpiece, and a vase of real daffodils on the polished marquetry end table beside the sofa.” (pg.80) These dried flowers are held in a vase, signifying that even though they are dried, they are not seen as disposable. We also see how desperate Serena is to be a fresh flower through her scent: Lily of the Valley.

Both women envy each other. Serena Joy envies Offred’s ability to bloom and create life, whereas Offred envies Serena’s ability to keep and take care of her own garden. Offred once had a garden, representing how once she used to be in control of her body and the children she conceived. We can see this through her daughter that lives in her memories. “It smells of me, in former times, when I was a mother.” (pg.47) The garden in the background of this art piece symbolizes freedom and birth. Serena grows a garden outside of her house, but inside, all of her flowers are dried up, symbolizing how in reality, she cannot conceive a child. “The Commander’s Wife looks down at the baby as if it’s a bouquet of flowers: something she’s won, a tribute.” (pg.126) The children that the Handmaids conceive are seen as flower bouquets, furthering the connection of flowers and life. In contrast, Offred has a desire to steal a dried up flower. “I would like to take some small thing, the scrolled ashtray, the little silver pillbox from the mantel perhaps, or a dried flower.” (pg.80) Offred is jealous of Serena Joy’s ability to be infertile yet secure and protected, which is why she flaunts her ability to create life while pitying, as well as shaming Serena in her inner monologue.