Offred's Soundtrack

Falling By Harry Styles

The lines “What am I now? What am I now?” and “I get the feeling that you’ll never need me again” connect to the way Offred feels as a handmaid: useless. She isn’t needed for anything other than her womb, and if she can’t have a baby she’ll never be needed for anything. “I want to be valued in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable. I repeat my former name, remind myself of what I once could do, how others saw me.” (pg 97) She feels like her new name doesn’t represent who she truly is, and associates her former one with freedom and possibility. As someone who isn’t valued in Gilead, Offred feels invisible, but often mentions the people who truly aren’t talked about: the Unwomen. When they are sent off to the colonies, nobody speaks of them again. This idea relates to the line “What if I’m someone you won’t talk about?” She doesn’t want to end up in the Colonies because it means she’ll be forgotten.

Mind Over Matter By Young the Giant

This song makes me think of sitting in your room staring at a wall contemplating life, which is how Offred spends most of her time. On page 105 she asks, “Does he know I’m here, alive, that I’m thinking about him? I believe so.” She knows that she must have hope in order to make it through the situation she’s in. As the song says, “Mind over matter, does it matter to any of us?” Offred focuses on staying alive and holding onto hope, even though the odds of having a happy ending are not in her favor. She stays alive partially because she can’t kill herself and partially because she believes that Luke may come back into her life someday, somehow. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t think that way, she’d be more logical, but by putting mind over matter she pushes logic to the side in order to stay sane.

Out of my League By Fitz and The Tantrums

This song’s upbeat melody and quick tempo make it a good representation of the before times described by Offred, the times she had with Luke. The lyrics “Cause you were out of my league, all the things I believed, you were just the right kind, yeah you were more than just a dream” are similar to Offred’s thoughts about Luke. On page 121, she explains the dynamic he had with her mom, whose way of speaking often got on her nerves. “He didn’t mind, he teased her by pretending to be macho, he’d tell her women were incapable of abstract thought and she’d have another drink and grin at him.” Luke’s ability to handle- even entertain- Offred’s mother showed her that he was a keeper. Another line from Out of my League reads “If I die, don’t wake me ‘cause you are more than just a dream.” Not wanting to live without Luke is one of the major things Offred struggles with in the book.

Night Changes By One Direction

While listening to this song, I noticed the line “Going out tonight, changes into something red. Her mother doesn’t like that kind of dress, reminds her of the missing piece of innocence she lost.” It directly voices Offred’s thoughts about her daughter and coincidentally talks about wearing a red dress, which is what the handmaids are forced to wear. Offred, as a mother, doesn’t like the dress and constantly talks about it being too hot or restricting. She also lost her innocence to the system attached to the red dress, as she was pretty young when she was taken to the Center. The song says, “We’re only getting older, baby. And I’ve been thinking about it lately, does it ever drive you crazy just how fast the night changes?” This connects to the way her daughter is growing up without her, and time is passing more quickly than she can believe. On page 228, Offred finally gets to see a picture of her daughter. “My treasure. So tall and changed… Time has not stood still. It has washed over me, washed me away.”

Set Fire to the Rain By Adele

“My hands, they were strong, but my knees were far too weak to stand in your arms without falling to your feet. But there’s a side to you that I never knew, never knew.” This portion of the song made me think of the way Offred views the Commander. She doesn’t quite know how to deal with him, whether she’s manipulating him or whether he’s manipulating her, but at the end of the day he has power over her. After she’d visited him several times in his office, she started to see another side of him, the “silly” side. “His face is a little flushed. I try to estimate how many he’s had… Behind this act of his I sense embarrassment.” (pg 229) When the Commander drinks, it becomes even more obvious that he’s kind of just a regular guy. Even though he’s in a position of power, he isn’t all-knowing, particularly wise, or anything of the sort.