Secrets on the Scrabble Board

The scene that I really wanted to focus on was when the commander and Offred is playing scrabble together. But it’s just not any regular scene, it’s the one when Offred ask the commander to translate the latin phrase in her room. That’s why in the drawing the phrase to

My drawing really emphasizes an important scene from the book. I wanted to go into more depth about the scene where the commander and Offred were playing scrabble. In the background of my drawing there’s a bookshelf filled with books. Right on the table, you can see a locked Bible, which is symbolizing the religious control that is enforced by the government of Gilead. The presence of the locked bible suggest that knowledge is restricted and kept away from the handmaids.

The main focus of my artwork is on offred and the commander seated together playing an illegal game of Scrabble. Despite having no way to come up with anything, I wanted to include something in the board game. However, when I turned back to the book, I realized that they had said the lines that they had written. The Scrabble board, shows the words “Valance,” “larynx,” and “Quince”, just as they appear in the book. These words actually have deeper meaning than I thought of. Valance represents hidden meanings in Gilead, showing that things are not as they seem. Larynx refers to the silence of women voices and point out control over communication. Quince shows resilience and space for expansion, indicating a potential of transformation.

On the wall behind them, there’s a Latin phrase, “nolite te bastardes carborundorum.” The scene focuses around this phrase, which Offred asks the Commander to translate for her during their game. It basically gives advice on how to resist the system’s enslavement while also acting as a message of hope. This sentence sums up the main idea of the book, which is the value of resilience and overcoming a corrupt system without allowing one’s spirit to be crushed.

The interaction between Offred and the Commander during their game is important in the story. In this scene Offred takes a risk by asking the Commander to translate the latin phrase which allows them to connect on a deeper level and shows that they are both resistant to the limits enforced by the government. Also Offred learns the outcome of the previous handmaid that live in her room, which highlights what happens when you go against Gilead rules. She realizes that she can possibly manipulate the Commander´s guilt for her advantage, emphasizing the complicated connections of power in their society.

I chose to illustrate this scene because it marks an important point in the book when Offred starts to recognize her own power and her capacity to rebel against the cruel government. The Scrabble board, the locked Bible, the words on the board, and the Latin phrase all serve as symbols for the themes of resistance, information that is hidden, and deep connections between the characters in Gilead.

The feelings of resistance, secret, and an unsure bond between Offred and the Commander are all portrayed in my drawings. The scene’s items illustrate the book’s many themes by demonstrating the idea that resistance and hope can flourish even in the most dangerous situations.