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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YkxNzs9013DN-Llx3NYKAHPOEI-ehrW1sUuZVC6CUJc/edit?usp=sharing

In chapter five of The Handmaid’s Tale, there is a long list of rules and restrictions governing the women in Gilead, especially the Handmaids. These rules shape the mind of the women, altering the perception of their own freedom. The clothes they wear make them walking signifiers of their “status”, as well as removing their individuality and controlling their visibility. One way this society makes sure to maintain women’s compliance is by banning reading and writing. These rules are so decided that even small acts of disobedience turn into what everyone else sees as a major defiance. All of this sums up to the manipulation of freedom. The rules are justified to the Handmaids as if they’re made so that they have a “choice”, when in reality they do not.

Handmaids are always dressed in red and white, which marks their fertility and their role. This way of dressing, Offred refers to as a habit, making this seem like an ingrained custom. “Some people call them habits, a good word for them. Habits are hard to break.”(24) This quote suggests that the clothing is not just uniform, but a way to force a habit onto the women. The white wings are a restriction of sight, which can be seen as both physical and intellectual limitations, preventing them from seeing the outside world as well as not allowing them to think freely. The rules governing their interactions on the street are strict. They always have to stay in pairs, not speak unless absolutely necessary, and keep their heads down. This instills isolation from each other, forcing them into a state of surveillance and distrust.

Having the ability to read and write is a powerful tool in maintaining ignorance. The store signs in the town are now pictograms. This visual prohibition is a constant reminder of the control over women’s access to information. They treat women as illiterate and incapable of making independent decisions or thoughts. The goal behind this is to make them seem or feel incompetent of making choices, with this it allows the higher ups to further keep them brain washed. Offred often talks about the loss of control, something as simple as handling or earning your own money gets taken away. “We use tokens for food, not money, money has been deregulated.” She reminisces on her past, thinking about the laundromats, where she had “my own soap, my own money, money I had earned myself.”(24) These simple acts have been stripped away due to Gilead’s rules.

The handmaids try to maintain an independence, because the opportunity for it is so slim already, they take the risk of or think of taking the risk of breaking the rules. A very big rule the handmaids have is no contact in any way with anyone, and Offred eventually breaks this rule. This society suppresses and prohibits all forms of a woman’s personal relationship, it makes it seem as if something as small as eye contact is an act of resistance. Gilead seeks to control the handmaids’ bodies as a function. They dehumanize these women so much and act as if they are machines made solely for the purpose of reproducing. Gilead doesn’t want to control the handmaids’ bodies, they also want the power to control their thoughts and memories. This is the rule we see Offred constantly breaking, she often has a constant flow or memories reminiscing on her past life. This is a strong example of how Gilead has the ability to restrict the body, but they have not been able to master the mind.

Before all these rules Aunt Lydia described Gilead as “freedom to”, but now it is “freedom from.” The idea of freedom is now twisted in a way to make the handmaids believe they have been saved from all the bad things in society, but what it really does is take away their ability to choose. “There is more than one kind of freedom. Freedom to and freedom from. In days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom. Don’t underrate it.”(25) “Freedom to” would be when women had the freedom to choose their clothes, jobs, and partners. While they had this freedom they were still exposed to sexual harassment and violence. “Freedom from” would be the positive benefits, women have freedom from fear, unwanted attention, and the pressure of objectification. Gilead stretched the dangers of before so much so that they can make it seem like all of this is for the protection of the women, when really it instills power, control, and tricking the handmaids into accepting oppression in exchange for a false sense of security.

I feel a lot of sympathy for the women in this story, I can’t imagine what it would be like everyday to live under the control of someone else. Having the right of choice taken away is insane to me or being forced to forget your old life is something I never want to imagine. When the author writes scenes of her having memories with her child and husband, having her freedom, and the pain of losing her family and basically her whole life taken away, I can feel the impact and emotion brought up with it.

In Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks, the character, Lord Rufus Crabmiser, says a line that heavily reminds me of the current position of women of Gilead: “ The only thing a crab is good for is holding back other crabs. A crab doesn't want to see another crab make it.” Margaret Atwood’s depiction of Gilead is only possible with the acceptance and collaboration of other women to oppress each other. This is most prominent in a chapter of the book, in which Offred is forced to participate in the ritualistic shaming of Jasmine, another handmaiden in training. It's one of the most outright depictions of the ways that the women in Gilead are trained to blame each other

” Her fault, her fault, her fault, we chant in unison. Who led them on? Aunt Helena beams, pleased with us. She did. She did. She did. … Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson. Teach her a lesson”(72)
The handmaids, including Offred, all shamed Janine for events that she was clearly a victim of; it was obviously not Janine’s fault for being raped, but in the new culture of Gilead, she is at fault. The Aunts who are indoctrinators for the Handmaids are paramount to constructing his style of culture within Gilead. Their main goals are to create an environment in which handmaids have no trust between each other and do not have the solidarity to stage any disruptive activity, as well as to normalize the degradation of their bodies into vessels for men to impregnate. This undoubtedly uncomfortable scene is so spot on when it comes to the discourse that surrounds women whenever they come out as victims of rape. Atwood is practically bashing you over the head with the comparisons of Janine and female victims in real life.

Janine, finally broken from the constant derision of her most traumatic experience, broke down and admitted that it was her fault. Even the clear victim in this case eventually became brainwashed into thinking that it was her own fault. In a lot of ways, it's deeply realistic as many people are brainwashed to admit that the traumatic experience that they where subjected to was their fault. 

“That was last week. This week, Janine doesn’t wait for us to jeer at her. It was my fault, she says. It was my own fault. I led them on. I deserved the pain. Very good, Janine, says Aunt Lydia. You are an example.” Atwood’s depiction of Gilead is so radical that it has set up a system of industrialized victim-blaming, in which the handmaids give in to the reactionary demons inside their own heads. Demons that have their roots in the ugliest parts of American culture and its destructive ideas on women’s rights. They were taught that Janine’s pain and, subsequently, all of the pain that she would feel at the hands of men was justified.

Throughout the flashback, it’s very apparent how women are pitted against each other; however, what stands out even more than that is the way Atwood portrays them. Up until this point, Offred had been discussing the red centers in very neutral terms, as she rarely questioned the authority of the Aunts or the guards outside. Offred primarily blames herself for partaking in the group shaming. This feeling of learned helplessness permeates the pages of The Handmaid’s Tale as all of the women are forced to live in conditions that were made against their freedom. Now the only “freedom to” is the freedom to survive, and survival is just a synonym for submission.

In just this short section, there’s a booming microcosm of what America has eroded into. a fascist state in which sister is turned against sister, Aunt against niece. a state that shames women for being promiscuous when they get raped, yet simultaneously forces women to give birth as slaves, a contradiction that reinforces female bodily autonomy. By far the darkest part of Gilead is that it isn’t a detached science fiction Empire, or a piece of ancient history, but it is America. Atwood’s depiction of America takes place in the 1980s. coming out of a decade of police brutality, crackdowns of anti-war protests, and COINTELPRO. She barely even had to exaggerate when it came to the top-down complete domination of the government that we see throughout the book, something that also reflects in the culture. The Handmaid’s chant of “her fault” Is echoed throughout American Halls of power.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-r-jE_QOFmL6P5GGWpseBseNNlqE2x8lzIaUVsjAJ4c/edit?usp=sharing

In chapter five of The Handmaid’s Tale, there is a long list of rules and restrictions governing the women in Gilead, especially the Handmaids. These rules shape the mind of the women, altering the perception of their own freedom. The clothes they wear make them walking signifiers of their “status”, as well as removing their individuality and controlling their visibility. One way this society makes sure to maintain women’s compliance is by banning reading and writing. These rules are so decided that even small acts of disobedience turn into what everyone else sees as a major defiance. All of this sums up to the manipulation of freedom. The rules are justified to the Handmaids as if they’re made so that they have a “choice”, when in reality they do not.

Handmaids are always dressed in red and white, which marks their fertility and their role. This way of dressing, Offred refers to as a habit, making this seem like an ingrained custom. “Some people call them habits, a good word for them. Habits are hard to break.”(24) This quote suggests that the clothing is not just uniform, but a way to force a habit onto the women. The white wings are a restriction of sight, which can be seen as both physical and intellectual limitations, preventing them from seeing the outside world as well as not allowing them to think freely. The rules governing their interactions on the street are strict. They always have to stay in pairs, not speak unless absolutely necessary, and keep their heads down. This instills isolation from each other, forcing them into a state of surveillance and distrust.

Having the ability to read and write is a powerful tool in maintaining ignorance. The store signs in the town are now pictograms. This visual prohibition is a constant reminder of the control over women’s access to information. They treat women as illiterate and incapable of making independent decisions or thoughts. The goal behind this is to make them seem or feel incompetent of making choices, with this it allows the higher ups to further keep them brain washed. Offred often talks about the loss of control, something as simple as handling or earning your own money gets taken away. “We use tokens for food, not money, money has been deregulated.” She reminisces on her past, thinking about the laundromats, where she had “my own soap, my own money, money I had earned myself.”(24) These simple acts have been stripped away due to Gilead’s rules.

The handmaids try to maintain an independence, because the opportunity for it is so slim already, they take the risk of or think of taking the risk of breaking the rules. A very big rule the handmaids have is no contact in any way with anyone, and Offred eventually breaks this rule. This society suppresses and prohibits all forms of a woman’s personal relationship, it makes it seem as if something as small as eye contact is an act of resistance. Gilead seeks to control the handmaids’ bodies as a function. They dehumanize these women so much and act as if they are machines made solely for the purpose of reproducing. Gilead doesn’t want to control the handmaids’ bodies, they also want the power to control their thoughts and memories. This is the rule we see Offred constantly breaking, she often has a constant flow or memories reminiscing on her past life. This is a strong example of how Gilead has the ability to restrict the body, but they have not been able to master the mind.

Before all these rules Aunt Lydia described Gilead as “freedom to”, but now it is “freedom from.” The idea of freedom is now twisted in a way to make the handmaids believe they have been saved from all the bad things in society, but what it really does is take away their ability to choose. “There is more than one kind of freedom. Freedom to and freedom from. In days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom. Don’t underrate it.”(25) “Freedom to” would be when women had the freedom to choose their clothes, jobs, and partners. While they had this freedom they were still exposed to sexual harassment and violence. “Freedom from” would be the positive benefits, women have freedom from fear, unwanted attention, and the pressure of objectification. Gilead stretched the dangers of before so much so that they can make it seem like all of this is for the protection of the women, when really it instills power, control, and tricking the handmaids into accepting oppression in exchange for a false sense of security.

I feel a lot of sympathy for the women in this story, I can’t imagine what it would be like everyday to live under the control of someone else. Having the right of choice taken away is insane to me or being forced to forget your old life is something I never want to imagine. When the author writes scenes of her having memories with her child and husband, having her freedom, and the pain of losing her family and basically her whole life taken away, I can feel the impact and emotion brought up with it.

God´s Plan - Drake

Book Quote ¨Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. ¨

Song Lyric: ¨Might go down a G.O.D. I go hard on Southside G¨ Drake

Drake’s God plan reflects the tension between fate and resistance that runs through The Handmaid’s Tale. The Latin phrase carved into Offred’s closet Don’t let the bastards grind you down ‘becomes her Mantra or survival. Similarly, Drake frames his entire path as both guided and personally defiant, pushing through obstacles with faith and persistence. His lyric about God’s plan resonates with Gilead’s obsession with religion and Destiny, but it takes it to another level through its perspective. The regime claims authority; however, her survival is on her own quiet resistance. While Drake’s Anthem celebrates success and blessings in the novel, it becomes ironic that God’s supposed plan is twisted into control. This mirrors Red’s resilience on memory solidarity and hope that can carry her forward, and a system that was made to break her down.

Wicked Games- The Weeknd

Book Quote: ¨When we think of the past, it’s the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that.¨ Chapter 23

Song Lyric: ¨Bring your love, baby, I could bring my shame.¨ Offred’s longing for her past her husband, her child, and her freedom contrasts with the shame that is imposed on her body by Gilead. The Weeknd’s confession of brokenness and using love as an escape aligns with Offrend’s moments of passion with Nick. It is love as rebellion, sex as survival, and memory as the only anchor. Atwood’s quote about remembering only the “beautiful things” mirrors how Offred clings to past intimacy with Luke, yet uses Nick as a present refuge. Like the song, her sexuality becomes both freedom and burden, a wicked game she cannot fully win but cannot abandon either.

Bad Religion- Frank Ocean

Book Quote: ¨Better never means better for everyone… it always means worse for some.

Song Lyric: ¨if it brings me to my knees, it’s a bad religion.¨

Frank Ocena’s song about unrequited love directly connects to Gilead’s corrupted theology. Religion has become the justification for oppression. Frank’s refrain about kneeling to ¨bad religion¨ becomes a beautiful metaphor for the forced prayers, ceremonies, and rituals that strip women of power. It’s a cry but also a critique of faith warped into oppression. Offred recognizes the lie in the Commander’s claim that their new world is “better.” For the women, this faith is not salvation but oppression. The song’s aching tone reflects Offred’s inner conflict: faith should uplift, but in Gilead it becomes a prison disguised as holiness.

Haunted- Beyonce

Book quote: ¨we were the people who were not in the paper.¨ Chapter 10

Song Lyric: ¨ I know if I’m haunting you, you must be haunting me¨

This track captures Offred’s constant feeling of being watched by the eyes of the commander and other handmaids. However, it also speaks to how the past haunts her. Her husband, Luke, and her daughter are like ghosts in her mind, haunting her daily existence. Beyoncé’s eerie delivery captures the tension between desire and fear that rules life under Gilead. Also, Beyoncé’s lyric about mutual haunting reflects the way Offrend and the system are locked in an unbreakable relationship. She resists silently, but Gilead itself haunts her every thought. The eerie tones of the song mirror the suffocating atmosphere of the novel, where silence, whispers, and the wretched eyes define existence.

Freedom Beyonce: Book Quote: “Better never means better for everyone… It always means worse for some.”

Song Lyric: “I’ma keep runnin’ Cause a winner don’t quit on themselves.”

Beyoncé’s Freedom embodies the resilience buried within The Handmaid’s Tale. The commander justifies Gilead as a better society, yet Offred realizes that this so-called progress is built on suffering. Beyonce’s lyric, ¨Imma keep runnin’ cause a winner dont quit on themselves, ¨ resonates as a rallying cry for the handmaids who endure oppression while holding onto fragmenst og hope. Though stripped of names, voices, and rights, they resist destruction by surviving. The rhythm of the song mirrors the suppressed march of women forced into silence. Offred’s daily acts of remembering her daughter, narrating her story, and finding moments of love echo Beyoncé’s refusal to surrender. Lines like ¨im telling these tears, go and fall away¨ capture the determination to endure the pain without letting it define identity. In Gilead, grief is constant, yet persistence is a form of rebellion. Kendrick Lamar’s verse about breaking chains directly parallels the Handmaid’s reality. Though trapped in ritual and law, they dream about freedom, cutting themselves loose. Beyoncé’s repeated cry ¨freedom Freedom I can’t move cut me loose!¨ becomes an anthem of all women in Gilead, always being silenced, controlled, but not broken. It is the sound of endurance that turns into resistance.

The loud, almost alarming energy of “Sirens” by Black Panther instantly makes me think of the Red Center, where Offred and the other women are brainwashed at the start. In Chapter 13, there’s the scene where Janine is forced to confess her gang-rape was her own fault. Offred describes, “Her fault, we chant in unison. Who led them on? She did. Who was bad? She was” (p. 72). That chanting is terrifying, and the song’s beat feels the same way like a constant alarm that doesn’t stop. Just like real sirens warn us of danger but also freeze us in fear the women’s voices drown out Janine’s individual voice until she has no choice but to agree. This track captures how Gilead uses fear and noise to control people, making it hard for anyone to think for themselves or break away.

“New Kind of Love” – Imogen Heap

This soft, almost dreamlike song connects to Offred’s flashbacks of Luke, her husband from before Gilead. She tries to hold onto the memory of their closeness, but it feels fragile, like something fading away. In Chapter 11, she remembers her body differently than she once did I used to think of my body as an instrument, of pleasure, or a means of transportation… Now the flesh arranges itself differently. I’m a cloud, congealed around a central object” (p. 73). Imogen Heap’s ghostly voice mirrors how Offred clings to the idea of real love, but in Gilead, love doesn’t exist like it used to. Instead, there’s only survival, power, and forced reproduction. The title itself, “New Kind of Love,” is almost ironic because Offred’s new reality is about anything but love. Heap’s song underlines the difference between the warm, messy memories of before and the cold, controlled version of relationships in Gilead.

“Same Script, Different Cast” – Whitney Houston

Whitney’s song could be Serena Joy’s personal anthem in the early chapters. The lyrics are about a woman warning another woman about a man who hasn’t really changed, even if he has a new partner. Serena’s whole life reflects that bitterness because her marriage to the Commander is hollow. In Chapter 8, Offred remembers Serena’s past as a televangelist: “She doesn’t make speeches anymore. She has become speechless. She stays in her home, but it doesn’t seem to agree with her. How furious she must be, now that she’s been taken at her word” (p. 45). Serena used to argue that women should stay in the home, and now she’s stuck in the same cage she built. The song title “Same Script, Different Cast” perfectly shows how men like the Commander keep running the same pattern—using women, then replacing them. Serena knows it, but she can’t change it, which makes her resentment grow even more.

“The Other Woman” – Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey’s vocals match Offred’s role as the Commander’s secret partner. In Chapter 16, during the Ceremony, Offred describes, “My arms are raised; she holds my hands, each of mine in each of hers. This is supposed to signify that we are one flesh, one being. What it really means is that she is in control” (p. 94). Offred is caught between being the Commander’s mistress and being completely powerless. She’s literally “the other woman,” but not by choice. Later, when he sneaks her into his study to play Scrabble (Chapter 23), it feels like the song fits again. Even when she admits, “I want to be here, with him, here, so badly. I want to be held and told my name” (p. 112), she knows she’s being used. Lana Del Rey’s song captures that confusing mix of guilt, desire, and hopelessness that Offred feels in her double role.

“The Girl with the Tattoo” – Miguel

Miguel’s song is the perfect match for Moira. Confident, bold, and unforgettable, she is the “girl with the tattoo” who keeps fighting back against Gilead’s control. In Chapter 22, Offred remembers Moira’s daring escape from the Red Center: “Moira had power now, she’d been set loose, she’d set herself loose. She was now a loose woman” (p. 133). Miguel sings about a girl who leaves her mark, and that’s exactly what Moira does for Offred. She becomes a living reminder that resistance is still possible, even in a world designed to crush it. Just like the song admires the girl’s strength and mystery, Offred admires Moira for being the one who refuses to disappear.

Closing Thoughts

These five songs echo beneath the surface of Atwood’s world. Black Panther’s “Sirens” captures the terror of indoctrination. Imogen Heap’s “New Kind of Love” mourns how intimacy has been twisted. Whitney Houston’s “Same Script, Different Cast” channels Serena’s bitterness. Lana Del Rey’s “The Other Woman” mirrors Offred’s role as the Commander’s hidden partner. Miguel’s “The Girl with the Tattoo” celebrates Moira’s courage. Music might not exist in Gilead, but thinking about these songs proves something important no matter how strict the silence, voices still find ways to break through.

Living in Gilead and following its strict societal rules will definitely take a toll on anyone living there. We don’t see a lot of talk about mental health throughout the book, and I think this is because they were being brainwashed and don’t want to let ideas of health get into anyone’s head. We do get some insight into how Offred copes with her world. Chapter 23 starts with Offred lying in her bed, contemplating. “This is a reconstruction. All of it is a reconstruction. “ (134) I interpreted this as her talking about the society as a whole, and how the Martha’s influence the girls to think in a certain way. They show them things from the world outside of Gilead to push them into thinking that they are in a better place, doing things the right way. They’ve been trained to believe that intimacy is a crime and that their only purpose as women is to have children. I found it interesting how she cuts herself off in her thoughts and redirects herself. It’s like she’s snapping out of her thoughts. “If I ever get out of here- Let’s stop there. I intend to get out of here.” (134) This quote stuck out to me in this chapter because it reminds me of a phenomenon that we discussed in class, Meta-narration. This is when, in a book or a song, they break the fourth wall, or call their life a story, or sing a song. It’s interesting because she starts on a topic, then interrupts and corrects herself, exactly like how someone would think in the moment. This shocked me because the rest of the book has been her thoughts, but she hasn’t slipped up or had a moment like this before. I also see a little character growth or reflection from her in a sense, she explains an idea that happened earlier in the book. “But if you happen to be a man, sometime in the future, and you’ve made it this far, please remember: you will never be subjected to the temptation or feeling you must forgive, a man, as a woman.” (134) This made me think of when the handmaids listened to Janine’s story about her experience with sexual assault, and they shamed her for it and said it was her fault. She had to apologize for existing in a way, for ‘tempting’ the men. They yell at her and say it’s her fault. But I don’t think this is her feeling sorry; I think it’s her noticing patterns and reflecting on where she is in this society.

“But remember that forgiveness too is a power. To beg for it is a power, and to withhold or bestow it is a power, perhaps the greatest.” (135) Upon reading this, I first wondered if this is her way of being positive about her situation, or just her honest view of things. She’s referencing herself and the handmaids as the ones withholding the power, the power being fertility and birth. Offred mentioned this powerful idea earlier in the book, too; she is trying to find some sense of control in her situation by acknowledging that this society does need her. On the other hand, when she mentions bestowing that power, she’s referring to the commanders and how they have the ultimate power. But also, in general, there is a power struggle that shows up in different ways. I do wonder what specifically she’s referring to when she says that to beg for forgiveness is a power, maybe the ability to reach someone after wronging them, or it’s something about hope. “Maybe none of this is about control.” “Maybe it’s about who can do what to whom and be forgiven for it.” (135) I notice her talking a lot about forgiveness in this chapter, which confuses me. I wonder if she feels like she can forgive the people who put her through all of this, or if she’s talking about forgiving the commanders and the wives. I believe she sees that no one else really wants to conform to the rules they have set up for them, which we saw during the ceremony. I wonder if there’s a specific person she wants to forgive, or if this isn’t about forgiveness, and it’s just her thinking about her place in society. I also think part of her really wants to find hope for herself and is actively looking for a way out.

Chapter 23 of The Handmaid’s Tale is an interesting scene, with lots of complicated dynamics and emotions at play. There are a lot of things that can be drawn or deduced from this chapter, which is why I chose it to write a reader response to. The first thing that grabbed my attention from this chapter was the complex power dynamic in this story. There are tons of examples of this throughout this book, but almost none are as clearly defined as when Offred herself gives a quote that says that the word of The Commander could be taken above the word of the law. Another thing that I noticed was that this chapter did good at highlighting the extreme manipulation that goes on during this chapter. This obviously was clear throughout the entire book, but there were a few quotes in this chapter that described it very well for analysis.

The complicated hierarchy of this story came into play a lot in this chapter, and that was the main thing that I would say made the events of this chapter especially conflicting for Offred. One example of this is the game of Scrabble that her and The Commander play together. There are multiple rules that would have technically forbade her from participating, like the fact that women are not supposed to read - and this was not only an issue that would have fallen on her, but also The Commander, as he invited and encouraged her to play with him. Offred knew these rules, and she noted when he invited her that she shouldn’t accept, but the reason she decided to anyways was because “to refuse to see him could be worse. There’s no doubt who holds the real power.” Even though there was legislation in place, The Commander’s word is scary enough to Offred to convince her to do as he said. For me, this raises some questions about corruption within this already corrupt system. The commanders, or people with more power than them, could potentially use this power to further their own personal interests, or to help the women in the system. Although I honestly don’t expect any of the commanders or other officials to turn against the government, it would be a very interesting plot twist and is something that this situation makes me think about.

The power dynamic in this book isn’t just complicated in its layers, but it’s also extremely manipulative. This is obvious at almost every point in the book from start to end, but it’s also made clear in this chapter, and there are a few quotes that are especially clear about it. “But if you happen to be a man, sometime in the future, and you’ve made it this far, please remember: you will never be subject to the temptation or feeling you must forgive, a man, as a woman. It’s difficult to resist, believe me. But remember that forgiveness too is a power. To beg for it is a power, and to withhold or bestow it is a power, perhaps the greatest control.” This quote from earlier in the same chapter is a great example of this intense emotional manipulation that the women in the Gilead society face. Offred is reflecting at the start of this chapter before the scene where The Commander asks her to kiss him. She talks about how sometimes, the women in this novel are tempted to feel bad for or forgive the men, as hard as she tries to resist. The use of the line “you will never be subject to the temptation or feeling you must forgive, a man, as a woman,” helps to further her point, making it clear that this is an issue that women specifically face, and one that a man couldn’t comprehend. This is a pressure that her and all of the other women who are forced to be handmaids, wives, or other subordinate roles tot he men feel, and in the end even though it is a trauma that they are going through, they are left feeling like they should feel guilty or regretful, as if they are at fault.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14HaPEnaxf3PrdqhjwEmBZnpqJ40kpuWvnvrydWiW13o/edit?usp=sharing

Creep by Radiohead was the first thing I thought of when I was introduced to this assignment. Creep is a song about people not being in their right bodies for themself and feeling alienated or foreign, the lyric to the song is, “I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo, what the hell am I doing here, I don’t belong here.” In the Handmaid’s Tale, page 61, it says, “My nakedness is strange to me already, my body seems outdated.” This tells the reader that not only does Offred feel that type of way but others might too. These handmaids are put here against their own will, making them feel like this couldn’t be real to them and feeling like they have failed. Offred doesn’t seem like she liked the position she is in and making women have babies against their will just because of this dystopian society. This makes me think of how someone can not be able to feel their body, like they don’t belong in the world but stuff like this helps the reader understand why sometimes it feels like this because, in this case, she’s alone. The next song on my list is Human by Christina Perri. She sings about how we are only human meaning nothing like this should ever have to happen to someone or anyone shouldn’t have to experience anything that makes them feel not right with their own bodies. She makes the song feel like we should all be helping each other and not working against each other because humans are the only living species that can talk to each other, learn, help others ,and we all have flaws. The lyric says, “But I’m only human, and I bleed when I fall down.” In the Handmaid’s Tale, page 94, Offred is having the ceremony and says, “Close your eyes and think of England but this is not England, I wish he would hurry up.” This just shows that this will and maybe break her later. The next song is The Night We Met by Lord Huron. He sings a song about someone in his past who we felt deeply connected to and I can infer that they fell apart and he would love to meet again the way they did. While reading the Handmaid’s Tale, she keeps having dreams and flashbacks of Luke and herself. “Luke was there, behind me, I turned to see him, he won’t look at me… the bell awakes me, and then Cora, knocking on my door… wipe my face with my sleeve. Of all the dreams this is the worst,” page 75. Offred wishes she can know if Luke is still alive and if she can see him again. The lyrics to the song says, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, Haunted by the ghost of you, take me back to the night we met.” I think this part of the song resonates with her and Luke’s relationship well because Offred was his mistress and she really felt like he was the one for her. The next song is You Don’t Own Me by Lesley Gore. This one is self explanatory. The song just means that they are allowed to do whatever they desire and no one shall tell them not to. In the Handmaid’s Tale once again I said this but they are being held there against their will and not being able to do stuff freely. In this song it says, “You don’t own me, I’m not just one of many toys, You don’t own me, Don’t say I can’t go with other boys.” This one connects with the third song and the second song in this essay because the people who run this dystopian society don’t get to tell them what they should do or who they should be with. Once again the reader understands the circumstances for the handmaids but the commander has to have intercourse with the handmaids so they can have a baby but she does want a baby just not with the commander. The last song is IDon’tWannaBeYouAnymore by Billie Eilish. This one is also self explanatory and also resonates with the first song. The meaning behind this song is that she is unhappy with the current state she is in and sees other people doing the things she wants to do but she doesn’t feel like she is made to do those things. Offred knows she wasn’t made to be put in a society where they are forcibly taking action on women to have kids. The lyric says, “If tear drops could be bottled, their be swimming pools filled by models, told the tight dress is what make you a whore, If I love you was a promise, would you break it if your honest, tell the mirror what she knows she heard before, I don’t want to be you anymore.” This is about gender and how people talk about women and that people are insecure and by looking in the mirror people see their insecurities. This also relates to the first song about not being in your body.

When I read “The Handmaid’s Tale”, I keep coming back to how deeply unsettling it is to witness the way Gilead controls women’s bodies through what they would consider ritual. When I read chapter 16, pages 93-95, I felt a strong wave of discomfort, not only what happened in the Ceremony itself, but the way it was presented. As something normalized, ritualized, and even sanctified. The theme that struck me most powerfully while reading this chapter was the “Control of women’s bodies through ritualized violence”, In other words, Dehumanization. Atwood shows how intimacy and sexuality can be stripped away and replaced with mechanical obedience, and as a reader, I found myself deeply unsettled by how ordinary the characters treated it. That unease is, I think, the point I am meant to feel is the wrongness, even as the people within Gilead act as if it were normal.

The Ceremony is described with chilling simplicity. Offred lies on her back, her head is resting on Serena Joy’s lap, while the commander performs his duty. The scene is clinical, almost boring in its lack of passion. Offred acting in a way of a surrogate for the commander’s wife and himself. It is not an act of love, but an act of ownership. The commander’s position gives him power, Serena Joy’s presence is a reminder that Offred is nothing more than a Surrogate, as I stated briefly, an act of ownership and not love but Offred herself is reduced to a Vessel. What brings more discomfort to me as I read is how ritual transforms an act of violence into something the Society can call holy. Reading pages 93-94, I couldn’t stop thinking about how this ritual functions as a disguise. The Ceremony is rape, but because it has been codified into a monthly event, because it is framed as duty, because it is wrapped in the language of religion, it becomes “normal”. The normalization is what unsettles me the most. It’s one thing to imagine violence happening in secret but it’s another to imagine a whole society sitting quietly in it, repeating it and believing it to be righteous. It made me think, how much wrong can we overlook if it is dressed up as tradition?

What also makes this section uncomfortable was Offred “voice”. She doesn’t describe the event with anger or open horror. Instead, pages 94-95, she detaches herself, narrating in short, almost factual sentences. At first, I wanted her to feel a sense of rage and wrongfulness or to even resist, but then I realized that her detachment is her survival. She has no choice but to endure, and her mind protects her from pulling away. This forced me to confront the reality of her lack of power. It also makes me think of how people under oppressive systems often have to distance themselves from their own experience just to survive because they lack control, control of themselves, their bodies.

Another part of this chapter that made me feel uneasy is that Serena was involved, the commander’s wife. She sits behind offred as this “ritual” occurs, holding her hands, her body arranged to mimic a mother embracing a child. On the surface, this is supposed to show solidarity, but I felt it as a layer of cruelty. Serena Joy’s touch does not comfort, it reinforces Offred’s role as property. It is disturbing to see one woman helping to enforce the system against another, and it reminded me of how power can divide women against each other instead of uniting them.

The pages around these scenes also force me to think about intimacy itself. Offred remembers her past life with Luke, the warmth and passion they once shared. Those memories are painful for her, but also for me as a reader, because they highlight what has been stolen. Knowing what real intimacy can feel like makes the ceremony even colder. This contrast brought me sharp discomfort. The idea that a government could completely erase personal freedom that even love becomes a crime. What lingers most is the realization that this ritual is not an isolated act but part of a system. This is not about one commander, one wife, or one Handmaid. It is about the entire structure of Gilead, a structure that can make something so obviously brutal feel ordinary. That, more than anything, is what makes it concerning to read. Atwood reminds me that oppression doesn’t always come as open violence. Something it comes dressed as tradition, as duty, as ritual and once people accept that disguise, they stop questioning it. Laws that limit women’s autonomy, practices that disguise control as morality, and traditions that tell people their bodies are not their own. Atwood’s writing is disturbing because it feels too close to reality. After reading chapter 16, pages 93-95, forces me to see how ritual can normalize violence, how language can mask cruelty, and how easily people can adapt to its injustice if it is repeated often enough.

Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is a world without music, where silence itself becomes a tool of control. Yet by pairing the novel’s themes with real songs, we can hear what Gilead works so hard to suppress. Each track below captures a moment or motif, giving voice to characters who are otherwise silenced.

“Sound of Silence” – Simon & Garfunkel This song reflects Offred’s private inner world, where her thoughts become her only freedom. The lyric “people talking without speaking” mirrors how Handmaids must suppress their voices while secretly holding onto memory. Offred explains: “We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print” (p. 57). Silence, here, is both a prison and a form of survival.

“Every Breath You Take” – The Police Often mistaken for romantic, this song’s obsessive watching fits Gilead’s surveillance. The Eyes operate with constant visibility: “Under His Eye” (p. 57). The song’s refrain, “every step you take, I’ll be watching you,” echoes the suffocating feeling of being observed at all times. Even intimacy is turned into control.

“Caged Bird” – Alicia Keys Inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem, this song embodies the longing for freedom. Handmaids are the caged birds, forced into obedience but still carrying memory. Offred reflects: “I want to be held and told my name. I want to be valued, in ways that I am not; I want to be more than valuable” (p. 112). Like the bird, she sings inside her cage, holding onto her sense of self.

“Strange Fruit” – Billie Holiday Holiday’s haunting protest song against racial violence parallels Gilead’s public executions. Offred describes the bodies on the Wall: “It’s the bags over their heads that are the worst, worse than the faces themselves” (p. 43). Just as “strange fruit” became a warning to maintain order, Gilead uses death as spectacle to control the living.

“Resistance” – Muse This song highlights love as rebellion: “Love is our resistance, they’ll keep us apart and they won’t stop breaking us down.” Offred’s relationship with Nick becomes her act of survival and defiance. She admits, “I tell him my real name, and feel that therefore I am known” (p. 270). In Gilead, where identity is erased, love becomes a radical force.

By imagining these songs inside Gilead, we restore sound to a world stripped of it. Each track voices silence, surveillance, memory, violence, and resistance—reminding us why music is dangerous to dictatorships. Atwood shows us that even when voices are muted, the desire for freedom finds its rhythm.

Even though there is no music mentioned in the book Handmaid Tale, certain songs resonate with many characters, themes, and moments throughout the book. Even though these songs aren’t mentioned in the story, they fit in perfectly with the songs resonating with themes of freedom, relationships, love, and loss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV9dXEFP-Hk

To start it off, one of the first songs I think would fit into the book is the song ¨The World Isn’t Far ¨ by Randy Newman. This late 1990s song talks a lot about how the world is really unequal, and how people in power still continue to benefit while the people who look at them as leaders get left behind. I believe that theme matches perfectly with the society in ¨The Handmaid’s Tale¨ where women are forced out of their control into strict roles and have no freedom to their own, just like the song. Newman’s lyrics in the song were a bit sarcastic and ironic, especially for the time, which was talking about how some people reflect how systems of power are built to keep certain people on top. Gilead does the same thing, only it hides injustice behind religion and “morals.” As Offred says, “We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of the print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYB1rbL8EHo

Another song I believe connects to the novel is “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore. Written in the 60´s, this song boldly declares a woman’s independence and refusal to be controlled by a man. In the story ¨The Handmaid’s Tale¨, women are not treated with care and freedom, with no rights over their bodies or their futures. Offering internal struggles and quiet acts of defiance mirror the song’s demand for autonomy. As she admits, ¨I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it’s shameful or immodest but because I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to look at something that determines me so completely.¨ This moment shows how Offred has been reduced to nothing more than her body, something she no longer feels ownership over. Gore’s song becomes an anthem of resistance in this context, capturing the longing for self-determination that runs throughout the novel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRtvqT_wMeY

“Runaway Train” by Soul Asylumn reflects Offred’s sense of helplessness early in the novel. The line says, “wrong way on a one-way track,” mirrors her life in Gilead, where every escape feels impossible. She longs for freedom, admitting, “I want to steal something, want to feel something, even if it’s only the sound of breaking” (89). The imagery of missing children in the song also connects to her grief over losing her daughter, stolen by the state. Throughout the chapters we have been reading, the main protagonist, Offred, circles back and reminisces to memories of her child, describing her as both painfully close and impossibly out of reach. Like the train in the song, her life has gone off course, her family ripped away, her choices gone. The haunting mood of Soul Asylum’s track captures the despair of being stuck in motion but never moving toward freedom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfpgpf6QVnI

This heavy metal song ¨ Symphony of Destruction ¨ by Megadeth, is a good example of how Gilead manipulates his people. The lyrics describe leaders pulling strings while citizens act “like puppets.” This parallels the Commanders, as Offred notices how easily power can twist human behavior: “Nothing changes instantaneously: in a gradually heating bathtub you’d be boiled to death before you knew it” (56). Just like the song’s warning, Gilead reshaped society step by step until people were trapped without realizing it. The Aunts orchestrate obedience with chants and violence, creating a system where cruelty feels normal. Gilead disguises destruction as stability, conducting society like a “symphony,” where women are reduced to instruments with no voices of their own. Megadeth’s intensity reflects the hidden violence beneath the calm rituals, reminding us that order can be its own kind of chaos when power goes unchecked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Khe7DInxo

Phoebe Bridgers’s quiet, melancholic song ” Scott Street¨ fits Offred’s reflective moments. The lyrics about memory and emptiness echo her flashbacks to life with Luke and her daughter. Offred recalls: “We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of the print. It gave us more freedom” (57). Like the narrator, she looks back on ordinary moments with bittersweet longing. Even something as simple as walking on a city street or chatting with a friend now feels like another lifetime. Bridger’s kind of quiet or muted voice mirrors Offred’s tone as she remembers laughter, intimacy, and freedom that are gone. The sadness of the song contrasts with her present silence, telling us that memory itself becomes a kind of act for survival. Her longing is not only grief, it’s a quiet rebellion against forgetting.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mkjPQdH83hNWVf_mQ58HaRbhXR9bVVHm-CsPXAdYDlY/edit?usp=sharing

Take Me to Church - Hozier Obviously, the topic of religion is a substantial motif in The Handmaid’s Tale, i.e., the passage from the book of Genesis, the common phrases spoken by the handmaids, the Bible reading during the ceremony, etc. This track highlights the irony of twisted Christian faith, how oftentimes instead of forgiving others, we are prone to resort to hate and violence even though we know better. I think the scene that best captures this is in chapter eight, when the priest is hanged for breaking the rules.

Nude - Radiohead There are countless things that are out of our control–how should we respond to such a terrifying thought? Is it even worth the attempt to take matters into our own hands? Although many events throughout Offred’s life are permeated by the themes of this song, none quite evoke equivalent raw emotion as the recurring dream where her daughter is taken from her. I think the most haunting aspect of this scene is the sheer helplessness of the situation, and the fact that there is not a moment of hope where you might think that the two of them will succeed in their escape. Margaret Atwood presents obstacle after obstacle in this dream: Offred’s daughter slowing the two of them down, the cold water that they’ll have to eventually cross, the bullets whizzing past them, but never are we given a reason to believe that this story might end well. It’s a downhill slope from where it began. It’s also worth mentioning how gorgeous this track is. Not to suggest that this part of the book is particularly pleasing, but the sequence is dreamlike and separate from reality, “I feel calm and floating, as if I’m no longer in my body; close to my eyes there’s a leaf, red, turned early, I can see every bright vein. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”(75) So it pairs well with a listening experience that has such a heavy emphasis on abstraction.

Paranoid Android - Radiohead “The woman sitting in front of me was Serena Joy. Or had been, once. So it was worse than I thought.” (16) I’m not sure why, but I associate this song with big revelations, like a shocking discovery of information that you wish you’d never known. I find it to be very haunting and foreboding. Years ago, a very close friend of my parents was arrested and sent to prison for a serious crime. I’m not sad that he’s no longer close with my family, it was just an eye-opening period for me, but what bothered me most at the time was coming to the realization of how oblivious I’d been to who he actually was. That’s how this song makes me feel, and I imagine Offred was experiencing the same when she met Serena Joy.

How to Disappear Completely - Radiohead The requirements of the handmaids involve stripping themselves of all things that make them human, because they are not counted as human beings anymore, there’s no practical reason that they should be treated as such. They have no friends or family, no one to be authentic with, and nothing to do when they have nothing to do. And the pure fact that the handmaids are crucial to their society is not sufficient to give them a feeling of purpose, “Waste not want not. I am not being wasted. Why do I want?”(7) The title ‘How To Disappear Completely’, admittedly, is a bit on the nose, but the contents of the song provide a great deal of depth to what the name might imply. Like Nude, it’s a track with few lyrics, however I find it to be more tragic than Nude and even more beautiful. How to Disappear Completely deals with shame, it’s about the desire to possess the ability to vanish from places where you can’t find comfort. This shame is reflected in the way the sound is designed, it’s almost as if the music is trying to leave but it hasn’t quite found a way out yet. And this is what I believe the handmaids like Offred are dealing with all the time, not solely the fact that society has essentially made them invisible, but a feeling that their lives would be easier if they were not seen or acknowledged by anyone at all.

All Falls Down - Kanye West “But we can do it, a little at a time, a quick move of the head, up and down, to the side and back. We have learned to see the world in gasps.” (30) It’s easy to forget how good we have it, that is, until we no longer have it. In chapter ten, Offred tangentially mentions what music is like in her life, but the ways she experiences it is rather pathetic; “Sometimes Rita will hum, while kneading or peeling: a wordless humming, tuneless, unfathomable. And sometimes from the front sitting room there will be the thin sound of Serena’s voice, from a disc made long ago and played now with the volume low, so she won’t be caught listening as she sits there knitting.” (55) Desperation for something means that its value is increased no matter how abundant. But some people have the ability to do the best with what they’ve got, and that’s enough for them.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NQI_8IhHbl6gCZJ_h1jVuoAuOF_-s1uUogXCDELjhF4/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1STluIA_NiS0f82qxYLMbxLMaucHw3ScorKrSbNWGQ0M/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mkjPQdH83hNWVf_mQ58HaRbhXR9bVVHm-CsPXAdYDlY/edit?usp=sharing

The Night We Met, Lord Huron—

Link: https://youtu.be/KtlgYxa6BMU?si=BP2EAo43qJzbi13Y

Lord Huron’s song The Night We Met is about being haunted by the memories of a lost love and yearning to return to the moment (“the night”) before everything fell apart. Similarly, Offred is also haunted by her life before the regime, specifically the whereabouts and wellbeing of Luke and her daughter. The song lyric “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, haunted by the ghost of you” mirrors Offred’s situation: “I pray that the hole [through Luke] or two or three, there was more than one shot, that they were close together, I pray that at least one hole is neatly…” (104). As mentioned during class discussions, all the possibilities about Luke seem to be making her paranoid, and thus, tormenting her. Rather than simply wondering about where Luke is, she wonders about the characteristics of his supposed death. This moment represents both grief and the way this world turns memories into torture: every mention of Luke is paired with longing or hypothetical harm, not fond memories. She no longer remembers Luke as a person vividly, but rather his potential death is grotesque in detail. While her memory of Luke can also be interpreted as hope, the absence of the love she felt with Luke also seems to be affecting her mental state. The song’s slow tempo and instrumentals creates nostalgia, which is a representation of her endless thoughts that don’t appear to have a resolution. Just as how in the song the singer is stuck and haunted by their memories, Offred is a character who is shackled by her memories.

Meditation, Walter Wanderlay—

Link: https://youtu.be/um1F_afN3lQ?si=o_T8aGpcxDO_jfjk

This song is one that is commonly known as “elevator music” or is associated with waiting. In other words, the mundane. While there is an upbeat in the music, there is no variation in the volume (crescendos/diminuendos) or the tempo (ritardando), making it feel like the song is being blurred together. This is parallel to the current world of Gilead. Even though there is newfound “safety and protection” for the women, they lack freedom to express themselves: “I think about laundromats. What I wore to them: shorts, jeans, jogging pants. What I put into them: my own clothes, my own soap, my own money, money I had earned myself. I think about having such control. Now we walk along the same street, in red pairs, and no man shouts obscenities at us, speaks to us, touches us…In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from” (24). This “freedom from” is flat and stripped of variation; women are told they are safer, but they no longer have the freedom to choose how to live. There is also lots of free time in this world for the Handmaids: “There’s time to spare. This is one of the things I wasn’t prepared for — the amount of unfilled time, the long parentheses of nothing. Time as white sound” (69). Because the Handsmaids’ only purpose in this world is to give birth to children, the rest of their time is spent in idleness. They are in an endless state of purgatory, just as when one is waiting for the elevator to reach their designated floor.

Stitches, Shawn Mendes—

Link: https://youtu.be/UYCg6NBiXMI?si=wFXvkIpfxu8lxPu0

“Now I need someone to breathe me back to life.” This song is about a longing for connection after the breakup of an abusive relationship. While that is different from Offred’s situation, as she did not literally break up with Luke, she was separated from him. She longs for a connection and this is apparent in her secret interaction with Nick in the kitchen: “It’s so good, to be touched by someone, to be felt so greedily, to feel so greedy. Luke, you’d know, you’d understand. It’s you here, in another body” (99). The natural psychological response when humans lose something is to replace it because we hate change or disruptions in normalcy. Offred’s character is a reflection of this psychological phenomenon: in her mind, Nick is the replacement for Luke. She is devoid of the love she felt and received from Luke, prompting her to almost make risky decisions to replace what she once had. The contrast between the upbeat tempo and the song’s content also mirrors how this longing caused thoughts of rebellion and survival to blur for Offred as she almost agreed to give in to Nick.

Live to Tell, Madonna—

Link: https://youtu.be/lWA2Lt4Se40?si=kIWkyd7ok6jRLrVr

This song is about the weight of secrets and the difference between knowing and not knowing: “Hope I live to tell the secret I have learned till then it will burn inside of me.” This is illustrated in Offred’s interactions with the Commander: “We open his study door, just a crack, and listen for noises in the hall. This is like being on a date. This is like sneaking into the dorm after hours. This is conspiracy” (139). The two are unable to be seen by Serena Joy, but also the others in the house. There is this air of secrecy akin with the lyrics of Live to Tell. Offred also has no autonomy over whether or not these “secret things” happen to her: they dictate her survival. On one hand, not obeying the Commander, the person with the most power, could end up in her punishment. But on the other hand, if she gets caught keeping this secret, she could also get into more trouble, as there are still the unknown spies in the story.

Welcome to the Machine, Pink Floyd—

Link: https://youtu.be/HzhyLxkbKdc?si=0HXxkwYRSQPp-PGA

This song criticizes the music industry and how it’s linked to a powerful, manipulative, and unjust system. In other words, it’s about highlighting how artists are treated no more than cogs in a machine, similar to how the Handsmaids are treated in The Handmaid’s Tale. In Gilead, women are no more than mere tools to make babies. If they were to have complications during birth, it would not matter as long as the baby was delivered. This is evident in the fact that there are no doctors present during birth and how they lack ultrasound technology because they do not care about the baby or the mother’s condition. This is seen in the case of Janine: “She’ll be allowed to nurse the baby, for a few months, they believe in mother’s milk. After that she’ll be transformed, to see if she can do it again, with someone else who needs a turn” (127). Even after a successful birth, there are already plans of sending her to a different home to repeat this seemingly endless cycle. She is also unable to stay with her child except for a few months. There is no consideration of the emotions of these women; they are “wombs with two legs” and nothing more than that.

For my artistic piece I really wanted to capture the feeling of escape and the hope of freedom in the person’s hand/face. One thing that I was really inspired by was the show, how it depicted many of the escape parts of Offred and her family’s escape from the guards. As a filmmaker and photographer, I have to see many details in a shot, so, for example, we have to look at what the director was trying to capture in the character’s face, their attitude, their body language, and many more things in each scene. For example, you can see in this scene how the family reacts to the oncoming threat of the guards coming for them. The dark clothes do not make them stand out and look casual; they crouch down as they try to walk away.

Golden brown (“ never a frown with golden brown”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2o_HupXq1g&list=RDW2o_HupXq1g&start_radio=1 This song connects to the text. The part where they say “never a frown” can connect directly to Ofred because of how persistent she is. Ofred puts up with a lot of stuff, especially from men and society, and she still finds ways to bypass and pursue her dreams. She dreams of getting out of the prison-like place she is in, and she wakes up and perseveres through struggles every day. An example of her persistence is when she says, “I rub butter over my face, work it through my skin, there is no longer any hand lotion or face cream.”-pg96 This is showing how persistent she is every day to keep herself clean and continue to maintain being healthy during the situation she is in. ofred continues to show up for people. In chapter 19, Ofred went to watch another handmaid give birth, even though she doesn’t really like her

curse(“they love you then they hate you thats the curse”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HX7gxETG6k&list=RD3HX7gxETG6k&start_radio=1 This connects to the theme of The Handmaid’s Tale, which has a lot to do with rape and horrible men. This song, “Curse,” talks about love and hate. Love and hate are an overarching theme in The Handmaid’s Tale because men want to use women for their bodies and not actually because they love them. For example, the ceremony that they have are horrible and all the women are uncomfortable doing it. Another example is when Ofred and the doctor are talking about how she needed to have a baby, and the doctor said that he could have the baby with her. Ultimately it seems nice, but when you think about it, the doctor wouldn’t be having a horrible time while giving her a baby. For the part about hate, they are so terrible to the handmaids the whole time they are there. They are treated with little to no respect.

impossible(“nights like this nights like this, I wish I could do the impossible”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLMB6-AHTXI&list=RDfLMB6-AHTXI&start_radio=1 This can connect to chapter 18 of The Handmaid’s Tale when she is thinking about Luke and all these scenarios that could have happened to him. Although she isn’t fully mourning Luke she is still thinking about him. The text stated “lying in bed, with Luke, his hand on my rounded belly. The three of us are in bed. The thunderstorm outside the window. He rolls over with me.” When hearing this, the reader is triggered to feel some type of way for being that we have all experienced something like this, but way less extreme. Later in the chapter, Ofred begins to think more and more about her family, like her mother and daughter. The part of the quote where it says “ I wish I could do the impossible” is connected to Ofred trying to move on, but it feels impossible because her family haunts her in a way that she can’t stop thinking about it

Chamber of reflection(“alone again”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQsF3pzOc54&list=RDpQsF3pzOc54&start_radio=1 The song Chamber of Reflection is perfect for this entire story because it is about loneliness and being hurt. I also think that the name “chamber of reflection”-pg103 has a lot to do with The Handmaid’s Tale because all of the handmaids do a lot of reflection while they are out and about doing the things that they are supposed to do. The theme of the chamber of reflection, I feel, connects to a lot of the handmaids due to the terrible situation that most of them are in, like loneliness affects Ofred every day, and the other handmaids. Then the line in this song, “alone again,” also connects to the theme of loneliness in this story. Most of the handmaids are alone, and on top of that, they aren’t with their families, which causes them to be even more lonely

ghost(“and if i can’t be close to you I’ll settle for the ghost of you.”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp8msa5uYsc&list=RDFp8msa5uYsc&start_radio=1 This song can connect to Ofred missing her mother. Ofred’s mother played a massive role in Offred’s feminist belief system, so the fact that her mother isn’t there to help and support her is heartbreaking to Offred. Ofred felt secure once she saw her mother in the film, but she later realised the horrible fate that could have happened to her mother. In the future of the book. I think that Offred will continue to follow in her mother’s footsteps once she gets the resources to do so. In the video, Ghost Justin Bieber has a strong connection to his mom, and we can see that he puts in efforts to talk to his mom every day and show her that she cares. Offered is similar, but the fact that she cares so much and follows in her mom’s footsteps shows the care and the connection to the song Ghost

As I read The Handmaid’s Tale, I noticed a recurring pattern of hostility amongst women, revealed in small moments that is often overlooked.

Early in the book, when Offred was first introduced, we get a glimpse of her being moved into a new house—-the Commander’s house—where she will serve as his Handmaid. When she reaches the door, with a Guardian not too far behind, she meets the Commander’s Wife, Serena Joy, at the door. Atwood writes, “She stood in the doorway blocking the entrance. She wanted me to feel that I could not come into the house unless she said so(Ch 3, pg. 13)” The hostility shown in the quote is very subtle but powerful. Especially considering they are both victims of the oppressive system that has overtaken Giilead. This first meeting is significant because it foreshadows the strained relationship between Offred and Serena Joy.

As I read, I found myself often disappointed and a little frustrated that these women are so focused on comparing what they have and don’t have with the woman in Gilead, not realizing they are feeding right into the people in power’s trap.

In the later 17th century, during the early stages of slavery, there was a time when both Black people and poor white men were suffering equally under the system. In fact, both of them were so fed up with the system, it seemed that they would come together to fight against the unfair circumstances created by wealthy white men. This was not what the people in power wanted. To prevent possible rebellion, the elites—the rich white men—put the poor white people slightly higher on the social ladder, giving them more privileges to separate them from the enslaved. This redirected their anger away from the system itself and towards each other, giving them a reason to fight one another. This same tactic of dividing oppressed groups appears in the Handmaid’s Tale as well. The women, like Serena Joy and Offred, are victims of Gilead, but because of the oppressive system highlights the difference between the women, preventing them from uniting against the ones who put the system in place.

Connecting back to the present, this pattern reminded me of something I experienced in my own life as well. When I was younger,there was a girl in my friend group who acted as the leader. She didn’t like me nor this other girl in the group, instead confronting us directly put us against each other. One day, she would one day be my friend, and exclude the other girl; the next day, it would be the opposite. At the time, I didn’t recognize it for what it was, because I was focused on getting her approval. The competition created tension between the girl and I, distracting us from recognizing the one who was really causing conflict.

This situation is similar to the way women are set against each other in the Handmaid’s Tale. For example, Serena Joy and Offred constantly clash instead of discerning their shared suffering. After completing the last ritual of the Ceremony, Serena Joy immediately snaps at Offred: “Get up and get out”(Ch. 16, pg 95), when normally there is supposed to be a 10 min wait period before the Handmaids get up. Similarly, Offred and Ofglen are walking home from the market, they encounter grieving Econowifes. Instead of recognition of their compassion, the girls received resentment: “the first one scowled at us, one of the others turned aside and spits on the sidewalk. The Econowives do not like us(Ch.8 pg.44). These moments show that the hostility isn’t just between Serena Joy and Offred, but between all the women in Gilead. Just like when I was younger, people who should have been united, instead their focus was redirected into competing with each other, while the real problem stayed in control.

Taking into consideration the things discussed, the pattern shown throughout the book is important to take note of because Atwood warns us that when we find ourselves comparing or competing against our peers, we should pause and take a look at the bigger picture. These smaller issues can distract us from the source of our problems, just as it happened in the novel, in history, and even my own life. Instead of turning against each other, Atwood urges us to come together and face the deeper issues that affect us all. Because in the end, even the people in power know that there is strength in numbers.

The scene in The Handmaid’s Tale that resonates with me the most is when Janine stands in front of the group and confesses that she was raped at only 14. She did not receive support or comfort, but instead, the other women were forced to chant and tell her that it was her fault. This moment reminded me of the time when a man followed me home without my knowledge, and my mom and sister decided to worry about what I wore out of the house that day, rather than just comforting me. Additionally, there was an instance when my friend was almost taken advantage of on her way to school, which was when we were still in the 10th grade.

Women are often blamed for the things done to them. Even though my mom and sister didn’t blame me, it still felt like it was my fault. I did not know this man from anywhere. It was summertime, and that means fewer but more comfortable clothes. I often hear “What were you wearing?” or “Why didn’t you say no?” instead of holding the actual person accountable who caused the harm. I remember one time, at my old school, my friend Carolyne was almost taken advantage of while on her way to school. Once everyone at school found out, they tried to blame her for what happened. Not just students, even staff members. Saying things like “I told her to stop wearing her skirt like that” and “What did she do?”. It felt as if no one genuinely cared what happened to her. I used to go to a catholic school in my 9th and 10th grade years. We had to wear skirts and knee-high socks. We would often roll our skirts up 2-3 times to have a shorter, more “cute” length. This was basically standard practice for the majority of the girls, except for the ones who came from stricter religious backgrounds. We all rolled our skirts up as a collective, so why should Carolyne be blamed for someone trying to hurt her on her way to school? This situation reminded me of Janine; both situations shift blame onto the victim, rather than the perpetrator.

When I was followed home that day, I had on an athletic set in the color pink. People often comment about my body, sometimes as compliments, or just to be disgusting. I know certain clothes emphasize certain parts of me, but that is far from my intention. A man saw me exit my Lyft ride from the bus stop at the end of my street and thought it was okay to approach me as I tried to enter my apartment, even after I deliberately ignored him. Thankfully, I got in the house before he could get into arm’s reach of me, and upon my entrance, I told my sister what happened. I know my mom and sister were only trying to protect me, but it felt like they were blaming me, instead of the man who chose to follow me. One thing about my family, word spreads fast. Not only did my sister know, but my mom, grandmom, cousins, and aunts. Just like Janine, I felt the weight of someone else’s actions. Just like Janine said, ‘It was my fault. It was my own fault. I led them on (Atwood, Chapter 13).” Did I inconspicuously lead him on by the way I dressed that day?

My reaction to this scene is a mixture of shock, anger, and sadness. Anger because why is victim-blaming so normalized? Sadness because Janine was a young girl who had her innocence stolen from her. Shock because why would Aunt Lydi think it’s okay to make people say these things to her? So much so that Janine actually started to believe it as if it were true. Even though the book is written in a dystopian context, it closely mirrors real-life struggles and oppression that exist in our society today. “Her fault, her fault, her fault, we chant in unison. Who led them on? She did, she did, she did. Why did God allow such a thing to happen? Teach her a lesson, teach her a lesson (Atwood, Chapter 13),” the handmaids were forced to chant, showing how systems can be put in place even by other women to force blame. People who you expect to understand, people who should understand, ultimately end up repeating the same oppressive behaviors. Atwood did an outstanding job emphasizing this scene. Reading is so powerful, but when you watch it, it’s even more powerful and real.